Before draining or flushing you should pull the dip stick and look at the fluid with a white paper towel. If it is dark, burnt smelling, and you see little flakes or speck in it, DO NOT FLUSH IT. The fluid and transmission is burnt, but the transmission just has not figured out it should die yet. It is then time to look for good used transmissions.
What is happening in these cases is that the fluid is too old or got too hot and actually became burnt. Almost like catching fire, in fact probably very close to a fire inside the transmission. By letting the fluid become burnt and damaged, all of the additives become ineffective.
One of the main additives is a detergent they put in the fluid. The detergent or cleaning agent is used because transmission fluid is not changed as often as engine oil. Therefore it becomes necessary to have plenty of detergents or cleaning agents in the automatic transmission fluid so the contaminants stay in suspension and don’t congregate in one area.
When the fluid is burnt up and dirty, by replacing the fluid with fresh fluid full of detergent and cleaners, the debris becomes dislodged and naturally finds it’s way to the control mechanism called the valve body. The other thing that happens is the new fluid with detergent can loosen the glue that holds the clutch plates and band material that holds them to their backing plates.
The goal here is to flush the trans BEFORE the fluid gets damaged. If you have the insight to keep the fluid changed at my personal fluid change specifications than the fluid will never change color or become burnt, which is why a strict maintenance schedule needs to be implemented and followed.
Extenuating circumstances call for early maintenance. Particularly if the engine overheats. The transmission is cooled by the engines radiator also, when the engine overheats, so does the transmission. If you pull a heavy load with your vehicle and add hot weather to the mix, then it becomes imperative to check the transmission fluid until the slightest hint of discolor appears. At that point you know to change the fluid in your transmission 1000 miles before the point it has a slight hint of discoloration. Thus preventing needless transmission failure.
One of your transmissions best friends is an auxiliary transmission cooler. It is very dramatic at how much longer your transmission will live, if it fails at all, when you remove 15 to 20 degrees of heat from a transmission. Probably saves needing to find a place that sells used transmissions.
If you become stuck in a spot that requires a replacement transmission, it is natural for you to do business with a company like GotTransmissions.com. It is easy to see we don’t wish anyone to have a need for a transmission for sale. This is the type of company that is more interested in customer satisfaction than making the big buck..
