Topic: Transmission fluid

[AlekStooge]

Well, that may be. But if I am paying the damn bill, you will jerk that SOB open, replace the filter and fluid, and you will do so while I stand here to confirm it. Comprende? 

Damn straight that is what I feel I want to do!

[faux fiddy]

What pisses me off though is that some newer cars, in my case my wife's Chevy Cobalt its auto trans has no dip stick at all. The only way for me to check the trans fluid is to jack the car up and check it like an old school manual trans where I remove a threaded plug and see if any fluid dribbles out or stick my finger in to see what the fluid level is. I was pissed when I first found out about it during a routine fluid check, it's almost as if GM doesn't want me checking the trans fluid by making it inconvenient to do so.

Ford Contour has no transmission filter that can be accessed by the consumer, it is a part of dealer service (rebuilding the transmission?).

[grcamna2]

my new car is a 1974 ford.it have a dipstick for , engine and Automatic..and a rubber bumber in the bottom of the car to tramp on to spray sprintler fluid in the front schreen...and a manual choker as ekstra

.so tired of bad elektronic and alarm flashing/ lightning the vhole instrument board..some days i can not open the vindows..other days the car can only run idel..and cabine light turns on in the mittel of a ride and abs and engine safty varnings..lights.

.freanch cars is just fustrating.
..a bulp to(main light) to a new car, kosts more then i gave for the ford....and takes 6-8 auers to thange

.but i need some month rust vork..but then im back to the 70"

What model French car did you own ?

[strynboen]

a partner/berlingo.(.psa) a common made model. by both citroen and Peugeot..and some others
.nice car for 5 person ( seating are, 2+2+1) or as cargo only 2( as i make the seats flip..it have a 2 person rear seats and a singel one.kombination.
..so a fantastic mc mover and can have 3 mopeds in.

.but elektronic is a nightmare..ve had 2..but vify got a Honda 4wd..and i have the ford ..hope to get it ready in this summer

[grcamna2]

a partner/berlingo.(.psa) a common made model. by both citroen and Peugeot..and some others
.nice car for 5 person ( seating are, 2+2+1) or as cargo only 2( as i make the seats flip..it have a 2 person rear seats and a singel one.kombination.
..so a fantastic mc mover and can have 3 mopeds in.

.but elektronic is a nightmare..ve had 2..but vify got a Honda 4wd..and i have the ford ..hope to get it ready in this summer

I use to own just a plain standard trans. 1985 Renault Alliance 4 dr. sedan w/ the 1.4L. A very basic French automobile w/o too many options to have technical problems.This was a very good,reliable car for me,I owned it for yrs. until it was stolen in New Orleans,LA. on a trip down there.There were many people who told me "get rid of it,it's junk" but I didn't see what they meant by that.I took good care of it and it was reliable plus good on fuel economy. I prefer standard transmission cars.

[Don R]

 I read a fleet guy changed the trans fluid every 30,000 miles on 1/2 of the vehicles, did nothing to the other half and saw no difference, most of them needed trans work around 150,000 either way. your mileage may vary.
 That said, I change mine. My GM buddy said they consider 2 changes as good as a flush. I like to clean the pan and check for chunks.

[AlekStooge]

Drove about 1000 miles after the flush.... runs smooth.

Also did a transfer case service, coolant flush, front diff, throttle body cleaning

Did air filter myself and this week put in a new GM radio because mine did not have an aux input and that was driving me nuts.

[bear]

Nothing better than fresh blood in your veins to make you feel young again! Just ask Keith Richards 

Has he still got veins? I would have thought they would have collapsed years ago.

[AlekStooge]

Nothing better than fresh blood in your veins to make you feel young again! Just ask Keith Richards 

I'm a big stones fan.

One thing that was unusual to me was when I kick it into 4X4 high, truck drives fine until you turn and then I got a horrific sound. Almost sounded like the wheels weren't turned in 50 years. I immediately stopped, tried it again got the same sound. I asked a few people that said that is normal and then took it over to the tech that did the service and he wanted to go on a test ride with me to make sure he did it right, or it was his ass. He said that is normal on good driving conditions because even though the ground was a little bit wet, it wasn't like slushy snow or anything. Thing is I never heard it in the past before when I'd kick into 4X4 every once in a while with good driving conditions.

[AlekStooge]

Cal, I'll make a video tomorrow or Wednesday.

Isn't the purpose of the front and rear diff to fix the wheels from spinning at different speeds on each axle?

[AlekStooge]

Turn your speakers up and ignore the tire squeek. Listen for what sounds like Cthulhu getting summoned!             

   

[AlekStooge]

Good Year, P265/70R17

[AlekStooge]

So what does the tire size have to do with the differential growling?

[AlekStooge]

Final verdict? Anything I should be concerned about?

[chewbacca5000]

Your vehicle is new 2012.  I think you would be ok to do a flush.  Some say slipping can occur if the pressure plates have lots of miles on them.  The thought is that the new fluid removes any varnish from the pressure plates and they slip.  I don't know how true this is.  Could be one of those myth buster type things.

