Differing opinions - Auto trans refill
 

Hello all,
X5 2001 3.0i E53
I am undertaking an Auto Trans Fluid refill soon.
The research to date suggest two schools of thought - one is " make sure you change the oil at least 3 times within the first month. When doing the oil change there is oil trapped in the torque converter that will mix with the new oil and will damage your transmission ".
Your thoughts please.
What percentage of the total drain amount is trapped in the toque converter, and do I need to undertake a few fills / flushes in the first month or so.
Surely dealers and mechanics at large do not do so, but I will definitely do so if recommended.
Thanks in advance.
Saldip

it all depends..

normally it holds 9 qts and draining it will only drain 4 qts, with the filter off another 2 qts (so 6 qts with the filter off) so you have at least 66% of new fluid, if you think you're loosing sleep with that do another drain and fill to dilute the old fluid. Putting in more fresh fluid doesn't hurt the trans, it does hurt your wallet..



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If you are changing fluid, change the filter as well and CLEAN the pan/magnets.

If you can find someone who has a transmission dialysis machine and get it changed with them. This is exactly as it sounds. The change is done with the box running and old dirty oil is replaced with new clean. Have a google and you will see what I mean.

SB

Dealers and shop flush systems will remove all the fluid and circulate new fluid back in.

Not true. I have your vehicle , 01 with 241,K miles on it, original tranny. I changed the filter and pan full fluid every 60K. Bought the X with 32K miles on it. Two things to be aware of: 1. Be careful not to strip the fill plug. 2. Don't over-tighten the drain plug.
As for the torque converter amount, you can let the tranny drain overnight, a small amount will continue to flow. But don't worry about mix unless you have excessive miles without tranny fluid change. BTW, how many miles since last change? Be sure you have the proper fluid for change and then stick with it. BTW, yesterday I had my first (gearwheel) transafe come on, but it went away when I started it back up. Good luck.
You can pay for the complete flush at dealer and then do them yourself to save money.

Saldip - keep it simple - pick up the right filter, fluid and gasket for your tranny, pull the pan, let it drip over night, cleanup and "dry" everything as well as you can, replace the filter, reseat the pan and gasket, torque to specs and then fill with clean fluid. If your totally in to getting more of the old fluid out, run it for a day (or two) and then just pull the drain plug, empty what comes out and refill again.

You won't get all of the old fluid out but hey, 6 or 8 quarts is way better than nothing.

Not to mention a "power flush", depending on the age of the tranny, can be hard on the internal seals.


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i was able to get approx 7.5 quarts by just dropping the oil pan / filter. i have done it every 30k miles. can probably leave it in for a bit longer since the last drain came out pretty clean. cheap insurance and tranny is shifting butter smooth at 156k miles.

front diff and transfer case came out much darker with same intervals.

Since there is no drain hole in TC, I always drain and fill twice at minimum.

1. remove fill plug then drain plug.
2. after oil is drained, remove oil pan and replace filter. Clean pan and magnet.
3. fill tranny oil. tranny temp should be between 30 or 35-40C for correct measurement
4. about a month or 2 later remove fill and drain plug
5. fill tranny oil. tranny temp should be between 30 or 35-40C for correct measurement