Took my Yukon to dealership for a simple tranny fluid drain and fill, now undriveable

[Black02Silverado]

This sounds like a connection got knocked off.  I can see issues if you drove it a while, thus giving the new fluid time to clean and remove buildup.  But you said it happened basically right away. That tells me it is more likely a connection.

 

All the chatter on should I or shouldn't I change my transmission fluid has some good valid points.

 

This is why I change mine out at 10k on my new vehicles.  A complete exchange over to AMSOIL, (or use what other brand that meet your transmissions manufactures specs) and then change it out again every 50k miles.  This seems to offer the longest life for the transmission and keeps the fluid fresh as to not cause any issues since it isn't in service for a long time.  Yes the manufacture states it is supposed to last to 100k on some vehicles.  But if you really look at it, the average person spending the money to change out the fluid every 50k is on average, what, once every 3 years.  To me that is a good investment.  Consider the money one spends on "mods" it never ceases to amaze me that they don't want to put the money into a quality fluid or simple service.

 

 

[swathdiver]

If you're fluid was looking/smelling burned at 122+ thousand miles you're well  beyond the proper service interval.  It should have been done at 50,000 miles under severe service and if normal, which it was not, you waited another 20+ thousand miles to change it.  So who's really to blame for this?

 

Did your dealer want to do a flush and exchange and did you insist on a filter change and drain and fill?    

 

 

[SarahsGMC]

I was always taught to never do it unless absolutely necessary, ive had trucks that have never had fluid changed. starman8tdc hit the nail on the head with his response.

[AJT123]

12 hours ago, starman8tdc said:

 

Sigh....  Try to keep an open mind here -

 

As stated above, a well cared for transmission will definitely benefit from new fluid. An older transmission that has been neglected will die if the old fluid is replaced with new fluid. Imagine that your blood was replaced with a special new kind of blood that washes all the plaque off of your arteries. You would die almost immediately from a stroke or heart attack. Now if you used that special new type of blood from birth, you would be just fine, and probably have a better life expectancy.  The transmission fluid detergent wears out and stops working. The new fluid is loaded with fresh detergent that washes the crud off the walls and clogs stuff, just like washing the plaque off of the arteries. 

 

Change your fluid regularly from day one, or don't change it at all.  

 

The new fluid ONLY causes problems in neglected transmissions. If you do a filter change on a neglected transmission, you want to save the old fluid, filter it - and put it back into the transmission. 

 

I have had several transmissions fail in my life. All of which, I had replaced the transmission fluid without knowing the maintenance history. I researched it to find out why. I called many transmission shops, and researched the hell out of it. After I found out about the detergent issue, I replaced the fluid in new transmissions regularly, and I stopped replacing the fluid on vehicles with unknown history. Since I adopted this maintenance practice, I have had zero transmission failures in the last 20 years. One of my Suburbans has 253,000 miles on the original fluid - and the transmission works great. My other Suburban had a new transmission put in it just before I bought it, so I change that fluid regularly, and the transmission works great. 

 

Its a counter intuitive issue - but how much research have you done, aside from looking in your owners manual or asking one repair shop? 

 

You replaced the fluid, and now there is a problem. How many people do you think have had the exact some thing happen? Your transmission issue may just be a loose wire, and not all neglected transmissions fail from having new fluid. There is no 100% and there are exceptions to every rule. But from all the research that I have done, and all the HONEST transmission repairs shops that I have talked to say that you need to leave a neglected transmission alone. 

 

Not everyone will agree with me or the many transmission specialists that I have talked to, but is it really worth risking your transmission? 

 

Again, one of my Suburbans has 253,000 miles on the original fluid - and the transmission works great. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOL, I know how hot this debate is so we're gonna just have to agree to disagree.

 

It says in the owners manual change at 100k.  122k isn't a neglected transmission.  Maybe I overstated the case a bit.  It's by no means a tow pig or driven hard and mechanically neglected, but it's not been a pampered garage queen either.  Now were I you with 252k and a fine working transmission, I ABSOLUTELY would not touch it either, and I agree with you there.

 

But 122k, there's a lot of life left in this vehicle.  WOT shifts are still good as new, but I simply didn't like the look of the fluid.  A drain and fill is by far the least invasive means of slowly introducing new fluid to the transmission.

 

I would never, ever do a flush regardless of miles.  On my LS430 they did a "fluid exchange" which wasn't a flush, and I debated on that one for days on that vs drain and fill.  Dealer assured me it wasn't a flush.  Have had no problems.

