Alright guys, here's my dilemma. 03' 4x4 1500 5.9 (beginning to find out my ram is kinda rare).

This is sort of a different topic than my other tranny post so.... my fluid is brown, not burnt. Talking to my good friend and mech, he said that sometimes replacing really old fluid can rejuvinate tranny pressure suddenly and harm the seals and such.

Any opinions?

 

Seen it happen, but always when people flush the entire system and re-fill with new. I'd recommend with anything with some age on it you just drop the pan, do a filter change and re-fill to full. You won't even change half the fluid, but it won't "shock" the thing. After a few changes you'll have pretty much all new fluid.

Obviously you want to do this more frequently than when changing all the fluid but on a tranny with some age on it, I think it's the best way not to "cause" a problem...

 

They've talked about flushing on cartalk and they seem to think its safe even on high mileage cars. Its an oft perpetuated myth. Though id be weary of anything that uses pressure to flush. Whether or not I agree remains to be seen. Ill be doing the transcooler type flush described here before too long, but I need to drop the pan and change the filters too.

 

Nah not a flush, just a typical pan-off, filter, and replace what comes out.

My worry is making a problem present itself. Has me worried since this is now my 4x4 driver to work.

Have any of you replaced old brown fluid with new, just a pan drain and filter change? What were the results?

 

did the pan drop and filter change on a 03 chevy van and its been running great. the fluid i took out of it was not burnt but hadnt been changed for a long time. Real easy to do but can tke a little bit of time if you dont have a drain plug.

 

transmissions generate all kinds of pressure.. pressure ain't gonna hurt it.. what will:

- pressure flushing in the wrong direction.. which is what most the bone heads do because it's simple..

- pressure flushing in the wrong direction with the filter still in it.. do you really think the lazy tech who reverse flushes is going to pull the filter? uh-oh..

- dislodging particles hiding out in crevices.. and relocating them in the valve body.. go ahead.. clog up a few passages and see what happens.. AAMCO dares you..

- hitting the heat exchanges with too much pressure and dislodging crap in them and sending them back through your transmission.. uh oh.. see above..


the 46RFE holds somewhere around 18qrts of ATF+4 !!!!ONLY ATF+4!!!!... a pan drop and fill will change out about 5 or so quarts.. leave it to drain overnight, and you may get 8 quarts out of it.. there is only one somewhat safe way to exchange fluid.. you're not going to like it.. I'll get there in a second or two..

there is a high pressure line running to your radiator.. it is identified by the big brass check ball housing and snap set connector.. you're going to want to get rid of that.. get a high pressure release tool, and disconnect it (radiator side)...

the big brass thing is a 7/8" fitting.. unscrew it too.. take that hose and look at the end of it under the 7/8" fitting.. there is a little plastic ball in that thing that needs to join BigFoot or Hoffa- your choice.. a tiny drill bit works fine.. get ALL of it out, including the spring..

that check ball collects crap as it passes, and often times clogs.. if it clogs, you stand a chance of starving your trans of fluid- and you'll burn it up.. you'll want to use some air pressure to make sure it is clear of small metal debris after gutting it..

you stand a small chance of your torque converter draining back without the check ball, but it is slight.. to combat that, buy an inline external transmission filter.. plop it in right at that location... for a nice DIY, cruise over to the second gen faq section and search..

it's been a few seconds..

to clear out ALL of the old fluid, you have to stage about 20 or so quarts of ATF+4, opened and ready to go, and within easy reach..

you're going to want to have the low pressure (return from radiator) dangling in a five gallon bucket- or at least pointed with some decent accuracy..

your going to want a decent sized funnel in the throat of the fill tube..

you're going to want someone to be sitting at the helm, and start your truck and drop it in neutral..

you're going to need to pour new fluid in about as fast as the old fluid hits that bucket.. when you see fresh fluid coming out, your finished.. it hauls fanny.. I'd advise practice before attempting this if I advised you to do this in the first place..

the pan drop and fill is fine.. say, six quarts.. hold onto another six or so, and use them in a few weeks.. this is the safest way.. make sure and use a new filter in the pan, and torque it back in place to specs..

 

I know there is a lot to be said for getting ALL the old out and put in ALL new and fresh, but next month will make it 29 years I've been driving, been doing the "drop the pan, let it drain for a couple of hours, replace the filter(s), button it up, top it off" deal every 30k miles for all that time. Ain't had a tranny need work yet. I went to the old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, upgrade it" school...

 

Drew, I read you on all that. Have a '96 1500 5.9 that I contemplated doing that with. Glad I didn't, sounds like a pain. I DO appreciate the info though.

Also, I can see that my '03 has that check valve looking gizmo near the cooler. Did the later models have the "too small and clogs" problem too?! I hope not.

Hammer, I'm glad you posted your experience. I think that's exactly what I'm gonna do. Just integrate a few new quarts and a filter to start. Then a hundred miles later I'll reapeat, filter and all.

I've done my '96, but does the '03 have only one filter? Is there an inline anywhere?

 

yeah, the later models suffered the same transmission issues as the early.. I've not a clue why they didn't address something so easy.. every transmission tech was screaming "it's EASY, fix it!!"- many shops won't warranty a rebuild unless that thing is removed.. it's likely the number one issue on them.. they clog- even momentarily, and the trans gets hot--- then, flows.. then clogs.. folks aren't even aware what's happening.. By the time you see the o/d off light and/or the trans heat light- the damage is done.. you have ruined transmission fluid, and hard parts with a nice varnish, and you can imagine what that does to clutch surfaces in the meantime.. Dodge DID 'enhance' torque management in effort to save the trans some wear, but depending on how you use it, it may in fact cause issues rather than fix it..

the only thing I'm pretty sure they addressed in the later models is the plenum pan bolts.. they are shorter, which allows them to be torqued instead of bottomed out.. My OE Plenum gasket lasted until about 130k or so... that was unusual.. it ultimately gave, though, which lends credit to the notion of 'different metals expanding/contracting at different rates' being the cause of the systematic blow-outs..

the check valve delete is almost a required modification, and is absolutely required if you want a transmission to pull/haul or generally work.. the external filter makes life easier and protects your trans, but it also provides the same 'anti drain back' function the check valve was designed to do..

 

Ok, dropped the pan today and replaced the filter.

Santa didn't leave me any presents in there (whew, hate the anticipation). Magnet had some metal goo but not too bad.

Fluid was brown but didn't smell burnt. Replaced with some atf+4(another thread, btw thx).

New filter and fill and she was a swiss watch on the road. I hope she holds up ok. Gonna pull more fluid when I do the check valve delete.

Btw, what kind of filter, and where do I get it to replace the check valve?