Transmission Problems Neverending

I've been driving since 1974. Never once changed the transmission fluid in any vehicle I've ever owned. There is just under 700,000 combined miles on my driveway, (246,000, 230,000, 145,000, and 70,000) all with the factory transmission fluid. Never once had a fluid related problem. A couple of electrical glitches yes, but not fluid related.

It's cheaper in the long run to just drive it till it dies and have the transmission rebuilt than it is to pay for a service every 30,000 miles. And you'll still need to replace/rebuild it at the same miles regardless.

 

I'm never doing any sort of fluid exchange / flush / whatever on any vehicle again. I think I'll just do drain and fills every 10-15,000ish miles after the vehicle has sat overnight where I measure the exact amount of fluid I drained and add back the exact amount - knowing it only replaces around 1/4 of the overall fluid and that the fluid temp is pretty much the same from what is drained to what is added.

 

@TnShooter @spitdog @Dm93

So I have spent probably 6 hours throughout the weekend dealing with trying to remove the seized fill bolt. After trying multiple things and rounding out the plug even more with failed attempts, a 15/16" socket ground down past the beveled portions did the trick. I got a 6-point 15/16" socket, ground it down a couple mm's, and I ended up buying a super long-handle Icon 1/2" drive ratchet from Harbor Freight (and a breaker bar if I needed that). I kept putting PB Blaster on it every morning and night, and this morning I hit it about 15 times with a small ball peen hammer, put the 15/16" socket on it, and it came loose with very little effort!!

I still don't have the replacement fill bolt and gasket in yet (it's on order), so I have to still use the mangled one and just barely tighten it past finger-tight for now. Unfortunately, I have found out that my transmission IS MORE THAN A QUART LOW from the shop that did the flush after I did the correct check procedure. I pumped a quart of fluid in there, then jacked my truck's front end up a couple inches until a magnetic level on the frame read straight - got the temp to 105, pulled the check plug, and only a couple of drops came out.

So I need to go get more fluid and pump more in there. Fingers crossed no permanent damage has been done. Thank you everyone for your help. I was about to resort to heat and then as a last resort - other extreme methods. I should be going to the shop shortly to get more fluid. I haven't driven the truck since Friday until I get the fluid level correct, just been on my motorcycle praying my truck is okay.

 

Next time, it will be a piece of cake.

 

Nobody you pay for work will ever love your truck as much as you do, and those people don't have to rely on it to get to work and to get groceries.

 

Clearly - because after going back to the shop on my motorcycle and picking up 2 more quarts - pumping in about 1.75 of it, and performing the check procedure again, it's still not dripping out of the pan! So it's more than like 2.75 quarts low! I am freaking livid. I just drove the truck around for about 4 minutes, hoping that maybe it just needs to circulate a little more before I can accurately check it. Thankfully, when driving it around, everything *seems* fine. So now it's a waiting game for it to cool down again and then check! If it is still low, I am going to be so pissed.

 

What was the shop’s response when you went back to pick up more fluid?

 

The shop's response - "I don't know how it's low! We did the 11.5 quarts just like you gave us from the manual."

I told them - yes, that's the capacity of it, but you have to overfill it and perform the check procedure to confirm! I told them it was obviously not performed because there was no fluid around the check bolt and I could tell it hadn't been cleaned around it, either. Of course, the lady said "The tech told me he checked it." Well lady - your tech lied to you.

They have yet to find out that it was actually nearly THREE QUARTS low. I want to wait a few days to see if I experience any issues before calling them back to give them the whole story and express how f***ing insane it is that I had to do all this crap myself to get it right. I waited about 2 hours after driving it around for a few minutes this morning and performed the check procedure again at about 113 degrees pan temp. Of course, the washer from the check bolt fell and I couldn't retrieve it quickly so I had to put the check bolt back on without the washer. Then, I undid the bolt really quickly and threw the washer back on and it didn't really lose much additional fluid.

I'm thinking when the replacement fill bolt comes in to replace my mangled one, I'm gonna put in like 300 ml more of ATF fluid, drive it around, and do the check one more time the following morning to be 100% sure everything is all good.



Pic above is a still from a video I took right before putting the plug back on. I made sure to record every time I was doing the check procedure to have it for my records.

Thanks again for all y'alls help and advice!

 

Well, at least you know what the problem is.

A shop that doesn't know what they are doing, and transmission low on fluid.
I think you'll be fine. I doubt too much damage was done. One day, you might think about dropping the pan ad changing the filter and cleaning he magnets.
But most people never do. It's like anything else, how long do expect the truck to last, and how much maintenance are you will to do to make it meet your expectations?

 

Looks like a good stream to me. Put the plug back in and drive it.

 

I would put together a bill that included your cost for the additional fluid. Take that along with your old bill that you paid for to have it done correctly. Take it there personally and ask for a refund for one or the other. See what they say then.

 

They provided the additional fluid at no cost - since it's BG products and they aren't sold at like AutoZone or whatever. I just want them to own up to their mistakes - at this point, I don't really care about the $$ as long as my transmission is okay. And now the question is - do I try to find another shop that does the BG transmission service for my next one in 30,000 miles to maintain the warranty coverage or do I just say f*** it and just do drain and fills on my own from here on out? I have a while to decide, luckily.

 

I would skip further service with anyone. You now know the procedure. Just do d&f.

 

Stop doing BG services. DIY drain/refill with WS ATF or Maxlife means you know the job was done right each time.

 

You're using gear oil as trans fluid?

 

No - that part of the post was unrelated - I had them do the front and rear differential and transfer case drain & fills as well - and this time they used

$29 75w-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75w-90 instead of 75w-140 in the differentials like they did last time.

 

OK, i misunderstood. I've been using

$29 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90 in all three for years with no issue.

 

I haven’t read all the details so sorry if it’s been said … but did your shifting issue go away? Is it driving great now that the fluid has been set correctly?

 

I'm reluctant to say with complete confidence because who knows if something will pop up soon or in a couple thousand miles (or later) if any damage had been done...but it is shifting fine at the moment in all situations (hard acceleration into passing gear and smoothly upshifting as I ease off the gas, hard brake followed by normal acceleration, and just normal driving) and I've driven approximately 50-60 miles since getting to the correct level yesterday. So