Transmission Questionable

9

95Continental

Registered
I have inherited a 95 Continental and have been told that the tranny fluid has never been changed..Now with 148,000 miles it is not shifting perfectly from 1st to second (kinda jumpy)... in a syndicated column called "Click and Clack" a person had a similar problem and the mechanic said "don`t change the fluid and filter because that might cause the tranny to quit working because the sludge and varnish in the old fluid was keeping it going and changing it to a working lubricant fluid would make not work".....well Click and Clack said that that is B.S and the fluid and filter should be changed immediately and that the story is an old wives tale.......so I went to AAmco to have it done...and got the the old wives tale story...not to change it..as they wouldn`t be responsible and I would have to sign a waiver...they couldn`t get any codes from the computer about the tranny....can anyone bring some clarity to this scenario? all suggestions appreciated..
 
Welcome! :)

I love "Click and Clack"! :D

I don't buy the old wive's tale either, but I would take it to a reputable FLM dealer and have them professionally 'flush' the tranny and change the filter.
 
So True

So True

I was trying to save a couple of bucks by going to Aamco instead of the Lincoln/Mercury dealer, right up the street, and wound up giving Aamco $80 for nothing (but they did say "Have a nice day!!!".)......since this car is otherwise in spectacular shape and the tranny is tolerable, I drove it to Sacramento from Palm Springs.....but I will baby it untill I get bucks up... ...Dealer here I come
 
Well I have heard more than numerous times that changing the transmission fluid on a car with over 100k miles will KILL the transmission if it has never been changed... this is from transmission shops and dealership techs...
 
95Continental said:
I was trying to save a couple of bucks by going to Aamco instead of the Lincoln/Mercury dealer, right up the street, and wound up giving Aamco $80 for nothing (but they did say "Have a nice day
Click to expand...

Aamco is one of the most notorious scam franchises of all time. I'd ride a bike to work before taking my car to them.
 
Would you not change way over due oil because a mechanic said it would make it worse?
The only scenario I have ever seen this aply to is spark plugs.
 
Well the only way you can really hurt a tranny with a fluid change is on an automatic tranny...if you FLUSH the system the high pressure of flushing it out can damage the internal components...on a manual its a different ball game..thats why its recommended to drain and refill it only...And the intervals I used to use on my sports car that got up to 8600 rpm was change tranny fluid every 25,000 miles...its not expensive nor hard to do...but it does give one of the most abused part of the engine good clean fluids!
 
Ok, I've had this question asked many of many times.

Here is pretty much the bottom line from my experience.

1. Never ever do a transmission flush (like Lucid484 mentioned). Not only does it put it under high pressure it also pushes fluids thru in directions they don't normally travel. This can dislodge any number of debris and slush that may be in the transmission thus causing problems.

2. A drain and refill is the safer way. But I stand by the "old wives tale". On a 1993 Taurus SHO with a hard shifting transmission we did a drain/filter/refill. The transmisson shifted into reverse to go out of the garage and never shifted again. A full rebuild later ensued.

Maybe it was a coincident that it happened at the same time. Either way I think it is still mildly risky to drain/filter/refill a transmission that has yet to have a fluid change. Would I still do it? Of course. Chances are if it is close to failure it is going to fail soon enough if a fluid change is going to kill it.

One thing to keep in mind if you do a drain/refill is that you are only changing out part of the fluid. It is commonly recommended that you change it up to 3 times to get a complete fluid change. So I time it with my oil changes and change it during the next 3 oil changes.
 
"One thing to keep in mind if you do a drain/refill is that you are only changing out part of the fluid. It is commonly recommended that you change it up to 3 times to get a complete fluid change. So I time it with my oil changes and change it during the next 3 oil changes.

Not necessarly so...if you can drain the converter, you ARE changing ALL the fluid. On some newer cars/trucks, there is NO drain plug on the converter, then what Mindy said!
 
MindyMark said:
That's right about the converter. I've never tried to drain one myself, is it easy to get to with the pan off?
Click to expand...

It's easier than that.

Closer to the front of the car, there is a plastic disc covering a hole in the tranny bell. Take the disc out and you'll be staring at the converter. You'll need someone's help to turn the engine so that the bolt comes around to the opening...you can either have a big strong guy turn the crankshaft with a big ratchet, or you can have someone bump the starter until it's lined up. Make sure the car is very stable when bumping the starter.
 
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