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| FAQ #23 | |
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Torque Converter Flush Procedure |
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When changing an automatic transmission over to AMSOIL, you have to consider the flushing of your torque converter as well. Your torque converter can actually up to half or more of the total sump capacity of your transmission. In fact, most owners manuals only list the "refill" capacity of your transmission, which does not account for the capacity of lube held by the torque converter. Thus, if all you do is drain your transmission pan and pour in the amount of tranny fluid indicated in your owners manual, you'll likely end up with a tranny sump that is 50% new AMSOIL fluid and 50% old oil. Not exactly an ideal solution. So, in order to get the full benefit of the AMSOIL transmission fluid, you'll want to COMPLETELY flush out the system, including the torque converter, and refill with new AMSOIL fluid. There are two ways to do this. Option #1 The most expensive way (but requires the least effort) is to take the vehicle into a shop that does transmission flushes and bring your own oil. Of course, you'll have to check ahead to see if they'll even use a brand of lube other then their "house" lube. If not, then check someplace else. If they WILL, then have them tell you how much lube to bring (often you'll need not only enough for the FULL sump capacity of your transmission and torque converter, but also an additional 1-3 quarts to push out ALL of the old fluid). Option #2 The second option for flushing your torque converter is to do it yourself, which certainly requires a bit more effort, but is ALOT less expensive and really doesn't take that long on most vehicles. The only real issue here is that on some newer vehicles, steps 9 and beyond in the tutorial below will be nearly impossible (which pretty much makes the whole procedure impossible). The reason for this is that, in order to flush the torque converter, you will need to be able to disconnect a fluid line from the vehicle. However, some newer vehicles have these lines secured permanently. Thus, you can't complete the procedure. So, be sure and read the ENTIRE procedure below BEFORE you actually begin the procedure, and check to make sure that you'll be able to remove this hose. If not, you will not be able to complete this procedure and will need to take the vehicle into the shop for a full flush. Option #2 (Do It Yourself) Instructions 1) Get the fluid out of the transmission fluid pan. If there is a drain plug, use that. If not, you'll have to take off the pan and drain the fluid out that way. 2) Clean the pan good along with the magnet in the pan, if there is one. If there is a transmission filter, replace it. It might not need it, but since you're already under there and they're not that expensive, you may as well do it. 3) If the transmission pan gasket is a cork one, you'll probably need to replace it before putting the pan on. Check with your dealership before taking off the pan to find out if your gasket is reusable or if you'll need a new one. 4) Replace the gasket if necessary and put the transmission fluid pan back on. 5) Pour in however many quarts are necessary to fill the system back up (most vehicle guides don't figure in for the torque converter. So, if your vehicle manual says it takes 5 quarts of fluid to fill it, that most likely means just the transmission and not the torque converter. Pour in that amount to fill it up. You MIGHT want to put in a half quart less just to be careful you don't overfill the system. 6) Once you've re-installed the pan and filled it with ATF, you need to begin the process of flushing the torque converter. You'll do this a little at a time to make sure you flush the entire system without wasting a great deal of ATF. 7) Because torque converters vary in capacity, you'll want to ask your local dealership (probably when you ask about the gasket) how much fluid your torque converter holds. Just to be on the safe side, ask them also for a full capacity rating for the whole system. You should get that full capacity rating by adding their torque converter number and the transmission capacity number found in your manual. If the numbers don't match, check into it before starting this whole procedure (remember, I said to read ALL these directions before starting the project?). 8) Once you know the capacity, you'll want to make sure and order one or two extra quarts of ATF just to be sure you get the system completely flushed without running out of fluid. 9) When ready, you'll need to disconnect either the hose which runs from your transmission to the ATF cooler or the hose running from the cooler back to the transmission. Use whichever is most convenient. You'll need to have this hose drain into a pan. 10) Sometimes there is a separate cooler for cooling the ATF fluid and other times there is a special portion of the radiator that is used. So, first look for hoses that run from the transmission to and fron the radiator. If those don't exist, there is probably a separate cooler someplace. You might want to ask your dealership about this as well. 11) Once you find the hoses you're looking for, disconnect one of them to drain the fluid into a pan. Now, if you don't know which line runs OUT to the cooler and which one runs BACK from the cooler, then you'll have to just disconnect one of the hoses. It doesn't matter which one. However, if you don't know which way the fluid is flowing through the line you disconnect, you may end up disconnecting the "wrong" end. It's not that big of a deal, just might be a bit messy for a brief moment. Basically, if you disconnect the wrong end of the hose, when you start pumping out the old fluid, it may end up pumping from where the hose was connected TO rather than from the hose that was disconnected. if that happens, you'll just end up with a bit of a mess, since you won't be able to direct the flow of the oil. Just turn off the key on the vehicle, reconnect that end of the hose and disconnect the other. Once you have the correct end of the hose disconnected, you'll be able to direct the flow of old oil into a drain pan of your choosing. 12) Now we come to the tedious part. You'll need at least two people to do this. Three would be preferred as it will probably save time. With two people, you'll want to do the following. Use one of the empty ATF bottles and have someone hold it with the disconnected hose draining into it. Then, the other person will need to start the vehicle. You only want to drain a half quart into the bottle. 13) When a half quart is reached have the person holler to shut off the vehicle. You can do this in full one quart increments, but it's probably better to stick with half quart just to be safe. Once the half quart has been drained, then someone should pour this old fluid into the drain pan you've been using. Finally, someone will need to pour a half quart of new fluid into the transmission fill pipe (the same place you put the ATF when filling the transmission fluid pan). 14) Then, repeat, repeat, repeat. Once you get within about 1 quart of the total fill capacity you were given, begin checking the fluid color of the ATF being drained. When the color of the fluid being drained matches the color of the new ATF fluid, you have flushed the entire system. 15) To check the color comparison, try to have a side by side comparison where you can look directly at the fluid itself (not through a container of any sort unless the container is clear glass. For instance, I used the bottom portion of two old milk jugs (I cut off the tops). Then, I set these two milk jug bottoms side by side. I poured a small portion of the new ATF in one of them. Then, after each quart of ATF was flushed from the torque converter, I'd pour a small portion into the other "milk jug" to compare the color. 16) If the color was different, I'd pour all the old ATF fluid (including that in the "comparison tray") into the drain pan and continue the flushing process. Once the colors looked identical in the two "trays", I reconnected the hose. At this point, make sure there are no leaks. As long as all is well, take the vehicle down off of your ramps and let it run for a few minutes. Once the vehicle is warm, check the fluid level of the ATF fluid and add as much as is needed to get it to the "full" mark. 17) Congratulations! You're done. |
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