Can you Believe this is a Hyundai

[swanicyouth]

Just my experience and my opinion, and YES this is off the original topic. My "credentials" are I worked as a flate rate Ford tech at a Ford dealer for 7 years and had ( it lapsed - I've moved on ) an ASE certification in automatic transmissions.

OK, now... Flushing a transmission with anything other than transmission fluid is not a great idea. The reason being, is because almost half of a transmission's fluid capacity sits stagnant in the torque converter (car off).

So, once any "flush" gets into the torque converter - it likely isn't coming out - just mixing with the new transmission fluid. As, the fluid from the torque converter is not released when you drain the pan. Also, flushing a healthy auto trans is just not necessary and will provide little if any benefit.

Why?

Because a healthy transmission is pretty clean inside. There shouldn't be any material in there that needs "flushing out". Any particulate material (friction material from bands/clutches) will be picked up by the filter and is suspended in the fluid. Flushing will just dislodge it back into the transmission (likely).

The best thing to do is change the fluid (and filter if serviceable) regularly. If it hasn't been done in a while, or the car's history is unknown, change the fluid - run the vehicle - then change it again with new fluid again. This will get much of the old fluid out of the torque converter and any left will be diluted out by the new fluid.

If the transmission is healthy, the fluid should be changed way before the end of it's service life. I change mine every 30k or so. Fluids today should go well over 60k in a healthy transmission. Actually, most (if not all) modern transmissions are not designed to be serviced. They are sealed for life. I'm not saying that is a good thing, but the modern synthetic fluid should go over 100k miles without issue if the transmission is healthy.

[Klasse Act]

Good info Swan, you'll like this then. A job that I worked at back in the mid/late 90's through the mid 2000's I was in charge of taking care of the maintence of our vans, all GMC Safari's. We got a brand new one in 97' and I had the filter and gasket done every 30K for quite a while and then the Valvoline I went to got a T-Tech machine that hooks up to the lines and flushes out the old stuff and puts in new stuff, no cleaners here, just fluid. At this point I switched things up, when it came time for a service I would do the T-Tech, then another 30K I'd have the filter and gasket done, then the T-Tech and so on. Flash forward to 2005 where our van service was outsourced (don't get me started) and the vans were uneeded. The mileage on the van after 8 yrs of delivery, SIX HUNDRED FIFTY SIX TYHOUSAND MILES, original trans! They kept records of all of our vans and that particular van had been there 129 times. Oh yeah, the engine, oil pump replaced @80K, that's it, switched over to synthetic at about 300K.

Preventive maintence, yeah, I believe in it for sure!

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[Midnight Blue]

Gentlemen, I did a little research and found the BG Transmission Service explanation of what they do and the "benefits" of using this type of service on an automatic transmission.

As we are all aware, when it comes to auto and truck care and maintenance there are a lot of choices, products and services available for us to choose from. In some cases it is a lot of marketing hype to sell expensive products or services so as always, buyer beware.

Here is the explanation from BG Services themselves on what they do and why they do it.

Problem:

After 30,000 miles, transmission fluid begins to show its age as it turns brown in color and oxidizes due to the combination of time and heat. Deposits begin to form around the transmission's many parts, resulting in valves that stick and gears that slip or are sluggish and chatter as they shift.

Solution:

Rather than just removing the fluid found in the bottom of the pan, the entire transmission is cleaned and replenished with the use of special equipment. The transmission and its torque converter have all of their old, contaminated fluid removed while new fluid and premium conditioners are added.

One of the hardest working parts of your vehicle will shift smoothly and effortlessly for many trouble free miles.

Note:

They show two photographs of Valve Body Spools. One photo shows the Valve Body Spool as dirty and black. The second photo shows the same Valve Body Spool after it has been cleaned with the BG Transmission Service.

Some of you fellows have worked in the industry so you have a different perspective than someone who has not worked in the industry. The repair shop I use is a full service BG shop, meaning that they can perform all of the BG Services such as Coolant Flushes, Transmission, Power Brake & Power Steering & AC Services. BG offers full warranties on the systems treated with their services if you have the maintenance done according to their schedule. As an example, we had the BG Transmission Service done on my wife's 2011 Hyundai Sonata before it had 36,000 miles. Now she will have her transmission serviced every 30,000 miles and should she have a transmission problem, BG will cover the cost to repair or replace.

