Jamie said:
Thanks!
I may do this. The only difference is that the Volvo guys said they use
a detergent also. That's what I wasn't sure of.
Jamie
Jamie wrote:
I would never do the detergent thing. It is popular (i.e. profitable)
in the shops, but IMO a bad idea.
The best thing to do is to drop the pan so you can thoroughly clean the
residue out of it. You will be surprised how much black gunk has
settled to the bottom of the pan. Next refill the transmission to
replace whatever came out with the pan drop.
Then do the manual flush as described in the prior posters listing. I
remove the top connector at the radiator, which avoids messing with the
battery, etc. Be carefull to put a second wrench on the radiator side
of the connection to provide counter torque or you can make a real mess.
Also, get decent quality flare nut wrenches and don't just use an open
end wrench. You really don't want to bugger up the transmission line
fitting.
For hose I use regular clear PVC from the local hardware store. I use
two length of hose, one with an OD sufficient to make a snug fit into
the radiator and another with an ID which fits snuggly over the end of
the removed transmission line. Different vehicles have different
directions of flow through the tranny cooler in the radiator, so this
way I don't have to figure out which way it is going. In use one hose
will fill with fluid and the other will not. Put both hoses into your
catch container. I buy the new ATF in gallon bottles (Pennzoil Dexron
is sold that way at our local Wally World) and keep an old bottle one or
two on hand. Clean gallon milk jugs work as well. I use these as the
catch for the old fluid so I can keep track of how much has been pumped
out. When I can get a friend to help I have him sit in the car and man
the ignition switch so I can pour fresh fluid in at about the rate the
old is coming out. When the refill gets behind I have him shut the car
off. Also, shutting down to change catch bottles is a good thing
.
Keep your wits about you and be careful. By all means don't pump the
tranny dry.
Finally, by all means use a well known brand of fluid. I would not
cheap out with some store brand or off-brand stuff. Sure they all
"meet specs", but it is one thing to just barely make spec and another
to produce a quality product. Look for bottles marked "Meets
Specification H", which is a tighter standard for Dexron III released a
few years ago. All recent manufacture fluid should meet this spec, but
some places still have old stuff in stock.
John
PS Recycle the used ATF anywhere used motor oil is recycled. Kragen,
many Autozones and Wall Mart are some of the places which take used oil
around here.
