OK, 2007 Chevy Suburban, almost 120k. Owned it since early 2009 and it had 50k on it at the time. Now I was planning on towing my 64 T-Bird down to FL (from upstate NY). I wanted to prep the Burban so I did belts & pulleys, oil change, installed a brake controller, finally bought new Bilstein Air shocks, and also did a FULL transmission service on my own... I am not taking the T-Bird with me now, I will be doing that in June.

Now the tranny service included:
New filter, 17 quarts of Castrol Synthetic blend or something, and complete flush.

Procedure:

I drain 4 quarts through the transmission cooler, dropped the pan, replaced the filter and then added 6 quarts. I drained 3 quarts, added 3, drained 3, added 3, and kept this up until I was down to my last quart, i drained 2 quarts and then added 1. (because I added 6 instead of 5 at beginning.). The fluid coming out of the cooler was now a nice bright, clean fluid. The magnet did have decent amount of metallic paste but no chunks or fillings, just the super fine silvery paste, and my 2 friends said it looked to be a normal amount for never being serviced before. Went for a light drive and checked the fluid level and it was right at the " Hot Full" mark

Now, the burban has almost 120k, when i did the service it looked all to be original from the factory and the fluid was a dark red with some brownness to it and it smelled bad, and I just did a major service at 120k. I haven't touched the transmission until now. After I did this my friend told me that he has seen many transmissions go within a few weeks of a major service that was done way after regular service intervals that were never done.

Did I just doom my transmission for my trip down to FL??? I am leaving this weekend.

Thanks for all the help,
Joe

 

Joe,

There are two camps on fluid flushing in older transmissions that have not been normally maintained.

Camp 1) Change the fluid & Filters, as they are dirty. Clean fluid will lubricate and protect the interworkings of the transmission, as the old fluid has lost is protecting ability. Accumulated dirt should be removed, so that further wear will be reduced and the transmission life will be extended.

Camp 2) Do not change the fluid, as the transmission is worn and the old fluid and dirt is helping to provide something for the transmission clutches to grab on to.

I am sure that you made the right decision, as the service has been performed now. I assume that you are not experiencing any slipping?

Have a nice trip to Florida. It looks like the weather is going to improve in Florida next week. It is pretty cold there today.

 

I did the service 2 weeks ago and i notice the transmission is shifting better, especially on WOT (we had one fun run a week ago). No slipping at all.

I feel that i did the right thing as the fluid didn't contain particles of things, only it looked old and used.

Thanks for the reassurance mulmur1.

Anyone else got their 2 cents to add?

 

I changed the fluid in our 08 Malibu at about 130000 miles, That was about 2 years ago (I was told by our dealer that the fluid was not to be changed until 150000 miles which was wrong) We just traded it in with 167000 and the transmission was working like a champ. If you are not having any issues a month later I think you will be fine.
I think the tranny fluid nowadays is far superior than what was around just 10 years ago.
Do you have the heavy duty tow package? if not I would add a tranny cooler.

I want to see a picture of the T-Bird behind the Suburban when you get it loaded up for the trip.

 

That's really good to hear, turns out there is a BIG change in plans... I'm leaving for fl tonight!

 

I hope all is well.

Then get that picture tonight!!

 

Oh sorry, I stated in my first post that am no longer hauling the T-Bird with me for this trip. I am making a second trip in June, and it will just be me and my oldest.

It's going to a family of 5 with a weeks worth of things and if something goes wrong when towing the T-Bird it would be much easier if it was just me and my son rather than the whole family.

And my T-Bird isn't in good shape I have left sitting for over 20 years in my barn. (i know shame on me) But my brother in law (who we are visiting) owns a shop and he will fix it up over the years. To help get the price down I made with him that he gets the T-Bird in winter and I get it in summer. That way it will stay out of the Northern Salt roads and not sit for long periods of time.

 

Sorry I missed the "I was planning"

A T-bird that has been sitting in a barn for 20 years. Thats the kind of cars I like. The Neighbor has a Mid 60's Suburban (I have been wanting to get) for 16+ years just sitting in his pasture.