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4l80e Service

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breadmansrs New Member

breadmansrs

Posted
Posted

Brand new to this great board,looking to be an asset, but I have a question for someone who has an opinion on the way Chevy says a trans should be serviced. I have an '05 silverado 2500hd 6.0, 4l80e 73,000 trouble free miles. I want to get the trans serviced, talked to a friends buddy's trans shop who says just drop the pan, change the fluid, and DO NOT allow anyone to flush it, citing breaking loose particles and doing more damage. My local Chevy dealer says that Chevrolet recommends doing a power flush and does'nt recommend changing the filter?!? Now, I know that the dealer is a repair shop in of itself and seeks the best way to seperate me from my wallet in a quick, efficent manner, but I would like to thing he can give me truthful info as to what GM says about my truck, even though i find it VERY hard to believe that they wouldn't want to have the filter changed, or clean the magnet even. If the recommended method is just to change the filter and replace the drained fluid, i'll do it myself and save the headache, but a flush i would send to a shop with the proper equipment. Anyone have the answer or any personal experience, believe it or not, this is the first auto tranny connected to a truck I want to keep for a LOOOOONG time, Thanks

VR021302 Senior Enthusiast

VR021302

Posted
Posted
Brand new to this great board,looking to be an asset, but I have a question for someone who has an opinion on the way Chevy says a trans should be serviced. I have an '05 silverado 2500hd 6.0, 4l80e 73,000 trouble free miles. I want to get the trans serviced, talked to a friends buddy's trans shop who says just drop the pan, change the fluid, and DO NOT allow anyone to flush it, citing breaking loose particles and doing more damage. My local Chevy dealer says that Chevrolet recommends doing a power flush and does'nt recommend changing the filter?!? Now, I know that the dealer is a repair shop in of itself and seeks the best way to seperate me from my wallet in a quick, efficent manner, but I would like to thing he can give me truthful info as to what GM says about my truck, even though i find it VERY hard to believe that they wouldn't want to have the filter changed, or clean the magnet even. If the recommended method is just to change the filter and replace the drained fluid, i'll do it myself and save the headache, but a flush i would send to a shop with the proper equipment. Anyone have the answer or any personal experience, believe it or not, this is the first auto tranny connected to a truck I want to keep for a LOOOOONG time, Thanks

 

I reccomend one then the other, every 30k. Flush, then in 30k, filter, then the next 30k flush and so on.

svensk Senior Enthusiast

svensk

Posted
Posted

If you decide to flush it, take it to a transmission shop and have them power flush and fill with amsoil ATF. That's what I did with truck last year, and even at 160,000 miles she is still holding together. Runs cooler as well with the amsoil.

jimbello Enthusiast

jimbello

Posted
Posted
If you decide to flush it, take it to a transmission shop and have them power flush and fill with amsoil ATF. That's what I did with truck last year, and even at 160,000 miles she is still holding together. Runs cooler as well with the amsoil.

 

 

 

Real stupid question here, Which one though?? I'm looking at the web site right now and there are 3 possibilities.

 

 

 

AMSOIL Synthetic Universal Automatic Transmission Fluid

 

 

AMSOIL Synthetic Synchromesh SAE 5W-30 Transmission Fluid

 

 

AMSOIL Synthetic Torque-Drive™ Automatic Transmission Fluid

Rat4go Enthusiast

Rat4go

Posted
Posted
Brand new to this great board,looking to be an asset, but I have a question for someone who has an opinion on the way Chevy says a trans should be serviced. I have an '05 silverado 2500hd 6.0, 4l80e 73,000 trouble free miles. I want to get the trans serviced, talked to a friends buddy's trans shop who says just drop the pan, change the fluid, and DO NOT allow anyone to flush it, citing breaking loose particles and doing more damage. My local Chevy dealer says that Chevrolet recommends doing a power flush and does'nt recommend changing the filter?!? Now, I know that the dealer is a repair shop in of itself and seeks the best way to seperate me from my wallet in a quick, efficent manner, but I would like to thing he can give me truthful info as to what GM says about my truck, even though i find it VERY hard to believe that they wouldn't want to have the filter changed, or clean the magnet even. If the recommended method is just to change the filter and replace the drained fluid, i'll do it myself and save the headache, but a flush i would send to a shop with the proper equipment. Anyone have the answer or any personal experience, believe it or not, this is the first auto tranny connected to a truck I want to keep for a LOOOOONG time, Thanks

 

To see which one is giving you the straight skinny, check your owners manual as it will describe what should be done (oil only, or oil and filter) and when. That'll tell you who's right, although who's right might not matter if you share the same opinion I have on the topic when you're done reading this, because I think they're both wrong in some ways.

