I am religious about hitting the service intervals on my '03 and it's time to do the tranny service again. An ASE Master Mechanic friend of mine recommended I alternate doing a fluid flush and the tranny service at the 30,000 mi interval.

If that's sound advice, I'm due for a flush. They're about the same price and I won't do it myself... too much trouble to mess with and dispose of all that fluid.

Just wondering what the general consensus from the forums might be? It's not that I don't trust my friend's opinion, but I'm curious.

Like a good flush. Get all that junk out that will not come out in a regular fluid change.

Well it depends how long its been since the tranny was last serviced? If its been 100k or longer its not the greatest idea to get it flushed.

If you do consistent changes, you don't need a flush. Make sure you change both filters on your 4.7. Some people will skip the spin-on filter because it's more work. I wouldn't recommend it. It's cheaper than a broken tranny.

I think I might just go for the service (filters/fluid) as opposed to the flush then. As I mentioned in the beginning thread, I'm religious about my maintenance. I did one flush when I bought the vehicle (~36K) and have done a service (filters/fluid) every 30K since. The fluid is still a nice ruby-red.

Why could the flush be harmfull? I had a mechanic tell me that as well

stealth13,

My buddy (ASE Master) was telling me that if you don't regularly service the tranny/change fluid, the old fluid can "caramelize" (as he put it) around the seals. Once you do a flush it can remove all that gunk that was keeping the fluid where it's supposed to go. (I think I got it right...)

He won't do a flush or service on a vehicle that's not had regular transmission service. Causes too many headaches I guess.

Again, I think I got it right, but there's a high probability I got it wrong. I'm a shadetree mechanic, not ASE certified. ;-)

jlampitt You are correct.