has anyone ever tried flushing the transmission by just dropping the pan, removing the oil filter, and putting a hose from the oil filter inlet to a bucket of new ATF, to suck in new fluid and let the old fluid drain out? seems like it would work just as good as paying $100 for a flush. im tempted to try this.. let me know your thoughts.

is there a reason that you think that you need to change the trans....does the fluid look burnt or smell....is the trans slipping.....the trans is a delacate thing...you wont get all of the fluid out with dropping the pan, and that might not be a bad thing....... but on the other hand depending on the miles on the car which is see is un the upper 200K a flush might be a bad thing....cause a flush will take everything that was holding the trans together

I'm a believer in flushing, but it'* easier for the 92-95 SSEi'* and other supercharged cars. We have the external trans coolers, so we can simply disconnect up front, crank some out into a bucket, refill, and repeat. The problem is that this still mixes fluid. And it'* dangerous and quite messy.

I don't think the hassle of doing it the way you propose would be worth it. I get my flushes for $80 locally, so you might want to shop around. I think you should drop your pan and change the filter first. Then flush.

I'm in agreement with Willwren. Consider the filter and pan first. If you keep noticing fluid issues and discoloration afterward then go forward with a flush.