glad to hear man... now only if i could figure out what'* up with my car :?.

Don...if you think I'm doing that again in a few months, you are outta your MIND. Unless you feel like doing it

Powder? What exactly do you mean?

It would be in the best interest of your trans to change the fluid every 15k. If you are going to keep the car, all you do is drill and tap a drain plug in the trans pan. That makes it a lot easier.

Powder is clutch material. It shines like metal flake in light. The shimmering you were talking about, that'* clutch material. It'* non-metallic, so it doesn't stick to anything and it'* what causes the fluid colour change. Excessive amounts of clutch material mean imminent failure.

Drain plug hmm? Well Wouldn't it be a better idea to change both the filter AND fluid every 15k? That IS what is recommended for these transmissions. Because last time my change was due, I DIDN'T do the whole flush and filter, I only did a flush, and the trans felt good for about an hour and then went right back to feeling like crap. I think the way I did it last night was the best way possible.

ALSO. I said absolutely NO shimmering, just that sludge on the magnet, thats all. the rest was NICE. Only the fluid was dirty because of the trans tune So umm yeah.

Right now the trans feels amazing. brand new, and STRONG. Shifts SEAMLESSLY. can't even feel it shift, for example...the OD engagement used to cause SEVERE shudder, now I have to actually WATCH the RPM gauge to see it happen. Its great. This is definitely the mothod I am going to use every 15k from now on.

opensourceguy- you have a PM. Please respond.

The drain plug is there to drain fluid, then when you remove the pan the fluid is gone, that eliminates the messy part, then the heavy part, and instead of dicking around with unbolting one side to get the fluid just to come out there, you can just unbolt the entire pan and have minimal fluid. Filters and fluids go together, always.

In both of my Suburbans, the maunal said fluid & filter every 12K

John, excellent work! The trans fluid will come out of your hair with a good shower. I always liked to fix something on my own and see it run, if not better when I am finished with it. Kudos.

I have fairly long hair, and it took a few showers to get the smell out. Gotta love the life of a mechanic

wj, how much total did it cost you in the end for this?