[chevyguy8893]

Since I have been putting it off for a while, because of a lack of time to do it, I got around to flushing my transmission. I was planning on just doing a drain and fill, but I haven't looked at the condition of my fluid for a while. Since I was working on it at work for a p1174 code I figured I would check it. Well, the fluid was black, not burnt, just dirty. I am at 60K and it doesn't look much different than it did at 50K when I bought it. The machine I used flushed 14 quarts of trans fluid through it after running the flush chemical. In the end it came out clean. One thing good, my trans shifts a whole lot better than before. I also ran GM injector cleaner, but that was for the code. I hope that is taken care of too.

Here's a picture of the old fluid compared to the new fluid.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Since both fluids are (on the right) I guess the new fluid is on the other right, eh?

 

[Len McRiddle]

That is right!

 

[chevyguy8893]

Since both fluids are (on the right) I guess the new fluid is on the other right, eh?

Ummm... Yep that's what I meant. I guess I was more tired than I thought.

 

[Starship]

Thanks for sharing. It's got to feel good to get all that suspended friction material out. You ought to tag and keep that sample bottle for comparison next time.

 

[chevyguy8893]

Thanks for sharing. It's got to feel good to get all that suspended friction material out. You ought to tag and keep that sample bottle for comparison next time.

I went for a longer drive today and I have to say it drives so much better. I think it may be a combination of cleaning the injectors and flushing the trans. I am going to keep the bottle just as a reminder to not do that again, even though it was like that when I bought it.

I still wonder how GM figure that under normal operation that the trans fluid is good for 100K miles.

 

[LTZeeeee]

50K transmission flush interval is stated in the manual for my 2008 V6 LTZ. Tell me more about the injector cleaner, is that just the "drop in the gas tank" stuff?

 

[chevyguy8893]

50K transmission flush interval is stated in the manual for my 2008 V6 LTZ. Tell me more about the injector cleaner, is that just the "drop in the gas tank" stuff?

The injector cleaner is like a concentrated cleaner that is mixed with a small amount of gasoline. It is a tool at work that is used for this. It has two gauges on it, a can (maybe 20 oz.), and an air fitting. I put the mixture in the can and pressurize the tool to match what the fuel pump puts out at idle. The tool is attached to the test port on the fuel rail and the fuel pump is disabled. The car runs off the cleaner for a bit till it is out. Since this was warranty, in my case, the cleaner was the GM cleaner. If a shop sells a fuel system cleaning it will probably be something else.

The readings for my injectors were all over the place, but not bad enough to need new injectors. It made a good difference though, some in gas mileage and more in how the car runs.

 

[LTZeeeee]

The injector cleaner is like a concentrated cleaner that is mixed with a small amount of gasoline. It is a tool at work that is used for this. It has two gauges on it, a can (maybe 20 oz.), and an air fitting. I put the mixture in the can and pressurize the tool to match what the fuel pump puts out at idle. The tool is attached to the test port on the fuel rail and the fuel pump is disabled. The car runs off the cleaner for a bit till it is out. Since this was warranty, in my case, the cleaner was the GM cleaner. If a shop sells a fuel system cleaning it will probably be something else.

The readings for my injectors were all over the place, but not bad enough to need new injectors. It made a good difference though, some in gas mileage and more in how the car runs.

Excellent information, thank you. I believe the dealership is pushing this for my 30K as well, do you think it is worth it now or wait until 50K?

 

[chevyguy8893]

Excellent information, thank you. I believe the dealership is pushing this for my 30K as well, do you think it is worth it now or wait until 50K?

It all depends on how the car was ran on when it would be done. If you used the cheapest gas possible and idle the car a lot it wouldn't hurt to have it done at 30K. If it is the opposite of that, use your judgment. If you have dropped a few MPG in the cars' average and want to possibly gain it back, it may be worth doing. I would say, take a look at all of your fluids and see how they look in comparison to new. It won't hurt to have anything done before 50K, the first picture is how my trans fluid looked even at 50K.

Some dealers bundle the fuel injector cleaner with a top engine cleaning which is another chemical sprayed into the throttle body to clean the throttle body, intake, and the valves. It just breaks down the carbon build up in those areas and burns it off. When I work on any customer car I look at all the fluids and judge if they need changing or not, but if I don't think it is needed at 30K, for example, it is overridden by service and recommended anyways to make money. Best time to check everything over is when you get it back from an oil change or service to make sure everything is alright, and to keep a routine for seeing how the fluids look. Sorry for the long post.

 

[DrivenDaily]

No need to apologize for "the long post", guy! That was informative and just the right length. That is the kind of stuff we want and need for all of our members. Keep up the good work.