Changed trans fluid-where did it all come from?

[al koffman]

Pulled the plug and drained the tranny this morning, would you believe 14 quarts drained out! This was the third time I changed fluid. The first time I drained it, the trans was warm and just under 10 quarts came out. The second time the rig hadn't run for about a month and just under 11 quarts. This time again hadn't run in about a month, put the 12 quart bucket under, pulled the plug, went into the house for about an hour, came back out and liked to you know what. The bucket overflowed and the pad was covered with oil. The bucket overflowed at what I would estimate was 13 quarts and it looked like a good quart on the cement pad. My guesstimate was right on. Took 14 quarts to refill.

OK guys, where did it all come from.

[M&EM]

Originally Posted by al koffman

Pulled the plug and drained the tranny this morning, would you believe 14 quarts drained out! This was the third time I changed fluid. The first time I drained it, the trans

OK guys, where did it all come from.

Al,

Has to be the torque converter and/or trans cooling system/lines. I also extracted close to 14 qts second time around. It was after rig sat unused for more than a month. First time was warm and drained overnight- only got about 10 qts also..

Marty

[Oemtech]

13 - 14 quarts is about the norm when the rig has sat for awhile.

[DriVer]

The torque converter will not drain, there is no accommodation for that. It is recommended that the machine sit overnight (longer) to allow the tranny cooler and the lines to drain down into the pan.

That's where you got the 13 quarts from!

[Full-Timers]

Not to hijack the post but I have a related question. I know it takes two drain and refills to get full synthetic fluid in the tranny but if I drain my Non-Synthetic fluid and replace it with synthetic, is there any benefit if I only do it once? I would think having mostly Synthetic would be much better than none.

[speed racer]

After any automatic trans sets for a period of time half of the fluid in the converter will drain out. It drains down to just below the center point. We would drill and tap the converters to get the rest of the oil out but with the lockup converters you can't do that anymore.

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by Full-Timers

Not to hijack the post but I have a related question. I know it takes two drain and refills to get full synthetic fluid in the tranny but if I drain my Non-Synthetic fluid and replace it with synthetic, is there any benefit if I only do it once? I would think having mostly Synthetic would be much better than none.

Full-Timers, Yes that's true. The reason why it's true is because synthetic is compatible with the fluid that's in there already. New fluid in whatever form it takes is better than old.

If you are going to do this, a transmission costs way more than 2 refills of synthetic fluid. If you are in for the Penny then you have to commit to the Pound!

Filling your tranny with synthetic fluid will provide many benefits and that's why all OE Allison transmission come pre-filled with Transynd.

In regard to your question, Allison has written that 2 "good" fluid replacement upgrades from dino fluid will provide a high enough concentration percentage of synthetic fluid to provide the protection and benefit that a 100% fill will typically offer.

[al koffman]

Still don't understand why over 3 quarts more drained this time, the third time, than the second time. In both cases the rig had not been run for at least a month. There is probably no reasonable explanation, just inquiring minds like to know.

An interesting point. I now have 48k miles. Each time I changed fluid it came out looking like it went in. No discoloration, same feel and smell as the new stuff. Many of those miles were in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming, lots of 7-8 and a few 9% grades to go up and down. And I'm still using DEXlll or I should say the equivalent. Guess you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

And DriVer, you finally convinced me to flush the brake system. Did it last summer, and boy, was it crappy looking. And fortunately no brake problems what so ever, got to admit I've been one happy camper with this workhorse, even took the 5 Actia changes in stride.

[edgray]

Originally Posted by al koffman

Still don't understand why over 3 quarts more drained this time, the third time, than the second time......There is probably no reasonable explanation, just inquiring minds like to know................

AL: Didn't you hear....gravity is stronger this year! Ed

[DriVer]

Originally Posted by al koffman

... and DriVer, you finally convinced me to flush the brake system. Did it last summer, and boy, was it crappy looking. And fortunately no brake problems what so ever, got to admit I've been one happy camper with this workhorse, even took the 5 Actia changes in stride.

Flushing the fluid in your brake system is the best thing that you can do in the interim to help yourself stave off bigger problems and help manage as best as possible the current situation that we all have to deal with.

Going forward and on conclusion of the campaign, I hope that all subscribers to this forum will indeed follow the requirement to flush their brake fluid every 2 years whether it needs it or not! Investing in a few quarts of DOT3 every 2 years is beneficial for a number of reasons but the main one is to assure that the boiling point of the fluid remains on spec.

Once the brake situation is under control I guess we can go back to the days when the biggest problems here were IPs, plug wires and Auto Apply Brakes.

If you're out on the East Coast check out the Club Rally on Cape Hatteras.