 

I don't like power flushes and I don't like paying a high school kid who makes $6/hour to work on my vehicle to do something fairly simple. He won't notice that I have another problem and tell me unless his boss thinks they can make more money off me if they fix it. I also don't like only changing 1/2 of the trans fluid during a servicing (about half is in the pan, and half is in the converter).

 

I think the right answer is to change the filter and as much of the fluid as possible, so I follow the Amsoil procedure from the earlier post from Draenor.

 

It's fairly easy but can be a bit messy, especially if you don't have some way to keep the cooler lines pointed in the right direction. It takes at least 2 people (one to add fluid and watch the fluid coming out and one to key the truck off when it's time). I suggest if you're married that the 'key it off' person is NOT your wife. My experience is that you use an extra quart or 2 of fluid if your wife is the 'key it off' person due to inherant time lag between your 'shut it off' request and when it actually gets shut off. :drool:

 

I'll let others argue as to what brand of oil to use. Just make sure it meets the Dexron 3 or Dexron 6 spec.

 

 

Good luck!

svensk Senior Enthusiast

svensk

Posted
Posted
If you decide to flush it, take it to a transmission shop and have them power flush and fill with amsoil ATF. That's what I did with truck last year, and even at 160,000 miles she is still holding together. Runs cooler as well with the amsoil.

 

 

 

Real stupid question here, Which one though?? I'm looking at the web site right now and there are 3 possibilities.

 

 

 

AMSOIL Synthetic Universal Automatic Transmission Fluid

 

 

AMSOIL Synthetic Synchromesh SAE 5W-30 Transmission Fluid

 

 

AMSOIL Synthetic Torque-Drive™ Automatic Transmission Fluid

 

holy wow!...I have no idea which one to use...

426ted Enthusiast

426ted

Posted
Posted

I suggest if you're married that the 'key it off' person is NOT your wife. My experience is that you use an extra quart or 2 of fluid if your wife is the 'key it off' person due to inherant time lag between your 'shut it off' request and when it actually gets shut off.

 

 

 

QFT :drool:

C & A s Dad Senior Enthusiast

C & A s Dad

Posted
Posted

Whether you have it hooked up to a so called "flush machine" or not, drop the pan and change the filter. The filter media is a paper material similar to what is used in an engine oil filter. It cannot be flushed clean.

 

I used Amsoil's method and it took about 16 qts to do the entire job. I believe you will need to use the first Amsoil fluid you have listed, the Universal ATF. Amsoil can help you with this if you contact them.

 

Unless you have a screen mesh filter that is located deep inside the trans (some rice burners use this type filter) always drop the pan and replace the filter.

  • 1 year later...
Domano 68 Enthusiast

Domano 68

Posted
Posted

Is it ok to use Dexron VI in the 4L80E (03 1500HD) or should I stick with Dexron III. I prefer to use GM parts instead of Amsoil, Royal Purple, etc. (just wanted to through that out there) TIA!

jro909 Senior Enthusiast

jro909

Posted
Posted

dexVI is backwards compatable..i asked a few weeks back lol, dexVI is better i guess then dex III

Black02Silverado Senior Enthusiast

Black02Silverado

Posted
Posted
Is it ok to use Dexron VI in the 4L80E (03 1500HD) or should I stick with Dexron III. I prefer to use GM parts instead of Amsoil, Royal Purple, etc. (just wanted to through that out there) TIA!

 

 

Dexron VI is what you want to use. As stated earlier is it backwards compatable. You should be able to find it at most automotive stores. Advance Auto, Auto Zone, Pep Boys.

gmtech4 Senior Enthusiast

gmtech4

Posted
Posted

a flush will do 2 things ,flush your wallet and tranny,

 

drop pan and replace the GD filter and adjust schedule according to severity of use,thats it ,IMHO

04JJHD Enthusiast

04JJHD

Posted
Posted

i dropped my pan and changed the filter then added 7 quarts of amsoil universal ATF. It runs 10 degrees cooler, but it's expensive stuff, it's better than dishing out money for a tranny

steiny93 Enthusiast

steiny93

Posted
Posted

just went through the same decision process

 

after talking to the dealer, looking through GM esi and talking to a few mechanics and a tranny shop here is what i did

uncle owns the tranny shop, so I hope his opinion was based in helping me vs. getting cash :rollin:

 

I like the drop pan and change filter concept but wanted to exchange the fluid in the torque converter.

Was worried about 'stuff' breaking loose due to the flushing.

 

found a shop that had a flush machine which measured back pressure, during the flush if the back pressure is out of spec then they would change the filter

during the flush the back pressure was low so I didn't change the filter

 

i suppose the ultimate would be to flush then drop pan and swap the filter

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