Hi All,
Apologies for the long post, but I like to provide context
I just bought a 2006 Yukon XL with the 4L60e transmission and I want to change the transmission fluid. I looked through maintenance records from the previous owner and it looks like the transmission was fully serviced (i.e. flush and refill) around 40,000 miles ago, at which point the shop put in VersaTrans ATF. VersaTrans is recommended for cars calling for Dexron III, but starting in 2006 GM called for Dexron VI in the 4L60e. The fluid still looks fine, very pink, no brown or metal, no burnt smell, but since it seems to be the wrong fluid for the car and it's been around 40,000 miles anyway I figured I'd just change it to be safe.
I'd prefer to do just a change as I don't think a full flush is necessary, plus I can do it myself and it's cheaper, and I'm a little wary of unintended consequences from a flush. I'm wondering what the best way to go about this would be. My drain pan doesn't have a plug in it, so dropping the pan will be messy. My first thought was to drop the pan, replace the filter and gasket, put in new fluid, and then repeat the whole thing in 1000-3000 miles or so. After dropping the pan and replacing everything twice I'd have a very clean filter and somewhere around 75% of the fluid in my transmission would be new stuff (planning on Valvoline MaxLife since it's flexible, should be compatible with whatever's in there).
Then I thought, what if instead I drained fluid from the dipstick. I have one of those cheap handheld fluid transfer pumps, it wouldn't be fast, but it would be cleaner. And, this way I could drain and refill multiple times before dropping the pan, which means I only have to replace the filter once, and I can get more of the new fluid in there (if I did this 4 times I'd have ~94% new fluid in there after the 4th time).
But, I've never tried this before, so I'm not sure if it'll work/be safe. Can I hurt anything by sticking a hose down the dipstick tube? If I didn't replace the filter until after changing the fluid multiple times would it get clogged up, or would repeatedly changing the oil this way cause crud to clog up transmission passages without ever getting to the filter? Basically, any danger in this method? Is there a better method out there? Would a full on flush be the right call after all? What have you done that's worked well for you?
By the way, I've read about the "******* flush" that people have done, and I'm going to be replacing a cracked radiator so access to the cooler lines will be easy. But, I'm really trying to do things by the book and be somewhat gentle with this older vehicle, so I'm really not interested in going this route.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!
Scott
Apologies for the long post, but I like to provide context
I just bought a 2006 Yukon XL with the 4L60e transmission and I want to change the transmission fluid. I looked through maintenance records from the previous owner and it looks like the transmission was fully serviced (i.e. flush and refill) around 40,000 miles ago, at which point the shop put in VersaTrans ATF. VersaTrans is recommended for cars calling for Dexron III, but starting in 2006 GM called for Dexron VI in the 4L60e. The fluid still looks fine, very pink, no brown or metal, no burnt smell, but since it seems to be the wrong fluid for the car and it's been around 40,000 miles anyway I figured I'd just change it to be safe.
I'd prefer to do just a change as I don't think a full flush is necessary, plus I can do it myself and it's cheaper, and I'm a little wary of unintended consequences from a flush. I'm wondering what the best way to go about this would be. My drain pan doesn't have a plug in it, so dropping the pan will be messy. My first thought was to drop the pan, replace the filter and gasket, put in new fluid, and then repeat the whole thing in 1000-3000 miles or so. After dropping the pan and replacing everything twice I'd have a very clean filter and somewhere around 75% of the fluid in my transmission would be new stuff (planning on Valvoline MaxLife since it's flexible, should be compatible with whatever's in there).
Then I thought, what if instead I drained fluid from the dipstick. I have one of those cheap handheld fluid transfer pumps, it wouldn't be fast, but it would be cleaner. And, this way I could drain and refill multiple times before dropping the pan, which means I only have to replace the filter once, and I can get more of the new fluid in there (if I did this 4 times I'd have ~94% new fluid in there after the 4th time).
But, I've never tried this before, so I'm not sure if it'll work/be safe. Can I hurt anything by sticking a hose down the dipstick tube? If I didn't replace the filter until after changing the fluid multiple times would it get clogged up, or would repeatedly changing the oil this way cause crud to clog up transmission passages without ever getting to the filter? Basically, any danger in this method? Is there a better method out there? Would a full on flush be the right call after all? What have you done that's worked well for you?
By the way, I've read about the "******* flush" that people have done, and I'm going to be replacing a cracked radiator so access to the cooler lines will be easy. But, I'm really trying to do things by the book and be somewhat gentle with this older vehicle, so I'm really not interested in going this route.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!
Scott