transmission service

[Felipe]

I thought I would post this in case anyone was thinking of servicing their transmission. What a PITA
My Tahoe has 150,000 miles on it. I had no idea what the previous owner had really kept up with. I wanted to change all fluids; after changing everything the only thing left was the transmission fluid. No one and I mean no one wanted to touch the trans. I thought about it. I decided to go ahead and do it myself since no one else would.
I went to Oriely auto parts and bought the stuff. By the way you will more than likely have the deep pan if they ask. The deep pan has a little step in it. Shallow pan is flat.
I raised the vehicle looked at the trans. bolts, they looked like they never had a wrench on them. drained the fluid (dark red) at least not burnt.
First thing you need to do is disconnect the shift linkage, no big deal.
Then get a #40 torx driver with as small a ratchet as you can find, and loosen the 2 bolts that hold the shift cable bracket.( Hardly any room for your hand much less a tool in there) .
Then take off the the heat shield on the opposite side. Then your ready to drop the pan.
Remove the new filter from the box and THROW AWAY the filter seal. I did not.
What a PITA it was to try and remove the seal in the transmission. I ended up scratching the seal bore slightly with a screw driver trying to beat and pry the old seal out. The new seal will not just slip right in either oh no; you have to literally beat it in. I used a socket the diameter of the seal and an extension to hammer on. Got it all back together and all seems to be working fine. I don't know what happens if you scratch the seal bore but your not supposed to touch it. Very delicate metal :superhack:
Looking back I could have reused the old seal there was nothing wrong with it but after the first attempt to remove it the rubber ripped and it was done.
REUSE YOUR OLD SEAL IF AT ALL POSSIBLE..
Hope this helps someone in a similar situation one day.
By the way no harm was done by changing the fluid, the transmission shifts fine and I have the piece of mind now that it has new fluid in it.

 

[MO Viet Vet]

You have "partial" new fluid in it. You still have old fluid that was inside the valve body and torque convertor and cooler/lines that is now mixed with the "new" fluid. Still better than not doing it IMO. If was done on a regular basis over the life of the trans that would be ok to do that and throw in a flush every 90k-100k or so. The filter seal would not have been so hard to remove each time either. If the trans was serviced then techs get lazy and leave the old seal in there over time. Techs, good techs, will have a set of picks that help remove the old seal. The trick to install the new one is to mount on the filter and lube it and the bore and twist a little as insert it and then when clears the edges then push straight up. Small amount of light grease can be the seal and bore lube instead of trans fluid.

 

[Felipe]

Yeah I figured some new fluid was better than none at all. Every shop I called (3) said they would not touch it, much less do a full trans flush. I did try a pick set and a seal puller. The pick set destroyed the gasket material and the puller was putting to much pressure on the valve body for my liking so I resorted to a hammer and screw driver to dislodge the seal. I used the lucas oil trans. fluid conditioner along with their trans fluid. I hope it helps with the old fluid still in there. There wasn't much material on the magnet either. I was happy to see that. I'll try the filter seal trick next time, maybe if there is a next time. I guess though if you don't do it yourself you don't know what the service techs really did.

 

[MO Viet Vet]

Correct. That is why I do all my own work when I can. Good luck and good call on the conditioner.