$190 at the dealer, crap. Mine needs to get it done, I have not had it done and I dont think the old owners did either. But since I got stuck, I have been thinking about it since I rocked the truck back and forth pretty rough

 

Im gonna kill some idiots who design things that have never worked on a dam thing for a second in their life. I finally got my transmission fluid changed. I highly recommend that... If ya got access to a lift, USE IT! If you can remove the cross member, DO IT! GET a big pan to do all of this on also! Its messy.

How does one drain the torque converter? only reason i ask is that i still, even after filling with 5 quarts of valvoline atf+4, can barely get any readings on the dipstick. (and it may be this dipstick not reading it right. I have the motor running, sitting on flat ground, and after i have made a few laps around the block. could my torque converter be running low? how does one find out?

 

Man I hate checking trans fluid levels. But I always try to do it when it's warmed up, but not hot like after a long trip. Just around operating temps, but you know I still have hard times getting any kind of accurate reading. So I just trust it's good and keep an eye on the color lol. Hopefully someone will chime in and enlighten us both.

 

The dealer that my truck originally came from, (not exactly local), always sends me service coupons, it has my VIN on the coupons. I brought in a $99 transmission service coupon to my local dealer, they didn't seem like they wanted to take it, but finally did. With the VIN on there, they pretty much had to take it.

 

Well, I thought that replacing the transmission fluid would cure one of my original problem, the transmission temperature light on the dash. It doesnt seem to have any rhyme or reason when it turns the light on. I was thinking that it may just be a "service transmission soon" light like they used to do to make ya haul a viehicle in to have the dealer do some routine maintaince at like 75000 miles or so.

I have also noticed that when shifting into reverse, or drive, it take it a little bit for the transmission to actually get into gear. When i got the truck, it didnt have any problem at all. when ya shift into gear, it went straight into gear, and was goin.

Im gonna try and disconnect the positive battery cable and see if that could help reset and relearn things. I sure hope that it aint anything more than this, or if it is, i hope that i can milk it out till next year. (kinda broke, but thats when Murphy becomes your "buddy".

 

Well, Disconnecting the battery didnt solve anything. Wierd thing is that I went about 20 miles doing 70mph today, then 2 to 4 hours later, i went only 3 miles doing 70, and the light came on, then a few seconds later, it went right back off. It doesnt act like it comes on or goes off at any regular intervals.

 

Changing the ATF is a messy job, but you can buy a cheap pump at Harbor Freight that will allow you to pump out most of the fluid (through the fill tube) before you drop the pan. This makes the job less messy.