Date: Mon, 9 Aug 2010 13:00:25 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: ATF fluid
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reply-type=response
there is also the conservative cautious approach versus the 'change ALL
fluid' approach.
for something that is healthy ...then a full fluid change is good.
for something that is really old and tired .
a full fluid change might be too shocking and push things over the edge.
however, just pumping some old fluid out the filler tube and putting in some
fresh ..
is an improvement and moving in the right direction with out doing anything
extreme or stressful to the trans or whatever system it is.
I have a old fuel pump, and it's rigged up with a battery and some hoses and
a bottle to collect fluids into ..on a two wheel hand truck ..
it's my 'sucker' . I just roll it up to any car or van, stick the sucker
tube into whatever fluid, and clip a clip the battery post, and it sucks
whatever out of whatever.
for an auto trans, I just suck out about 2 qts..whatever is easy ..
then refill that with fresh.
that is a safe conservative approach that will help a lot, with very little
effort, and not turning it into a huge messy project ....and it sure can't
hurt.
I mean sure, if it needs rebuilding, it needs it .and just changing some
fluid won't help much ..
but for the most gain for the least effort and risk ..
just changing out some of the fluid helps.
if I do that to my 88 740turbo volvo sedan auto trans ..suck out say 3 qts,
and refill with 3 qts of Royal Purple ATF ..
the car goes noticelable better and smoother, for very little effort or
mess.
same is true for power steering ..
suck some of that old junk out, at some fresh and a high quality
stop-leak/treatment ..
I like Lucas brand for that.
then ...if it was a good thing to do and got good results..
do it again in a week or so ..
then you up the percetage of new versus old one more step.
it's very popular to think 'do it all, do the whole complete RIGHT service'
..
sounds very 'german mentality' to me ..
that is true ...
'but' ....sometimes it's not the best thing to do at all.
sometimes 'doing everything' is not the best thiing to do...and doing
something is 1000 % better than doing nothing.
and that is how people justify doing nothing, sometimes until it's too
late..
'well, I'm not going to service the trans until I can do the whole thing
properly' ..
and that's a lot of messy work,
so it gets put of, and put of ...etc. ..
possibly until things are really damaged.
One very important trick is knowing just what the 'right' repair action is -
not too much, not too little. .
Sometimes it's not 'everything' at all. but something more conservative ..
and doing something is a whole lot better than doing nothing.
like if you don't have time to do the whole messy job of changing oil and
fitler..
if you just do a 'minor oil change' ...that's dump the warm oil, and refil..
maybe not be as good as a proper complete oil and filter change, but it is a
WHOLE lot better than driving until next weekend to do it right, or the
weekend after that etc. ..
there is a lot to be said for tweaking here some, then over here some ..
some energy invested here judiously, then over here .
I get a lot done that way ..advancing up to 15 projects a bit at a time here
and there and not getting too burnt out on any one of them.
you can do a lot on a vanagon that way ..say improve or service 3 small
things each weekend or whatever ..
it all adds up, and the improved/serviced things....very rewarding.
scott
turbovans
as many know by now, I have a ad running on thesamba for a fancy expensive
SVX Synco Westy.
Somebody's going to get an awesome machine there.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rodgers" <inua@CHARTER.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Monday, August 09, 2010 8:38 AM
Subject: Re: ATF fluid
> I'm no great shakes on auto tranny's, but have done my share of
> mechanical work as an aircraft mechanic, and the principle in play there
> was regularly scheduled periodic maintenance. You cannot pull over and
> park on a cloud if something goes wrong. Part of that maintenance was
> fluid changes in accordance with "the manual". or manufacturer's
> recommendation. Over time, experience would dictate that some procedures
> could be safely altered to extend the life of a component, but that was
> not the routine. I suspect such might be the case with auto tranny's,
> and not tinkering with them to much if they have not been serviced
> properly in the past_ might_ be advisable. Changing fluids could very
> well loosen accumulated crude in the transmission and create problems.
> _On the other hand_, as a general practice, I would think it best if a
> vehicle is new to you, and it's history unknown to you, that just like
> automatically changing fuel lines to avoid problems is advisable,
> changing all system fluids including the ATF in the auto tranny would
> also be advisable.
>
> Just my inexperienced auto tranny $0.02!
>
> John
>
> John Rodgers
> Clayartist and Moldmaker
> 88'GL VW Bus Driver
> Chelsea, AL
> Http://www.moldhaus.com
>
>
> On 8/9/2010 9:23 AM, titantic01@AOL.COM wrote:
>>
>>
>> I have read a lot of posts on transmissions both manual and auto lately
>> and I have a question about my automatic on my 1987 van. The tranny was
>> rebuilt about 10 yrs ago by my then mechanic from top to bottom and it is
>> doing great. My question is: Should I change the fluid and filter or,
>> leave it alone. the fluid still is red just like it came out of the
>> bottle and it never needs topping up.
>>
>> My Dad always had the idea that "If it ain't broke, don't fix" However I
>> also believe in preventative matience.
>>
>> Waiting for your great advice here.
>>
>> Chris S.
>>
>>
