When doing a transmission fluid change, is the fluid conditioner and transmission flush really necessary for our transmissions?

 

At 101, I wouldn't flush. Just do the exchange about 3 times.
I use lubegard in mine. Necessary, probably not, but It's still rolling and shifting fine

 

I hear many people say with older fluid/trans to not do a flush. That being said (I understand their points), I had the dealer do a complete flush and full exchange on my 2006 F150 with around 170k miles on it. Been driving it a year since the flush and the tranny is perfect.............

I'm not sure what they used for the cleaning though. I paid $175 I think for that service though. One main reason I paid for that was I didn't want to keep changing the fluid multiple times to get the old stuff out, didn't have the time for that.

 

They don't use anything to clean it. They hook up the machine and filter the fluid as the truck runs, then they slowly add new as the old is evacuated. It would be better if they flushed, then changed out the filter. Then added new fluid.

 

If the transmission is really dirty, do a pan drop every oil change until it remains clean. Better yet, buy the Dorman pan with the drain plug to make this process even easier. Change the filter if it's the original. If it's been replaced before, you can go 60k-100k between filter changes. As far as additives, LubeGard Red seems to be popular. Personally, I plan on trying Valvoline Maxlife next change in order to keep just one ATF for the fleet. On their site, it claims it is Mercon V compatible.

 

I bought the vacuum brake bleeder from HF. It'll suck that fluid out in about 5 minutes.

 

I almost never tow anything with the truck (just a 9' utility trailer with a 48" Husquvarna riding mower, about once a month during the summer, and that's never more than 10 miles). It still shifts well too. I do plan on getting that Dorman pan so I can do the soft fluid changes. And yeah, I'm the second owner of the truck, for the last 78,000 miles (It had just under 23,000 miles when I bought it)

 

I'd never flush any transmission. Don't confuse "flush" (as in pumping in a cleaner) with a full fluid swap (via pump). You can do your own by unhooking the trans cooler lines... I just drain/fill until it's red because I'm lazy.