Hi all. Well today i decided to add on an aux temp gauge on my tranny. Nothing fancy just a cheap mechanical one so i can get an idea on the temps.
Well when i pulled the line off the trans cooler output, I put a container to catch the atf till i put i new "T" in the line for the gauge. Lost about a quart and was going to reuse it but i decided to check it out first and see what kinda condition the fluid was in. At first it seemed okay until i shined i bright flashlight on it. Then i could see very fine silver "glitter" floating around almost like dust. I put some on a white napkin and their is no black particles and otherwise looks new. Now im kinda nervous about this now. It seems to shift good but i have heard a bit of a "rattle" only in park sometimes the day i got it back till now. Sounds a bit like a worn throw out bearing maybe. I don't think it runs too hot. ill know tomorrow after i drive around with the new gauge hooked up though. I have a pretty large cooler on it too. The tranny was also rebuilt about 11K ago. Could this just be particles from before the rebuild?

 

Im sure many here would recommend that you install an inline oil filter to catch the small particles that the trans filter isn`t catching.

 

Might be a good time to drop the pan and see what everything in there looks like. Check out the magnet on the bottom and make sure there are no large chunks of metal on it. Having some very fine metal particles is a normal sign of wear over time but usually they are contained in the pan magnet and the filter. An external trans filter isn't a bad idea tho, there are a couple threads around here on those.

 

okay thanks guys. i bought a "spin on" filter kit online also noticed the trans runs really cool it seems. in town seems to get it to 160 ish though i did see it at 180 with heavy stop & go in a construction area and on the interstate drops almost to 100-110. i have the factory external cooler plus a b&m cooler i bought. i had added it cause i needed to haul a friends car bout 40 miles and it had been in the mid 90's so i wanted to make sure i wasn't going to cook it.

 

Depending on what area you're in, you're going to want to make sure that trans doesnt get too cold....keeping the tranny too cold can be as bad as overheating it. I live in PA and have just the factory cooler on my 01 offroad edition w/ tow package...it is more than sufficient as I dont do any heavy towing on a regular basis and the weather here stays cool. Having two coolers may be too much if you're in a colder area

 

There are thermostatic bypasses available.

 

well i drove up to the place i got my tranny rebuilt today. he looked at the fluid and drove i a bit with me and said it seemed okay and for the silver glitter like particles, he said it should be okay but if it gives me any trouble to let him know. i mentioned a external filter and said it wouldn't hurt any. thanks guys for the help