TO: All ATP Technicians
FROM: James Strong, Technical Support Manager
RE: A Successful Automatic Transmission Maintenance Service
The most common and perhaps the quickest maintenance for automatic transmission service is a flush and fill. Modern transmission flush and fill machines remove the old fluid and fill the transmission with fresh fluid in as little as 15 minutes and can remove up to 95 percent of the fluid. These flush and fill methods are clean, efficient and it’s a safe way to remove hot ATF. However, many people mistakenly believe this is a complete service.
More than 70 percent of all transmission filters in today’s vehicles are constructed with a felt media. The purpose of this felt media is to trap ferrous and non-ferrous particles that can damage the transmission assembly. Technically speaking, when a flush and fill machine is used to service a transmission, the fluid is forced throughout the transmission assembly. This procedure forces any loose debris inside the transmission to get lodged in the filters felt media. Eventually, the filters felt media gets full of debris and you now run the risk of clogging the filter, electronic solenoids, pressure switch manifolds resulting in restricting the flow of ATF that will ultimately cause transmission failure.
Current new car service manuals from Ford, GM and Chrysler recommend that the fluid and filter should be serviced as often as every 15,000 miles, depending on severity of service. Furthermore, if you do not drop the pan, change the filter and inspect for foreign materials inside the pan, you are not doing the maintenance service right.
In fact, some manufacturers of flushing equipments are now promoting the replacement of the filter when performing the flush and fill to insure a successful way to do a transmission maintenance service.