I just checked the trans fluid on my new to me 97 1500. Its scary low! Ive seen a couple guys with the bigger pans on their transmissions and i just want to know if it would be worth it to get one? Another huge question i have is weather or not to change the fluid? The gasket around the pan drips like a mother. My autoparts guy seems to think that after a certain amout of miles it is dangerous to change the fluid because it dislodges all the crap that has settled and could possibly ruin internals of the valve body. Is that true?

I just want everyones imput on the situation. What would you do. I need to change the gasket around the pan, and im not rich so having the tans re built is not in the budget. Ive got about 150.00, but i do get an awesome discount on parts.

Let me know what you think.

Another thing to... Is there a good addative to put in the trans to help it out?

 

Remove the pan and change the fluid , filter,and gasket, while the pan is off, add a drain plug. Changing the fluid that's lost during this process is fine. Flushing the tranny is maybe what the guy was talking about. Don't have that done.

 

Would be a great opportunity to put on a deep pan as well.... gotta drop it anyway to fix the leaks, right? And the new pan may even come with a pre-installed drain plug...... thereby 'saving' you money..... (yes, I am twisted. no worries. I can rationalize almost anything.)

Deep pan gives you more fluid capacity, and helps dissipate heat better. Combination of those two makes for a longer lifespan for your trans. Heat is the killer.

 

It's all a matter of finances, the deep pans are not real cheap.

 

Make sure it's not leaking just because the bolts are loose too...

 

+1 Good call there bud, I was going to say that, but since he needs to replace the filter regardless, he would have noticed it. And his next post would be, the bolts were loose

 

+1 on dropping the pan. Change the filter, add new fluid (ATF +4), and new gasket. Do NOT use any additives. I, like zman, recommend installing a drain plug (Dorman #65241, <$5) to make swapping fluids much easier in the future. You'll know what i mean when the trans fluid leaks out everywhere when you are dropping the pan.

Deep pans are expensive, if you can pony up the cash, go for one.

-JT

 

A quick clarification: If you do a full fluid replacement by running the engine to pump the old out while you pour new in, and do it without the use of solvents and without backflushing, it's not going to kick loose anything that wasn't about to come loose during normal operating anyway. I've been doing it that way for years and have yet to scrog a transmission.

It's not a job I'd trust a shop to do. They all want to use solvents, and some will backflush even after telling you that their machine doesn't.

Deep pans with drain plugs FTW. Remote filters, too.

 

Just to add my 2 cents, and since your doing tranny work anyway, remove the check ball valve so it doesn't get plugged up along the road (no pun intended).

 

That's a great place to install the remote filter, in fact. And the remote filter will provide an anti-drainback valve that does the same job as the factory check valve that's failure prone. It's win:win.