[mrbreeze]

Your tires should all be matching in size and wear. If you have brand new meat on one end and baldys on the other it will throw things outa whack. I worked on a Bronco years ago that had the clunk going in a straight line but only when in 4x4. Turns out they had replaced a front diff with a different ratio. Just the difference between lots of tread and bald is enough to cause a problem. Not a problem if you leave it in 2 wheel drive.

[Lostboy Steve]

Take it from a guy who has had 4 transmissions in his Avalanche, there's nothing you can do to avoid complete and utter failure when GM uses a #$%* transmission rated for an s10 pickup in a truck with 300+ hp and 8000lbs. This last one is "built" and I am running a deraile cooler and magnefine inline filter. Same thing for the g80 locking rear. Garbage. Been through 2 of those.


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[AlekStooge]

Well like I said in my prior post, I hear differential growling. To me, from that recording, your truck does NOT sound normal. My son has. 2001 Silverado and the wife a 2000 Suburban, a buddy a 2006 Tahoe (all 3 same vintage as yours) and NONE of them sound like that. Nor does my 2004 F-250 Super Duty.

I'll have to do some digging then to see what is causing the growling.

Take it from a guy who has had 4 transmissions in his Avalanche, there's nothing you can do to avoid complete and utter failure when GM uses a #$%* transmission rated for an s10 pickup in a truck with 300+ hp and 8000lbs. This last one is "built" and I am running a deraile cooler and magnefine inline filter. Same thing for the g80 locking rear. Garbage. Been through 2 of those. Damn, what year is your avalanche I want to see if I don't have the same transmission. Hopefully I won't have that problem.


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[RAFster122s]

Could be bad design that larger tires push beyond the engineering spec... Being a cheap design that is overstressed to begin with gets magnitudes worse as the curve is not linear.

Pinion depth and lash could be too loose, finding someone who knows what they are doing is the challenge.  Find out a good shop from the off-road club as they will know who knows their stuff. They should be able to point you to a competent shop for handling transmission and drivetrain issues.

I think madmtnmotors had a very good suggestion and I think your risks are low for total transmission failure...but if it does, then it is a function of the engineering or lack thereof by GM as Lostboy Steve has said.  You are probably looking at a new transmission in the not too distant future, so start saving for it now.  Doing nothing is likely to be sooner than you might imagine.  Changing the fluid could make it come apart or it could give you time to save the few K that good transmission work costs. It is a gamble. I would take the gamble. Dropping the fluid at next oil change would drain much of the junk that might get dislodged.

I have a few new Magnefine filters I had picked up for a car I had, ended up not installing them after all, replaced enough components with new that it was not needed as the reliability of the parts wasn't at issue... The ones I have are clamp into the hose/line style.

David

[AlekStooge]

Just to bring some of you up to speed and to clarify. The transmission fluid was flushed along with other services. The tires are stock size not oversized or all terrain tires any thing like that.

RAF122S: Good idea about seeing someone that is into that stuff, didn't think of it. You'd figure Chevy would be able to point out what's wrong but apparently everything is fine via my previous post.

Again I'd like to know what GM transmission are considered "bad". It seems like general consensus is my transmission's junk. It's a pickup truck after all I don't see the transmissions being poorly designed for a vehicle that may have to tow on a daily bases. I don't tow by the way. If it was a Caviler or something I'd think differentially.

Thanks for the input keep it coming.

[Lostboy Steve]

Just to bring some of you up to speed and to clarify. The transmission fluid was flushed along with other services. The tires are stock size not oversized or all terrain tires any thing like that.

RAF122S: Good idea about seeing someone that is into that stuff, didn't think of it. You'd figure Chevy would be able to point out what's wrong but apparently everything is fine via my previous post.

Again I'd like to know what GM transmission are considered "bad". It seems like general consensus is my transmission's junk. It's a pickup truck after all I don't see the transmissions being poorly designed for a vehicle that may have to tow on a daily bases. I don't tow by the way. If it was a Caviler or something I'd think differentially.

Thanks for the input keep it coming.

The 4l60e which comes in anything from an s10 to a fully loaded Silverado is a rebadged, fully electronic version of the 700r4. Also a piece of crap. Those came in 80s and 90s camaros. Yes, there are those who have good luck with them, but there are more people who don't. GM #$%*ed up well enough that the newer Escalades and Avalanches have a 4l80e which is a very good transmission right out of the box. The 4l80 also comes in the 2500 series trucks. Chevy transmissions are generally very good. Powerglides are virtually indestructible. The th350 and 400 are also very stout. It's the OD transmissions like the 700r4 and 4l60-65 that are ticking time bombs.

Btw my avalanche is an 03 and I love it.... but tomorrow it's getting traded in for a crosstrek because I'm done dumping piles of money into it. Even if my labor is free, parts cost money.


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[AlekStooge]

Damn, I have a 4L60e. Hopefully I'll be one of the lucky ones. Being a newer model Chevy hopefully they've made improvements from the older models with the 4L60e. Not sure what draws people to the Avalanche. I think it's ugly. Kinda looks like an SUV. Sorry