i wonder if you can se some kind of degreaser to clean out the pan? if you can i would change it a 3th time to try to get more dirt out. but im not sure how much more you will get out. i know dhvaughan say not to flush it i want to know why? wont flushing it push out all of the dirt/meat/other crap? and im still a little confused on how to put that tranny cooler in you got any more info on it. A diagraph would be nice if u got the time my email is maxdcat123@aol.com thanks. check you collent level u might want to flush that to.

 

is 8 quarts ATF+4 to much? or too little? should i ad more?

 

whats yr trans cooler rated for? is there anything about how many you extra you my need to add?

 

it seems like a little much. mine takes about 7.

have you got a drain plug ? i thought i saw one in your first pic. if so, it gives you an easy way to drain some if you do get too much.

park it on level ground, e-brake on, trans in neutral and not park.
pump doesn't run in park and you get a false reading.
let it run for few minutes.
check the level a couple of times.
check the reading on the top side of the dip stick. the bottom side will read a little higher due to the angle it sits at.

add 1/4 qt. your level really should go up. make sure you are checking the top of stick each time. me being me, i'd keep adding 1/4 qt at a time until i got it where i wanted. its gotta be going somewhere.

 

yo dhvaughan why not flush the trans!

 

dodge1500, there's a few reasons i don't like flushes.
the most common flush is to take it to a shop.
its expensive.
they often use a generic fluid thats not atf+4
they push the fluid in under pressure.
i think, could be wrong, that the fluid path is not the normal path, direction, pressure level, etc of how the transmission usually operates.
i don't like other people working on my truck.
some really crappy places charge you for work, and then never even do it (see stories about jiffy lube). anybody could do that and you'd never know unless you stand there and watch.

the other reason, is that for transmissions that haven't been serviced regularly, i think the most important thing is the 2nd filter change about a week or two later, to make sure its not clogged up. so you're going to dump that first fluid anyway... so i just feel like this works out ok and keeps the cost down.

another way to flush the fluid yourself, is to disconnect the pressure line at the cooler, crank the truck, in neutral, and let the transmission pump the old fluid out into a bucket. obviously, you need to also stand there and refill the transmission fast enough that it doesn't run out, and then whenever you start pumping clean fluid out (about 12 qts later), then you're done. this is ok, just don't let the pan run out of fluid, or you'll ruin the pump. to me this is just more trouble than its worth, compared to a couple of simple fluid/filter changes.

 

i been checking it exactly how you said dhvaughan.

it is a little larger cooler rated for 10,000 lbs but the price differance was only a dollar from the 5,000 lbs one, so i got it.

so if yours takes 7, maybe when i added the cooler it would make the oil compasity a quart more? makin it 8 ?
but it still dont make since to me why it wouldnt move on the dip stick from 6 to 8 quarts.

 

you got a drain plug ?

 

well i guess you could call it that, looks like someone made a hole in the pan and it has a kinda taper in the metal so it dont cut the rubber plug thats used to plug it. so yea i guess i could get it to work ok. seems very tight and dont leak at all.

 

yea i understand about taking it to a shop i hate to lose my truck time i was with out it for 2 day i rip a filter off the passenger side of the truck off what a $$$$ filled day that was. when i had mine done i brought them the fluid i wanted in my trans and the guy who works on my truck went to school with my dad. any way he saved some old fluid it was **** brown! so it was well done. they do use a pump to push the old fluid out and to get the new in he flushed it 2x. my fluid was red agin. i think its worth it to a point im looking at getting a trans cooler from summit now.