I just changed the pan [rusted through] and gasket/filter on my 2002/2500 5.9 with 46RE tranny. I found a 1.25" piece of snap ring on the magnet. Cottman tranny told me it is a piece of the snap ring for the OD/reverse. He told me this was a very common problem with these trannys and the only fix is a rebuild with new update. I was told to drive it till it craps, the cost is the same getting the rebuild now/later. $1800. He also said 1 of 2 things may happen; 1 day I won't be able to reverse, 2 - another piece of snap ring may stop my shifter linkage from getting into/out of gear.

 

Is there a question in there for us, spock, or were you just posting that for our informational benefit?

If you are asking us our opinions on what the tranny guy told you, let me know and I will move your post to a new thread.

 

Drop your pan, change this filter, put a plug in the pan so you will do it more often, and call it a day. If you are dead set on getting a tranny flush, go to a reputable transmission shop and ask them what to do. The are probably going to tell you the same thing. Or if you want a new transmission, go to your local Jiffy Lube, Wal-Mart, or random idiot with a flush machine, get your tranny flushed, and drive....Alot of times shops skip basic maintenance on their machines or just dont care what they flush your tranny with. I never flush my transmission, but drop the filter and drain the fluid every 20k miles or after every deployment.

 

Ive never flushed my tranny always had the pan dropped with filter changed no problems sith that

 

Flushing with a machine is generally a bad idea. Some machines, like the Wynn, rely upon your transmission to do the pumping, which is good, but they also publish a procedure that includes dumping a solvent into the transmission, which is bad. So in general, machine flushing is bad.

What I do every 60,000 miles or so after changing the filter is to open up the cooling return line and with a bunch of quarts of ATF already open and handy, start the engine to pump the old ATF out while I pour more in at about the same rate. When the new brightly colored ATF shows in the stream, shut it all down, reconnect, and top up. Or, every now and then when I'm a little too aggressive on the pour, draw out the excess with a transfer pump.

This is where a remote filter comes in handy -- I don't change internal filters until around 250,000 miles, so I don't end up wasting five quarts or more on the filter change and refill just to get started.

Anyway, the whole "crap in the oil replaces the function of friction material and the transmission gets used to it" thing is a myth. Crap in the oil causes wear, period. Transmissions are machines, not living beings that adapt to adversity. The problem: If the maintenance has been neglected, some of that friction material and some varnish from the ATF it's circulating in has baked on in places where metal has eroded away, and removing that crap filler can exacerbate leaks that already exist. The transmission is already a rebuild candidate, but removing the crap hastens along the dramatic failure that lands it in the shop. If you're counting on baked-on crap to keep your truck moving, it really is time for a fresh rebuild because the old unit is just looking for an excuse to leave you walking. Wouldja rather spend the money and the time at your convenience, or wait until the failure forces you to act?

Myself: My truck was still moving under its own power but with a slippery, flaring 3-4 shift when the new transmission went in. I wasn't willing to wait for the total failure, because it might have come when I was hundreds of miles from home and I'd be stuck dealing with some guy who knew he had me by the ******. Instead, I ordered up a PATC Mega Viper and was done with it all in one swell foop. If it was me with your truck, I'd do a flush as I've described above and if the trans lets go I'd just replace it without a second thought. After all, the purpose of the truck is to go where you want to be and get you home again. If it won't do that, or you can't trust it to do that, it's broke.