Blog Archives

Transmission Failure Following A Fluid Service

5/30/2013

Without removing the pan for inspection and filter change, there is no way to know how much sediment has accumulated in the filter and pan. If the filter is near its capacity with such deposits, this is a good sign that major wear and damage has already occurred, and you need to address the situation.
At this point, we would explain to you, the customer, that major wear or transmission damage has already occurred and a flush and filter change may not improve your transmission related problems.
Some technicians will tell you they have changed the fluid and installed a new filter and encountered transmission failure the same day. This scenario usually involves a transmission that has not been serviced in a long time and is heavily contaminated; the transmission failure was eminent.

5/28/2013

No. This subject creates much controversy. It is definitely an area that can expose you to some liability and possibly result in you paying for a transmission repair or replacement.

Most vehicles today (75%) that are serviced contain a felt media filter as opposed to a nylon or metal screen type filter. This filter design does a more efficient job removing small contaminates that can result in a transmission failure. The felt media traps the foreign materials and embeds the debris within its fibers.

Would you consider changing the engine oil and washing out the old oil filter in your parts washer and reinstalling that same filter? Your success in cleaning that engine oil filter is about as good as cleaning that transmission filter.

Flushing a filter of its collected debris sounds like the ultimate solution. So, how do you flush a felt media filter?

Actually, you can't! One of the sales stories that many flush machine sales people promote is the filter is back flushed and completely cleaned during the flush and fluid exchange process.
This is not true - the felt media traps and contains the fine particles that result from normal transmission wear within its tiny pores. It is impossible to back flush and wash out the debris.