Transmission Flush Myths - Busted!

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Everyone who is even remotely involved with vehicles has heard this form of story - someone that they know got a transmission flush and their transmission failed inside weeks or even days.

The urban legend behind this is that the "sludge" is all that was holding the transmission together and as soon as it was removed with a flush, the transmission had no chance of surviving.

The story goes like this:

Jim was having a transmission difficulty, let's say that it was sluggish in the morning and would slip on take-off from a quit from time to time when it was hot out.

Now Jim has a brother-in-law named Bob that utilised to work on cars, do his own tune ups and oil modifications, and so on. When Jim mentioned the dilemma that he was getting to Bob, his immediate response was, "You need to get that tranny flushed."

Of course Jim not certainly knowing anything about a vehicle, a lot much less an automatic transmission blindly follows the advice of his brother-in-law. Soon after all Bob surely knows all about vehicles even although he hasn't worked on 1 for over twenty years.

Jim obediently takes his car to the neighborhood lube location for a flush and an engine oil change though it is there. Jim gets his transmission flush, pays and goes on his way.

At initially, he notices maybe a slight improvement in performance but his transmission is still exhibiting most of the original symptoms.

About two weeks later Jim is driving to function and he stops to pay a toll. When he tries to pull away from the toll booth the unthinkable occurs- the automobile just revs and goes nowhere, as if it is in neutral. Jim moves the shifter into low and is able to limp his vehicle off to the side of the road and wait for a tow truck to take him to a transmission shop.

What happened?

Here's a list of factors why the transmission flush myth exists:

• The myth is propagated by persons who claim to be specialists. I have even heard of transmission repair shops who contribute to the myth in the hopes of scaring prospective customers into getting their transmission overhauled rather than maintaining it.
• There are thousands of "net professionals" who promote the misinformation- it's genuinely a case of "monkey see, monkey do" on steroids!
• There could have been a time in the early days of automatic transmissions when failure immediately after a flush was a great deal more common, perhaps since of antiquated friction material and transmission fluid technologies during the 1950's and 60's but this was ahead of my time so I'm not able to really discuss the legitimacy of the possibility. I can, nevertheless, say with certainty that it is not an concern with 99.9% of the vehicles in service at this time. If your owner's manual is in the glove box and not painted on the wall of a cave, you are most likely beneficial to go.
• "Sludge" is all that was holding the transmission together and when it gets cleaned out the trans in going to fail quickly. Guess what? If you have sludge in your transmission, it's already poor and in require of a repair.
• As soon as in a when a flush is performed, often at a fast lube operation, and the transmission is not refilled properly- resulting in failure soon thereafter. Of course the incorrect fluid level is not recognized as the culprit- the transmission flush is! Several automatic transmissions have fairly complex fluid level checking and filling procedures that are top left to a transmission repair professional to perform.
• Folks have unrealistic expectations. A transmission flush is no alot more most likely to fix a failing transmission than an engine oil change is to fix a key internal engine situation. Each of these items are superb to do regularly but they are upkeep- not a fix for a challenge.
• The reality is that most consumers don't feel about their transmissions until the day that they have a problem. Jim's transmission was on borrowed time- it was going to fail anyway but now that it has, he is going to perpetuate the myth. If he ever hears somebody mention a transmission flush, he's going to proclaim, "I had that performed and my transmission blew up inside a month!"

I have been in the transmission repair industry considering that 1987 and can honestly say that I can't recall a single time exactly where I saw a wholesome transmission get a flush or a fluid change and subsequently have a predicament. A transmission flush is the greatest maintenance that 1 can do to extend the life of your automatic transmission, don't miss out on the rewards given that of the nonsense that exists surrounding altering your transmission fluid!