Have read quite some bad experiences on TF flush with the garage, just wondering whether a DIY multi-drain-and-fill to flush the tranny works with Auto-Rx
The Honda manual suggests a ATF flush by doing 4 times drain-and-fill with couple miles driving in the middle --- this should get rid of most of the old fluid as testified by friends on forums, the questions is then, can I add AutoRx, drive for 1000m then do the drain-and-fill 4 times (with mixing drives in between) to flush the transmission? I understand that it doesn't hurt even to keep autorx inside the tranny, but my question is whether this will work roughly the same as a t-tech??
If this could work, I bet it will be welcomed by a looot of entry level DIYers like me :)
Ive been wondering the same thing about my lexus which as around 162kmiles on it. I was actually planning on doing 4-5 drain and fills, then add auto-rx, drive 1500miles and then do a t-tech flush. Maybe someone with more experience and chime in
This is what I did, I put auto-rx in my transmission and drove over 2K, forgot to change it at 1K, so I did not drain the fluid first, if this product is going to clean stuff up I would rather there be old fluid than new fluid and have to eventually get rid of that fluid, when I dropped the pan after 2000 miles the fluid was a dark burgundy color and on the bottom of the pan was some slime, I changed the fluid and put a new filter on, drove the car for an hour and then drained another 6 quarts, so far I have gone through 29 quarts of trans fluid and each time I have changed the fluid it has been less of a dark burgundy color, a trans flush in my area is about $125.00, so at $2.50 a quart times 30 quarts would be $75.00, the problem with doing a t-tech after using auto-rx in my opinion is that there will still be some cleaning going on which will get the fluid a little dark, I drained 6 quarts of fluid out tonite and it was almost bright red with a tad bit of darkness versus new trans fluid, so my point again is why put in new fluid for 1000 miles with auto-rx and then flush it when the most important thing to do is get as much fluid out over time after doing the auto-rx in the transmission, I have drianed the transmission 6 times and plan on eventually doing it one more time, auto-rx liquifies everything so you do not need to worry about clogging your transmission filter, remember with a t-tech you do not get all of the old fluid out because half of your fluid is in the pan and trans cooler lines and the other half is in the torque converter, for $125.00 I can go through 50 quarts of trans fluid versus spending that money on a t-tech when they will only use about 12 quarts, on BITOG they have a tranny calculator to show how many quarts of fluid and fluid changes it takes to get out all of the old fluid, I would not want a t-tech machine pumping any metal material through my transmission, I am friendly with a mechanic and he even told me that the t-tech does not get all of the old fluid out, do your 4 or 5 drain and fills after using auto-rx in your trans because all of the stuff will keep dissolving over time.
I'm not real comfortable with "Lube" places transmission services. Having had more than one bad experience... The '07 SX4 has low mileage, so I am planning on continual use of the transmission maintenance dose, and draining and refilling every 7,000-10,000 thousand miles. The SX4's auto tranny, does not have a filter. Only an inaccessible screen to catch large particles. Suzuki recommends changing the factory-fill auto tranny fluid at 105,000 miles! I did the flush and refill of the tranny very early on...
There's a similar fluid exchange service for the power steering, offered at our local 'Expert Tire' chain, but I am not sure if I'd be comfortable with them doing it... I'm afraid it would end up like my tranny service fiascoes.
As long as you clean the torque converter in the process use a method that your comfortable with. I like T-Tech however in quick oil change places many need to be watched they hook up the lines.
If you are worried about a filter, why not put a filter on the trans and PS? Shouldn't be too hard to do, and will help keep things clean, and catch the crap that ARX is getting rid of.
While this thread is about DIY flush and fill it also applies to other fluid exchange machines. My local fast lube has a TransTech and another machine. The TransTech places a positive displacement old drain & new fill cylinder in the cooler lines. The other machine draws and fills through a dipstick tube. Both machines are used with the engine running. They prefer the drain & fill machine since it is easier to use and less likely to damage customer vehicles. Since no method other than tear down can exchange all the fluid, is the draw and fill machine any worse than a T-Tech? Is it a matter of who exchanges the most quarts wins? Should I press for the TransTech against all their dire warnings?
At the prices I'd have to pay for the ATF, gasket, filter, and cleanup, I'm money ahead paying to have it done. I watch the techs and learn how the process works to avoid bad experiences. I make sure to change the oil the day before with their brand of oil so there's no possible way they could offer that.
As long as you can watch them then go ahead, the other machine sounds like a simple pan drop meaning they are sucking the fluid out of your trans pan, how much for this service.
The price is the same. To them the machines work equally well so are selected based on the vehicle and mileage to minimize liability. The draw and fill machine first empties and fills the pan with the engine off. Then with the engine on it draws and fills a quart at a time until the specified number of quarts is exchanged.
I watched both machines exchange substantially more than the system capacity and the discharge ATF color didn't improve much. The dipstick shade improved substantially.
The problem that I have is that the alternate ARX instructions do not safely duplicate the functionality of a T-Tech. If the T-Tech system is better then its worth paying for. I can duplicate and greatly improve upon the draw and fill machine with any $25 oil change pump so if the machines are equally lousy then I might as well get the equipment to do it myself. Eliminating the time, mess, and cost of a filter that rarely gets dirty with an oil change machine would make it practical to change the ATF much more often.
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Having just completed a DIY pan and T-Tech flush, it is a hassle and it sucks but it's way better than any of the pro tools.
After the pan drop and clean plus filter change. Then I fill the pan with 4 qts of ATF.
After that, I take the cooler line off from the cooler (in my case very easy to do) and turn on the engine.
I let the trans drain from the cooler line (to a milk jug) about the capacity that has not been replaced by the pan capacity plus 1 quarts. Turn off the engine about 2 quarts out and fill in 2 quarts. In my case, it is about 2 times.
It works.
One thing to note is make sure you check the level of the fluid when engine is idle to make sure you put enough. Check the fluid again after driving the next day.
This method I found on the net or BITOG. The key is that you have to know which line from the cooler to use. In the camry, it is just a matter of pinching a clamp and pull out the rubber hose. It takes less than 8 quarts and the total fill capacity is
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1995 GMC Suburban 6.5 Turbo Diesel 99k miles (ARX finished)
2000 Toyota Camry around 153K miles (ARX finished)
I did the flush and refill of the tranny very early on...