[AJT123]

Oh BTW, I meant to report back, I got the call today.  It was just a simple connection loose.  I had figured that much anyway thanks to the good advice from this forum (about it being in limp mode).  I still stand by my opinion that I did the right thing.  I will report back, and for sure I will if my transmission blows.

 

Thanks again for all of your help!

[Supreme Pizza]

No, i'm just mess'n with ya man. Glad to hear that your transmission is OK. 

 

From my understanding, of the failures that happen, its roughly like this:  

 

Right away: 20%

 

Within 3 months: 50%

 

Around a year: 30%

 

[swathdiver]

For those with GMT800s and a Tech2, is there a transmission oil life monitor?  GMT900s have one in the TCM.

 

My truck's shop manual shows the procedure for using the TransFlow machine to back flush and exchange the fluid.  This was also the method my local Chevrolet/Cadillac dealer uses.  Running against 30 years of experience doing it the other way, I relented and everything worked out fine.  My fluid was red turning brown, the Tech2 said it had 33% of life left.  After the exchange I reset the internal meter.  9K+ miles later the fluid percentage is still in the high 90s.

 

20+ years ago I managed a Jiffy Lube.  The T-Tech machines were new then and my store NEVER had a transmission failure after doing a fluid a exchange.  I did have a guy come in with an RV with trans problems and advised against it but he insisted, it didn't fix his problem.     

 

http://sandyblogs.com/techlink/?p=8289

 

http://www.gmls4.com/index.php?topic=604.0

[intheburbs]

Count me as another who always changes transmission fluid, regardless of known/unknown service history.

 

I've bought all 3 of my GM trucks used...I drive them all like I stole them.  Obviously, I can only guess at the service history prior to owning them, but I change the transmission fluids anyway.

 

The '01 was bought with 80k miles on it.  It currently has 263k on it, owned by a friend now, still the original transmission.  It's tuned for firmer shifts, logged 25k heavy towing miles, and probably had the fluid changed at least 4, maybe 5 times.

The '08 was bought with 100k miles on it, currently has 180k, and has had the fluid changed twice.  These were full flushes of all 16 quarts done at the dealership.  Also tuned, driven hard, and pulls an 8600-lb trailer.  No transmission issues whatsoever.

The '09 Denali was bought with 60k miles, now has 90k miles, and has had one transmission flush.  Don't tow with it, but I drive it hard regularly, with at least one WOT 0-60 run every time I drive it.  Also no tranny issues.

 

The single biggest thing you can do to maximize the life of your transmission is change the fluid.  You don't just have detergent additives, you have viscosity stabilizers and additives for lubricity.  Any argument made for not changing transmission fluid can also be applied to no changing your engine oil.  Anyone want to run their engine to 250k miles without changing the engine oil?  Anyone? 

[sefiroxx]

The flush machine is used for oil lines and cooler - not the tranny itself. A good tranny shop shop will disconnect the lines and flush them independently without introducing the flush material or solution into the tranny. This is especially needed with a rebuild or new tranny in an old vehicle. If done connected, then filter will have to be changed at least once and possibly more depending on loose crud hanging in the pipes for a while.

[Colossus]

I'm also on par with doing flushes, but letting the tranny pump do the work.  I won't however do a flush on a vehicle that has burnt/nasty looking fluid, but rather a drain n fill, and even then i'll likely not do anything less I have the $$$ saved up to rebuild the tranny because by then, it's likely already on its way out.  I've never yet seen hard proof that flushing a tranny that has decent/non burned fluid in there has caused transmission failure soon after.  And I've seen a good number of trannies serviced in my life. 

[sefiroxx]

The issue with the pressure flushes are usually related to the technician - hoses hooked up wrong, wrong fluid, gear change without fluid, blah blah blah.

For the mechanically minded, the tranny pump flush is relatively simple , although messy if you don't have hoses connected securely.

Dropping the pan method only gets ~50% but allows you to see accumulated material and to clean the magnet off to attract more.

[txab]

I think we're about done on this subject. There's always that one person who has to go and get an attitude and turn things into a true pissing match. Posts will be deleted if they cross the line as a few have already.

 

 

 

[Supreme Pizza]

9 hours ago, txab said:

I think we're about done on this subject. There's always that one person who has to go and get an attitude and turn things into a true pissing match. Posts will be deleted if they cross the line as a few have already.

 

 

 

 

 

[lryfer]

So  bought a 2007 Silverado with 62K miles on it. Now at 97K and looking at changing the tranny fluid. Dealer said just flush with no changing the filter. That seemed strange.

 

Truck doesn't tow or anything. Daughter drives it for her daily driver and to haul stuff here and there.

 

So change or no with all this above stated?

[txab]

Pan drop and filter