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[Webby the Bear]

Hi folks, hope you're all well and enjoying the games. can't wait for jessica ennis to come on. mmmmmmm

ANYWAY lol I am planning on doing an ATF change over the next month. I've been wanting to do it for a while but time at the moment is so scarse... that will all change in september when i go college though hopefully.

anyway enough of my ramblings.... i've been reading up and watching lots of vids on the ATF change. the job looks a piece of piddle and the wonderful guide on here is really straight forward to follow so i'm all good from that point of view.

however, i mentioned on another thread that i've learned that sometimes people change their ATF and get problematic gearboxes. i've narrowed this down to a good explanation i heard from youtube which is that because the fluid in there will have formed with the shards of transmission metal and got thicker due to age (my cars 90000miles) that what happens is when you put in the new fluid which will straight away be thinner it just runs through. very simple explanation and i'm sure there's a lot more to it but i get the jist!

now the thing is my gearbox is fine. no problems whatsoever. and the only reason i'm doing it is cos i dont think its ever been done and its 20k past the service interval.

so in light that i actually have nop probs should i change it? i really really dont want to change the fluid and then give myself a problematic gearbox. just not what i need right now as i got a lot of things going on.

i wonder if its meant to last the lifetime of the car bearing in mind there's no drain plug.

anyway your thoughts please

[amba]

From my experiences having now had 2 Omegas and covered nearly 300k in the pair I would comment as follows:

First Omega had no issues with autobox at around 120k but like you thought better to replace with new.For the first 5-10k box was very very smooth but after that couldn,t really tell the difference so only ever changed that once and at 220k car sold.

Current Omega had fluid/filter changed at 90k and again found noticeable improvement with smoothness and effortless change.Over the miles the box developed a fault where by it would "hang in 3rd" then drop down with a thud into 2nd. Fluid and filter again changed at approx 180k which improved it for about 2-3k then problem re occured.Over the course of the next 10k I did partial fluid changes at regualr intervals in a hope that " All " the fluid would end up being nearly new but the problem never went away.I ended up getting another low mileage box fitted and it has been faultless since.

Not sure if this helps your decision but I would advise you to replace the fluid and filter given the mileage and history of no previous changes as whilst " new " fluid is new you will only ever be replacing at best 60% so think your concerns about being thinner won,t really be an issue.

[Victor Meldrew]

I've been thinking the same Webby.  No problems with mine either.  I'm pretty sure it's never been changed but at 79,000 I would like to know if it's essential before changing it and causing problems. Will watch with interest for the experts opinion. Good Luck.

[Kevin Wood]

My opinion is that if an autobox dies after a fluid change it probably would have died pretty soon without it so go ahead and change it.

Most oils thin with age rather than thicken as the VI modifiers break down and the magnet and filter in the autobox remove any debris down to a very small particle size from the circulating fluid. 3-4 shift problems are normally down to a failing solenoid and running cleaner fluid can't fail to improve that situation.

Possibly, there's an argument that, as with a seriously neglected engine, if a box is filthy inside, disturbing anything can dislodge crud and force a failure. I don't know if that is valid with an autobox. Every one I've opened has been spotless inside unless the clutches have started slipping, so that probably comes under the "it would have died pretty soon anyway" banner.

[pauls]

I have just had my box flushed out and fluid replaced total fill with new fluid and it does make a difference to the smoothness of change.(my view anyway) Just to say I didnt have anything wrong with the box. I thought it would be a good idea at 128,000.

[Webby the Bear]

ok, thanks guys. i'm still a bit nervy about doing it. if it messes up youre all to blame haha only kidding.

i plan on doing the job with my ramps so i can crawl under and undo all the sump bolts. when refilling as it has to be level do you suggest hooking up my cuprinol sprayer and letting the car down so its level or simply keep it on the ramps and jack up the rear?

[PhilRich]

Don't forget to stock up on shampoo Webby

[Webby the Bear]

Don't forget to stock up on shampoo Webby

Haha i've had a cruecut especially for the occasion 

[amba]

If you can get both the back and front in the air so much better as access is greatly improved.

In truth if you check level before dropping any fluid you have a pretty good idea what volume is then removed so when sump is dropped you know fluid volume was correct.When refilling even if you can,t get car level you do atleast then have the knowledge of what volume you are putting back into gearbox.Then its only the last small ammount that you are filling up to get the correct level with car on flat level ground...or in the air.

[Kevin Wood]

I would go the cuprinol sprayer route myself. I have an old killaspray to which I've attached a hook shaped length of 8mm copper pipe. You can hook it into the filler hole and fill until it overflows, start engine, keep filling until it overflows again, move selector through each gear, top up then replace the filler plug. You can do all this with the car on the ground and level.

[TheBoy]

I would change it. Any DIII ATF should do, although I like Fuch Titan 4000. It should be the same as any other DIII, but I reckon it feels better than, for example, the Coma stuff. Of course, might be the placebo effect.

[omega3000]

Don't forget to stock up on shampoo Webby

 

[Andy B]

ok, thanks guys. i'm still a bit nervy about doing it. if it messes up youre all to blame haha only kidding.

i plan on doing the job with my ramps so i can crawl under and undo all the sump bolts. when refilling as it has to be level do you suggest hooking up my cuprinol sprayer and letting the car down so its level or simply keep it on the ramps and jack up the rear?

Like this .... 

[Andy B]

I would change it. Any DIII ATF should do, although I like Fuch Titan 4000. It should be the same as any other DIII, but I reckon it feels better than, for example, the Coma stuff. Of course, might be the placebo effect.

I used Coma for my ATF change .......... 

[TheBoy]

I would change it. Any DIII ATF should do, although I like Fuch Titan 4000. It should be the same as any other DIII, but I reckon it feels better than, for example, the Coma stuff. Of course, might be the placebo effect.

I used Coma for my ATF change .......... 

So I see from the pic

The Silver Bullet has Coma in currently, due to all the problems I had arond Newent last year.  I don't dislike it enough to change it, but given a choice, I'd use the Titan 4000. Not that much difference in price, either. Esp as Halfrods trade price on the Coma isn't that good