Midnight Blue

[VISITOR]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zjVuNPqjgQ]Welcome Party of 2015 Hyundai Sonata | AutoMotoTV - YouTube[/video]

[swanicyouth]

Gentlemen, I did a little research and found the BG Transmission Service explanation of what they do and the "benefits" of using this type of service on an automatic transmission.

As we are all aware, when it comes to auto and truck care and maintenance there are a lot of choices, products and services available for us to choose from. In some cases it is a lot of marketing hype to sell expensive products or services so as always, buyer beware.

Here is the explanation from BG Services themselves on what they do and why they do it.

Problem:

After 30,000 miles, transmission fluid begins to show its age as it turns brown in color and oxidizes due to the combination of time and heat. Deposits begin to form around the transmission's many parts, resulting in valves that stick and gears that slip or are sluggish and chatter as they shift.

Solution:

Rather than just removing the fluid found in the bottom of the pan, the entire transmission is cleaned and replenished with the use of special equipment. The transmission and its torque converter have all of their old, contaminated fluid removed while new fluid and premium conditioners are added.

One of the hardest working parts of your vehicle will shift smoothly and effortlessly for many trouble free miles.

Note:

They show two photographs of Valve Body Spools. One photo shows the Valve Body Spool as dirty and black. The second photo shows the same Valve Body Spool after it has been cleaned with the BG Transmission Service.

Some of you fellows have worked in the industry so you have a different perspective than someone who has not worked in the industry. The repair shop I use is a full service BG shop, meaning that they can perform all of the BG Services such as Coolant Flushes, Transmission, Power Brake & Power Steering & AC Services. BG offers full warranties on the systems treated with their services if you have the maintenance done according to their schedule. As an example, we had the BG Transmission Service done on my wife's 2011 Hyundai Sonata before it had 36,000 miles. Now she will have her transmission serviced every 30,000 miles and should she have a transmission problem, BG will cover the cost to repair or replace.

Midnight Blue

I would like to respectfully disagree with a few points BG is making here. I know this is beating a dead horse, but I used to work on these transmissions daily, so I'm pretty passionate about it.

Most transmission fluid used today is designed to last well over 100k miles of routine service. If it's discolored or "brown" it doesn't mean the fluid is bad. If it's "burnt", that means there is an internal issue with the transmission - that no flush will fix. The only way to see if the fluid is bad would be to send it for analysis - you can not say fluid is good or bad by the color of it (assuming the fluid hasn't been cooked - which is easy to tell).

I'm not sure how BG's flush system works, but I can think of no way (and have seen no way on similar systems) of getting all the "flush" chemical out of the torque converter. Simply circulating flush fluid from one cooler line to another (how most of these I've seen are done) will not do it. The transmission pump needs to be running - which means the vehicle needs to be running.

Same with shifting and valve bodies. If the transmission is "slipping" or "shuddering" changing the fluid or flushing the transmission will not help the issue 9 out of 10 times. Assuming the fluid is correct, this type of behavior means something is amiss in the transmission - and changing the fluid will not cure it. The one exception I've seen is when the torque converter shudders during lock up (technically not located "in" the transmission).

If the transmission is fluid is changed periodically and the transmission is healthy the valves and valve body will not become black or gummed up in a modern transmission. In fact, the valve body is often perfectly clean in a failed transmission. A gummed up or burnt valve body is a sign the transmission was cooked. It could be the fluid was to low, there was a leak, the cooler is plugged or leaking, the pump grenaded, or the vehicle was hauling weight it shouldn't have been.

Either way, companies like BG are in business to make money and sell their products. The thing that gets me is this: no manufacturer (at least that I've ever seen ) of automobiles recommends a flushing type service as maintenance. BG offers some type of warranty, but by performing this type of service - you may actually be voiding your factory warranty.

