Power flush? It's not like they force fluid through your tranny. The only thing the machine does is collect the fluid pumped out of the cooling line, and replace it with fresh fluid. There's not any way for it to "dislodge" anything any more than it would just starting the truck! And what's more, it's really the only way to completely replace the fluid. It's a 1 to 1 replacement which is done by the tranny's pump pressure alone. The fluid pumped back in is only under enough pressure to return it to the system at the same rate it is removed. The machine measures the flow rate and returns fluid at a matched rate. It also has an internal bypass to allow recirculation of fluid before the flush starts, and after it completes.

If you think you are "pressure washing" your tranny's guts with fluid during a flush, that's simply untrue. It's no more different in concept than flushing your cooling system or bleeding your brakes.

A proper flush will take 20 quarts minimum. You do have to watch those guys though, they will often set the machine for 10-16 quarts, like for a small FWD passenger car, in order to save a buck on a couple quarts of fluid. And, what's more, there have been several cases where the flush was not done at all, paid for, signed for, but never done. You have to watch those a$$holes. Same with a fuel filter or chassis lube. Mark your old fuel filter with a Sharpie and check your lube points for fresh grease. Those little grease monkeys will do almost anything to screw somebody.

 

i agree with triton. thie quick lube places do have the special machine, but do they know how to use it?? those places are about in and out fast. like macdonalds.id rather pay a bit more a go to a reputable tranny shop.thats just me though.

 

All they do is connect the cooler lines, fill the machine with fluid, set the size of the tranny which in turn controls the amound of fluid exchanged, start the vehicle, and press the "go" button. The whole machine has only like 4 buttons. LOL! It's made for idiots and dumba$$es!

 

I don't want to poke fingers at anyone, but check out this consumer report from I believe a So. Cal TV station...

http://mfile.akamai.com/12924/wmv/vo...52183.200k.asx

 

right on K.C everyone should buy a hayes manual and study it. best 15$ you will ever spend. and if you have a honest mechanic you go to when you are really stuck on a problem. stick with him.even throw him a few extra bucks,well worth it.

 

WOW!!! Just watch that video KC . That does wonders restoring ones faith in humanity. How do they live with themselves? It's to bad Haynes and Chiltons won't instruct you either , niether explain a trans flush , they should tho.

 

Can you believe that? Five out of nine shops burned them... And how about that "Regional Manager"???

Unfortunately this is nothing new. I used to work on cars in my younger days and would never have done anything like that or recommend unneeded parts or service. I used to work on alot of senior citizens cars and treated them like they were my own mom or dad. After several years and little to no salary increases I was told by the shop owner that because the customers loved me and my work, I had a job there as long as I wanted it. But until I "jump on the bandwagon and start selling some of these gray area/questionable parts and service" I would not be getting a raise. Needless to say I gave him my two week notice on the spot and moved on. (BTW, Karma caught up with him in the worst way a couple years later and he assumed room temperature.)

 

Yeah , that's just sick . I've seen Karma in action enough to know it should be feared on the bad side. What comes around goes around in life. Obviously these guys didn't have a clue..

 

There is a difference between a fluid exchange and a flush. A fluid exchange is not harmful to the transmission. A machine, usually a Wynns or T-tech, works in conjunction with the transmission pump on the vehicle to replace all the fluid in the transmission. I had this service performed on 98 Ranger several years ago. It took about 45 minutes of idling to replace 14 quarts of Castrol Mercon V atf. For $60 (I had a coupon) not a bad deal at all.

My Ford dealer uses a power flush machine with a solvent cleaner. Its not the same as the exchange machine. On a newer vehicle its not likely to hurt much but on one that is 14 years old I would steer away from this type of service.

Many service centers, even at the dealer, prefer to do these services because they're quick and require little skill to perform. Most tire/oil change joints won't drop a pan they'll only disconnect the transmission lines for their machine. If you want the pan dropped, filter replaced and torque converter drained you will most likely have to do it yourself or find a garage with techs who do these types of services frequently. There is a diffence between mechanics and tire busters.

Personally, on a 14 year old truck I would drop the pan, change the filter, drain the torque converter button the whole thing up and refill.

 

That's exactly what I was talking about!

Mark your fuel filter with a Sharpie.

Stay and watch them perform the work. You will be able to see them run the tranny service. Pay attention to the size of tranny they select when starting the service. I had it done at a Tune-Up Masters here and they selected a 10 quart service like that for a compact car. On the F150's, they should do the 20 quart service.

If you don't have time to stay and watch, wait! Get it done another day! They are some slimy bastards, you have to keep an eye on them!

I had one of them strip out a drain-plug once, they didn't do anything about it. Thankfully, I spotted the oil slick forming under my truck just down the road where it had leaked out ALL its oil while I was in a store. Had I not, well, hopefully I would have noticed the oil light, 0 pressure, or something. If not, the motor would have been toast. I called them and they had it towed back to the shop where they installed a new drain-plug. Very lucky situation. I was only about 4 blocks down the road from them where I stopped. But if I had been on a trip, things could have been BAD.

 

Yeah, definitely wouldn't do that on an old tranny. Actually, I wouldn't do that on any tranny. I had the tranny serviced on a Windstar we used to have at the dealer. It trashed the tranny. After the service, it was clunking, not wanting to shift, making classic torque converter noise, etc. I traded it off. I'd be willing to bet that's exactly what they did.

They do offer a service at the dealer where they clean and disinfect your evaporator coil. That's definitely worth it. If you've ever noticed your AC not working quite as well over time, and it might smell like mildew, but you don't have any leaks and your high/low pressures look good on a manifold, have that service done! It really does work much better after that! The only vehicles that I haven't had that done on is my Gator's. They have that air filter system and seem to do just fine on their own.

 

I just flushed mine for the second time - well if you can even call it it flush , Idunno lol . Lucky enough to have a drain bolt on the pan and a drain bolt on the converter - Drained the pan , then the converter , pulled both lines off the the tranny - fed it some cooler flusher along with 40lbs of compressed air and blew the lines out one way , then back the other way . 10 minutes each way. I was thinking that I prolly didn't get everything out , but I'll be damned if it didn't take 16 quarts to filler back up. I like that method. Used Amsoil, turned out okay this time, was worried at first because I could feel a slight shudder right off, but that went away in a couple days , sweatin it for a while tho. That Amsoil some good stuff, It wasn't cheap!!