First, I'm new here to the site. Have been lurking around awhile here and on "the other cummins site". Sure appreciate all the knowledge I've gleaned from you folks.

I've owned my truck since new. Recently it turned 30,000 miles (loved every one of them). I stopped by my local dealer to get an oil filter and asked the service manager how much the 30,000 mile auto trans service would cost. He said a power flush would cost $220 and that's what they've been doing lately for the 30,000 mile service "since you really don't need to change the internal filter anyway, just the spin-on one ( ), that way you don't have to drop the pan". I replied that the manual calls for a fluid and filter change, along with the tightening the bands. He said that would all be done with the powerflush. Well, I mentioned that they'd have to drop the pan anyway to tighten the rear band, to which he gave me a puzzled look. I left him on that note.

I think I'm going to avoid those guys, anybody in N. Utah have a place they trust for the tranny service, or should I just do it myself? Also, what is fair price for the 30,000 mile service?

 

I am no expert on this tranny subject but there is a fellow on dieselram.com named Tim Holt who has worked on these trannys,he states NEVER get the tranny flushed just get the fluid and filter changed.There is a thread on this subject on the dieselram.com web-site.coobie

 

Welcome to DTR

First, stop buying your filters at the dealer. Find a local Cummins shop or order them online. The dealer is charging you way too much.

I highly recommend flushing the tranny every 30K miles. I have 190K on my original with no problems. I just go to Jiffy Lube and let them do it for $125. Yes, you do need to drop the pan, before the first or second flush. It needs to be cleaned out, the magnet needs to be cleaned, and the chunks of whatever need to be cleaned out. You don't need to drop the pan everytime, just the first or second flush. IMHO.

Unless the tranny is shifting weird, leave the bands alone.

Tranny flushing is the best thing to happen to automatic transmission in 50 years.

 

welcome,

"just the spin-on one" that's funny, i would have kindly asked if he could have shown me where it was on the truck. seeing as how there is no spin-on filter. typical service manager i guess.

if you're mechanically inclined, do the serivce yourself. you'll spend less than $100 and u know it's done right.

as far as the band adjustment do some research and find the specs to adjust them. it's pretty easy as well.

 

Whatever you do make sure you use Dextron 4. A flush is a good thing. If you drop the pan you will only get half of the fluid. A flush will replace all of the fluid. When you change your oil you don't change half of it. A filter is normally good every other flush. So at 50,000 to 60,000 miles change the filter and flush the whole system again. If you tow alot you will have to shorten the distance between flushes. Whatever vehicle you have this works great. You will get a many a mile out of that automatic. I know a farmer who does this and has over 200,000 miles on his 47RE with no rebuild. He flushes his every 15,000. I would hate to know what kind of abuse that truck has had.

 

The '03 I had, I took to the dealer to have the 30k flush done. I'm thinking it was like $225 and what a mess I found myself in. I waited to have it done and when finished, I left for home. Got about 4 miles away and saw boiling smoke behind me and a burning oil smell. They had forgotten to tighten one of the lines and I blew out most of the oil, which coated entirely everything on the underside bumper to bumper.

They sent a tow truck to take me back. At 30k miles, this truck was as pristine and clean, inside, outside and underneath as it was the day it was new. After raising all kinds of cain, they sent me home in a loaner. They filled it again, said the trans was OK and took it somewhere and had it steam cleaned. It never seemed to shift the same after this and I traded it at 37k for the '06 and will not use this dealership again.

 

That sounds about normal. A hand full of good mechanics and several dozen idiots. If you ever find a good one take care of him and request that he works on your truck even if you have to wait a couple of days. Very few Dealer ships have mechanics that are all good. If they do. Mark that sucker on a map.

 

I agree. Even Jiffy Lube has a system where two guys looks at the work so it is done right.... at least the fittings are tight.

 

For what it's worth, I just bought a Mag-hytec deep pan for $251 and 5 gallons of Amsoil universal ATF (pick whatever synthetic oil you want) for another $110. I read on this board if you loosen your valve body after dropping the pan you'll get almost all of the tranny oil out AND you'll be able to adjust your bands and change the filter at the same time. Best of all worlds.

That Mag-hytec pan is sitting in my kitchen right now waiting for the first change and it sure is built nice. Very heavy-duty. The extra oil capacity, cooling fins, and magnetic drain plug should all do wonders for longevity (I tow every day).

 

I went to Cottman transmission. They dropped the pan, pulled the filter, then flushed the transmission from the pan with a pump. The dealer did the first filter change. I did the second. Cottman did the 3rd one. That is the way I will go from here on .

 

The shops I've run and worked in(G.M.and D.C.) in the past and my own personal vehicles with autos I leave the pan ALONE until 60 to 90k.I have used and sold complete flushs on literaly "hundereds" if not a few thousand including fleets and mail delivery vehicles with comments like "first time I've I've ever felt a differance in shift quality etc.after a trans service and THANKS our trans issues/failures in our fleets have been drasticly lowered etc.I've seen valve body failures due to loosening and NOT getting it back up and torqued even etc.The filters are good for MANY MANY miles with the crud on the magnet not going anywhere etc.Flush machine best invention for the consumer since the invent of a auto trans.Just my 02 on the issue.I flushed the unit on our 2000 Merc.Gran Marquis at 30k with Amsoil atf and will do a filter(first one),flush again at 90k.It has 78k on it now.A truck that works HARD I'd do the filter and if you want to adjust bans at 60k with flushs every 15 to 30k etc.Then again just my 02 on the subject.

 

If you do tighten the Bands by yourself. You will need a torque wrench that measures INCH per pounds, not foot per pounds. They can be bought pretty cheap from most places, (local auto, northerntool, snapon).

They say to loosen lock nut, loosen screw, lube screw, tighten screw to 72 inch/pound, back off screw about 2 turns, tighten lock nut down. That is for the inside adjustment.

Outside adjustment, same except I think it is back screw out 2.5 - 3 turns and then tighten lock nut down.

Hope that helps.

 

Here's the thread from the "other" site. Interesting because two guys who know way more than I do about transmissions claim you should never do a flush on this tranny. What do you guys think?

Flush or Not?

 

Have to join to read the thread! Will do later.All I say again on the subject I've seen enough flushs done to wear out the fittings on several machines yearly for about 6 years.

 

Just to give all an insight of what their concerns are I will answer. I have heard this a thousand times myself. What happens when people do not service their transmission is debris get trapped in the fluid and hence it wears the clutches. When a service is done it removes all of the dirty fluid and increases the clearance on the clutchs which will allow them to slip. The hole point being service your transmission (Flush It) when you are supposed to. You won't have this problem. A transmission flush is much cheaper than a rebuild.