Basically, the point I'm trying to make is based on my experience and opinion. That point is: that flushing a properly functioning automatic transmission as part of routine maintenance is providing no benefit, and may even be damaging to the system in the long run. Also, the situations, like "slipping" or "shuddering" they say it can fix - can not be fixed by flushing a transmission.

IME, "flushing" is only beneficial in cases of transmission failure to clean out the cooler and the lines of metal or friction particles - when, the transmission is being removed and replaced.

[Shortspark]

Terrific explanation Swanicyouth.

[Klasse Act]

When the T-Tech machine was used in our Safari's the vehicle was always running for it to work. You could also see the old fluid coming out and new fluid going in, our vans were "normal" in color, slightly dark but not too bad. Being a natrual salesman I would sell these T-Tech services to customers in the bay while mine was being done, I would ask them to come on over and take a look at this, most times they'd get it. Some of the fluid coming out of the lines looked as dark as coffee, it was unbelievable to say the least! That dirty it would take the machine even longer to perform the service.

This thread is awesome because of the amount of info here, either from a mechanic or someone who takes care of such things on a regular basis, if one person reads this and takes care of their ride its a good thing!

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[Midnight Blue]

I first became aware of servicing an automatic transmission in the early 1970's when one of my neighbors in an adjoining apartment had to have his transmission replaced after it had failed due to lack of maintenance, that is regular fluid and filter servicing.

At that time I was driving a company car for business and they paid for preventive maintenance. For my personal cars I always took my cars to a transmission shop to have the transmissions serviced and never had a transmission problem.

My one and only transmission problem occurred in 1997 with my 1996 Chevy Blazer. I purchased this vehicle brand new and although I used it for business travel, it was babied and serviced. I would change the oil every 3,000 miles or every six weeks. I had the truck for about a year and a half and had 32,000 miles on it. Driving home from a holiday weekend at our campsite on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where we had a permanent site for our 35' travel trailer, I had a "check engine" light come on as we were doing 65 mph on I95. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the engine and checked under the hood for anything obvious like a broken serpentine belt or any leaks. I pulled out the owners manual to also look for something obvious like a gas cap that wasn't properly secure. Finding nothing I got back into the truck and started it up. It ran rough. When I put it in gear it slammed into gear! When I tried to accelerate in was sluggish and the transmission shifted very harshly. We limped home not going over 55 mph. The next day I took to a Firestone Shop that my buddy managed and his chief mechanic pulled the code and told me that I had pulled a transmission code! I immediately took the truck to the dealer but it was now running fine. They told me to bring it back if it occurred again. Once the weather cooled the problem ceased. The next summer it came back again but by now I was out of warranty. Bottom line was that GM was using plastic valve bodies on Chevy Blazers, GMC Jimmys, Chevy Astrovans. I eventually had to have the whole transmission rebuilt due to the damage this caused. GM knew that there was a problem with these plastic valve bodies and even had a service bulletin on the problem. They were indifferent to my requests as I was "out of the warranty period". I was in warranty when this first occurred but they pushed it off. Needless to say I will never buy another GM product.

I still do preventive maintenance and have had multiple vehicles exceed 100,000 plus miles without a transmission issue. My Mustang GT at 148,000 shifts like it is new.

Midnight Blue

[Klasse Act]

Yeah for some reason people forget about the trans service, unless its factory sealed they need to know there's fluid and/or a filter in there and it needs servicing, just like an engine does. As far as 100K fluid intervals, well, if the fluid is that expensive I'd like to think it should last that long but these transmissions w/o filter, I don't get that, there's bans in there and metal bits floating around, how is that collected w/o using a filter and NO, the magnet isn't that big or powerful either, LOL!

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[VISITOR]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl0RsgqYxbs]2015 Hyundai Genesis -- First Drive with Lotus Cars Chief Engineer of Test & Development - YouTube[/video]

was at the hyundai dealership with the nephew getting an oil change and they had just recently got the new 2015 genesis sedan and sitting in it there was plenty of room and felt nice with the arm rest sitting higher than most typical cars (would of like to test drive it, maybe next time). overall, very nice inside and out. the quality is getting better and better and props to Hyundai for continuing to raise the bar for themselves higher and higher...