Ok so yesterday me and my neighbor were inspecting his blazer and we checked the transmission fluid and when we pulled the stick out the fluid was kind of grimy and you can tell its grinding in there. Now were not sure how long its been like this and I've heard of people changing their transmission fluid and 2 weeks later it burning. What do you think he should do? Just drop the pan and change it? Or leave it because of not knowing how long its been like that

 

Go ahead and change the fluid and clean the pan and magnet. New clean fluid will not hurt the tansmission. Sometimes the dipstick tube rusts inside and can make things look worse than they really are. I would guess that people who have changed the fluid and lost the transmission shortly after changed their fluid too late or had other problems.

 

I have to disagree.
The old fluid is full of crap and that crap is stopping the seals from leaking, and letting the tranny survive. Eventually it will need to be replaced and he should start saving his $100 bills immediately.

Tranny fluid is full of detergents.
Just dropping hte pan and replacing 4 quarts will add new fluid that will remove all the crap sealing those gaskets/seals. Teh tranny will then start a rapid decline. So yes, changing the fluid will lead to the trannies death. Its already on its last legs, and putting in new fluid will speed up the final stage of death.

If you must replace the fluid (drop the pan), then replace 1 quart of tranny fluid with 1 quart of tranny shock, tranny treatment. Lucas sells a decent product. Ask at your local autoparts store. This will help those now clean seals/gaskets do thier job, however it is still on its last leg.

Replacing tranny fluid will not fix the problem. Its already slipping, you may not notice it wheile driving yet, but its happening and the prove is the color of the fluid.

Changing the filter doesnt do any good either. The only thing it filters is debris from clutch packs and gaskets/seals. There is no outside debris to filter. If the filter is plugged its plugged with worn out tranny parts.


What I recommend.
Save the money for a rebuild and start shoping now.
Dont waste your time on a new unit. Rebuilds are much stronger. Everybody and thier brother makes upgrades for this tranny. It is the most popular tranny on the market. Besides the upgrades, have a tranny cooler installed, tranny tempurature gage, and a tranny drain plug.

The number one reason transmission fail is heat. The heat cooks the seals/gaskets, which casues them to leak, which casues the tranny to slip, which makes more heat, which cases the seals/gaskets to get even harder and leak more. As the tranny slips it wear off clutch pack material, that material gives the tranny fluid a dark metalic color, and if its bad enough a burnt smell. Some of that material will help fill the leaks. Its a visous cycle, replacing tranny fluid with new will clean detergent filled fluid will remove that debris helping the seals/gaskets do thier job, chich leads to total failure sooner.

Once the unit has been rebuilt, and all the goodies installed.
At least once per year, drain the pan through your new drain plug, add 4 quarts, verify fluid level, and enjoy. That tranny should outlive the rst of your truck, unless your overheating it. By hey, thats why you got the temp gage so you dont let it run hot.

Hot is anything over 190-200 degress.

Im sure there is more I could type, but Im running out of time.
Questions?
Post them.

 

thanks for that that really makes sence because it happened to me. my friends told me her tranny was slipping when I pulled the dipstick it was grimmie with lil to no fluid looked under and the pan was loose in many diferent spots I tighted that and refilled with fluid and put in the a transflush it ran pretty while i was letting the trans flush circulate though. then i lost reverse. drop the pan changed the filter it ran really strong for about a day with no reverse. then the I lost fourth and fifth i guess this is what happen what you said he he daamm.

 

Thanks for the useful information I have never had it explained that to where I could understand it so thanks haha. The fluid is a little darker but not really dark after a few checks. lucas transmission slip and fix was put into it too. So we will see how long it will go. I will post on here if it dies ever

 

Good Luck.

One thing I would like to add.
I have heard that every hr 10 degrees over normal operating temp reduces tranny life by 10,000 miles.
20 degrees over normal 20,000 miles. Etc.

 

Yep, I'm a believer in changing the fluid ~30k miles of use and like you say, Tim, changing it after there is a problem does not solve anything. But I like to change the filter since I have the pan down, anyway.