Is this considered a good transmission flush?

[Victor]

I brought my J30T into a transmission place to get a flush. They wanted $125 for the flush, clean the pan, new gasket, new filter, all fluids, and disposal fee. However for the flush part all they did was drain the fluid, refill it, run the engine a while with the wheels off the ground so the transmission could be shifted back and forth from drive to reverse with the engine running, and then drain the fluid one more time. The guy said if a transmission has a drain plug this is how they do it, the only time they hook up to the transmission cooler lines is if there is no drain plug. The filter Napa sent them didn't look like the original, the original was solid metal and the replacement was half plastic, half metal. The mechanic said he would rather just wash the original and reinstall it so he gave me a $24 credit for not using the new one, but said he would try to get an OEM type and would install it next week, including another new gasket and new fluid for the $24 he just took off the bill $101.00 total.My questions, is his method of flushing the transmission acceptable? If I didn't want to clean the pan and install a new filter I could have just drained the old fluid and put new fluid in and done basically the same thing myself. In fact, in the future I think that is all I will do as he said my old fluid was O.K. except for being a little dark from normal wear, and the only dirt in the pan were a few metal filings stuck to the magnet.Second question, should I go back and put a new filter in if he does manage to get one that looks exactly like the original? One benefit would be I would get the fluid, or at least whats in the pan, changed one more time and a brand new filter, but he showed me the old one after he cleaned it and it looked perfectly good to me, and the screen wasn't clogged up. I would have to pay back the $24 and waste another hour or so of time waiting for him to redo the job.

[Ilvemynissan]

It sounds like he did it right. I don't think he left anything out. But it's like the same thing with an engine flush, drain the oil, fill it up with either some cheaper oil or actual engine flush, let it run for about 10-15 minutes I think and then refill with your regular motor oil.

And me personally, if the filter looks brand new I would just keep using it.

[kbflip02]

It sounds like he did it right. I don't think he left anything out. But it's like the same thing with an engine flush, drain the oil, fill it up with either some cheaper oil or actual engine flush, let it run for about 10-15 minutes I think and then refill with your regular motor oil.

And me personally, if the filter looks brand new I would just keep using it.

i concur

[yodawill2000]

That's a fluid exchange, Not a flush.I did that same thing in my driveway for alot less.

A flush is when They hook it up to a machine and run chemical cleaner through it.As in a BG flush.Although I wouldn't feel comfortable doing that with mine at 170K.Just a few shavings on the magnet is a good sign.You should be rollin' for awhile !!

[Ilvemynissan]

I thought it was still an engine flush. Didn't know you have to hook it up to a machine for it to be a flush. And can't you do the BG flush yourself??? Do you actually need the machine?

[graydragon]

I'm going to have to agree with yoda. I've had 2 transmissions replaced on a q45. The first one by Good ol boy transmission shop with the fluid exchange. The transmission lasted 1 month. Lost 1800. The second by Ammco. lasted 6 months. Under warranty and they hooked it up to the flushing machine 2 times and advised changing out the radiator. I did and transmission lasted 5 years until I blew the engine. I'd go with the flush to clean out any shavings.

[maxnix]

That's a fluid exchange, Not a flush.

Actually, it is neither. It is a drain and refill. Old contaminanted fluid is left in teh TC and planetary gears.

Flush is a chemical additive to dissolve varnish.

A mechanical fluid exchange as provided by the BG or Sun machines simultaneously mechanically extracts and replaces the ATF.

Surprised that shop would go to the trouble to drop the pan, replace the filter and O ring, the gasket and the one time use bolts and not exchange the ATF.

[Victor]

I was going to get the flush done at AMMCO but when I went there the first time an employee said I had to wait for the boss to come back to do the paperwork, so I left. So I came back a week later and they were closed, had gone bankrupt in the meantime. The guy in the smog inspection shop next door said they hadn't paid their rent in 6 months and their machinery was just auctioned off. Seems Ammco shops are individually owned, so other shops may still be in operation. I read an article that said the gas crisis is hurting all car sales, which in turn has filtered down to even repair shops, with less business to go around leading to a lot of shops hurting or even going out of business.

[Victor]

Graydragon, its not clear from your post. Are you saying you had two transmissions fail after getting a flush. The guy in the transmission shop said flushing an old transmission will sometimes make it fail shortly afterwards, better to just leave it alone.