Just had my tranny fluid "flushed". About a week later, noticed brief noise when starting from full stop, but only happened once. Since then it the noise happened one more time from start and then between 1st and 2nd shift. I then parked it for a couple days. Went out today and all forward gears (auto trans) are slipping to the point of being able to barely move my truck. Does not matter what gear I put it in, I have the same results. Was surprised to find when I put it in reverse, that it worked without any issues. Only noticeable issue prior to flush was the 1-2 hunt, but read in my manual that that may be the TC (something to do with oil draining out of it) and that it was "normal". Not sure if the tranny creates DTC's that can be viewed from my reader, but nothing at all came up. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! I live 200 km's from nearest reputable mechanic, so would like to check if there is anything I can do first.

 

May be a band kaput . Gonna need someone to do some pressure tests and more diagnosis. Flushes aren't reccomended by most technicians.

 

My transmission guy (30 yrs exp) doesn't recommend "flushing". He had a transmission sitting in his shop that he was about to rebuild after the guy took it to have it "flushed". It can loosen up debris/particles into the trans that can ruin it if it isn't done correctly. And regardless....you have to replace the trans filter which involves dropping the pan which usually isn't done by the "flushers".

Sorry to say it, but I think yours is going to have to be rebuilt. Hopefully you can have whoever did the "flush" pick up the bill, if this is the case.

In the future, just drain fluid, drop pan, change trans filter, then refill with new ATF +4, preferably on some sort of regular schedule. I do mine every 20k miles.

Good luck with it and report back with what you find out.

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Sounds like its low on fliud.

 

Nope...not low on fluid....first thing I checked. I never heard that a flush was a bad thing until I got on this forum. I contacted the shop that did the flush before the tranny completely stopped working and they said they needed to see it before any work can be authorized. Kind of hard for me now as they are about 800 km away! Anyone have any experience with a flush gone bad? I am hoping that the shop that did it will pay for some of the cost to fix.

Crappy thing about this is that I always do all my own maintenenance. The guy convinced my wife to have it done, and she thought she could save me the effort as a favour.

 

Flush is usually the wrong term.Most do a fliud exchange.It uses the trans own pump cause engine is running and trans is in gear and old fliud goes out and new fliud goes in.It goes in through the filter and dosen't hurt anything.Thousands are done daily and any decent shop has a fliud exchange machine like made by BG(do a web search).Best thing to happen to a auto transmission since its invention.I have seen it cut fleet trans repairs to a fraction over years that the trans only got 4to6 qts of fliud and a filter that usually has not much trapped in it.Lots of newer auto trannys don't even have a replacable filter these days.The Asisn auto being used in the cab and chassis does not have a servicable filter.Getting ALL old fliud out of that unit is the only way to go.Your are correct also in the only place your hear its harmful is on some of these forums.Just like Dodge trucks still have a failure prone auto and Ford owns Cummins.

 

HD, although I have heard it on the forums............This was coming directly from the mouth of a certified DTT builder/installer and 30 year transmission man. He has seen lots of failures due to the flushing and has one sitting on his bench as I type. I will give you his phone number if you want to talk to him about it.

Now that said,,,,,,,,,im sure flushing CAN be a great thing, if (big IF) done properly. But that is the key. I am not going to risk it. Particularly now since I can drain the TC as well as the trans pan....and that gets 98 percent of the fluid out.

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Like said above......depends on how the "flush" was done. I have seen first hand what backflushing can do to a trans. Depends on pressures involved as well. Can it be done in such a way that is beneficial to a trans? SURE! Is it usually performed that way? Nope.

 

Good info. The folks that did the "flush" were Lube City here in Canada. I interrogated my wife for any information on what their flushing "process" was, but she just gave me a blank look.. It sounds like there is not much I can do personally, as a back-yard mechanic, so now I have to look at towing options.

 

Just call them and ask.I have handled literaly hundereds of FLIUD EXCHANGE prochedures on G.M/Chrysler/Mazda/Isuzu/Nissan vehicles with nothing but excellant results.Have used it over the years on my own vehicles of course and I use Amsoil full syntheic fliud in my own.I have never seen a FLUSH machine and not familiar with how it operates.

 

I just noticed on the invoice, they used "Multi-Vehicle" ATF, when the manual calls for a specific type (ATF-3, or some such thing). Any thoughts on whether that might cause this issue.

 

Depending on the year of your truck it may require ATF 4+ and I have heard that can cause problems if they use the wrong fluid. Kind of like using Dexron where Mercron is required.

 

Flushing your Transmission may have lodged debris on the shift governer soliniods contact point.
A VERY common occurance on the Dodge trannys.
It is a $178 part, you have to drop the pan and change out the soliniod.

The dealership and or tranny shop should be able to diagnose this very easily.

 

Well, here is the update. $575 bill for towing because there are no tranny mechanics in the small town I live in. Warranty for the tranny was over 2500 kilometers ago. Tranny mechanic indicated a "cut seal" caused the problem, which effectively fried the clutches. Re and Re tranny with installation.....$3500.00. Ohhhh....please make the pain stop!!!.....LOL. The tranny mechanic could not explain how a seal got "cut". Any ideas?

 

Well, it sure didn't get cut due to the fluid exchange. Sounds like a rebuild issue.