Best guess would be that when the flush machine was used, the pressure pushed the seal out of its groove. Then when that piston actuated the next time, the piston actuall pinch cut the seal. It's a stretch at best, and you'll necer know for sure. All the sealing parts in the trans have a nice smooth finish.......shouldn't be any way they could get cut, unless someone has a better idea than stated above?

 

A fluid exchange machine uses the tranny pump to pump the fluid in and out the machine. No pressure is generated other than what the tranny normally see's and it is in the same direction. I have done many fluid exchanges. Not one problem. Only time a person may have an issue is if the mantenance was neglected from the get go. I have exchanged my fluid 2 times (every 20,000 miles) before my Goerend parts went in. Asked the tech how the inside of the tranny looked. Said it was one of the cleanest trannies he has ever seen. Yes, 20,000 miles is overkill but I was trying to get back on schedule because I bought the truck used at 17,000 miles. Never knew how the previous owner took care of the truck and didn't take any chances and what they charge me is a heck of a deal. Next exchange is at 60,000 miles then I will go with every 30,000 miles exchange and a new filter every 60,000. Fluid is cheap compared to a rebuild.

 

Yeah....agreed......but the way I read the first post was that a flush machine was used.......

 

Yeah, that's the thing. Most folks call them flush machines but they really are not. They are fluid exchange. I have personaly never seen a flush machine.

 

Me neither.........In fact I've had customers with Gran Cherokees etc.that had no drive or reverse until the vehicle ran awhile etc.Warned them upfront about might be a waste of their money to hook it up and run the full BG package.The cleaner,new fliud and the additive in the can.Well darn if it didn't more or less fix it for a while.About 12k before it got bad again.Seals in it were hard and brittle.I have seen seals twisted and their square cut and what not.They were installed twisted and it took a while to get pronounced in the way it performed.

 

Flush machines

http://www.asedeals.com/transmission_flusher

http://www.redhillsupply.com/transmi...hines-info.htm

some more warnings about the hazards of flushing a transmission


http://autotechrepair.suite101.com/a...fm/040206.html

 

The only ones I have ever seen or been involved with were not air driven,no solvents and no back flush.Never had a Factory rep or a service contract inspector ever say anything negitive about fliud exchange.I have had them NOT approve teardown of automatics until a fliud exchange had been done and then report trans performance on automatics with signs of water or antifreeze in them.

 

More good info, but ultimately probably too late to help my situation.

Quite honestly, I have no idea if the machine that did the procedure was a "flush" or "fluid exchange" machine. They did for sure use the term "flush" but that may or may not be a misnomer. Regardless my tranny tech was quite adamant that the damage done to the seal could not have been the result of a "flush". Who am I to argue with him?

 

Sorry to hear you pain in the wallet. Could I suggest if your using this board that you fill in your sig ( year, model, etc ) and your location. We are all here to help. Posting with thinking of "flushing the trans at monkey wrench quicky lube" before hand could of saved you thousands. The boys would set you down the right path, anyway live and learn.

 

I've been told by several trans rebuilders that as long as you service the trans regularly with a new filter and that is all it should ever need unless the fluid gets burnt. One other thing they have said is to never let anyone do trans flush or exchange as very few people know how to do it properly and it can screw your transmission.

 

Bull,bunk,cow paddys,horse apples on all but the FLUSH.Read the thread.Thousands of autos have the old fliud pumped out by the trans itself into a container and NEW fliud goes in the other end.Dosen't hurt,disturb or tear up anything.I've seen it cut repair/overhaul costs on fleets huge dollars over previous years.Only thing to do to Mail Carrier vehicles.Best thing that ever happened to a auto trans since its invention.Real simple.The FLUID is the life blood of a automatic.Why add NEW fliud to OLD fliud when very simply and easily it can be replaced The FLIUD EXCHANGE machine dosen't take a ROCKET scientist to hook up,start the car and watch in the slight glass while OLD goes out and NEW goes in.Want your power rack and pinion steering to last,brake calipers,wheel cylinders try changing the FLIUD once in a while.

 

From what I've read so far an exchange machine may not cause problems if it used the trans own pump to exchange the fluid. But I have seen places that have a machine that power flushes the fluid out of the trans. A few years ago a Toyota place told me they run some cleaning stuff through the trans. I guess if a person wants to have this done then they best be asking questions about what type of machine they will use on there trans and if its and exchange or power flush type. BTW, I have also seen the power flush type machine being sold at a NAPA store so any repair shop could be using either type of machine.

 

^^ That's all I was saying. IF it was acutally a FLUSH machine....it could have done the damage. It is all speculation at this point, because no one knows for sure what type of a machine was actually used. I agree that a fluid exchange machine is the best thing to do on a regular basis. I would ALWAYS change the filter as a preventative measure though. In my opinion, exchanging the fluid alone, would be like changing the engine oil but not the filter! Also, just dropping the pan and changing the trans fluid and filter would be similar to draining 1/3 of the engine oil and changing the filter. Not what I want done to my engine or trans. I have been guilty of just doing the trans pan and filter, without the flush before, only because of no access to a machine. If the fluid in mine ever gets real bad, I'll pay to use the machine, or do it the old fashioned way, and unhook the cooler pressure line and let the pump do the work for me. Same principal as the fluid exchange machine.

 

Thanks for the info folks. Seems to be a bit of a contentious issue. Clearly a bit of a moot point for me at this time due to the tech unable to unequivocally state this was an issue with the "flush". Irrespective of that, I will be telling the wifey to NOT ever get another "flush" and I will be doing the work myself. The timing is just too suspicious for me! BTW, I updated my sig to indicate my baby and all the goodies she has, as requested by NJ.

 

I have just one more thing to add to this subject and that is if all of the car manufactures thought doing a fluid exchange/flush would be a good thing for a transmission then why do they not require it to be done every time you service the transmission. Heck if it would save them money in warranty repair cost you would think they would require it to be done and listed in the owner’s manual for the owner to know one is needed.