transmission service, to flush or not to flush? (2002 p38)
 

Went to a private party for sale 2002 RR today, great day to test drive, was in the middle of getting 6 inches of snow!! Vehicle is clean and drives well, garaged and overall well kept. When I was asking him about maint routine, it came out that he has never had the tranny fluid drained or flushed, current miles at 125K. He is the 3rd owner, first 2 were in AL, southern car...

It shifts fine, but worries me. When asked why not, he said his mechanic said since they are not sure if it's been done in the past or not, it can be catastrophic to do your first flush at 125K, creating problems if there is some sludge in the system, etc... I will have a indy PPI done if I proceed with the purchase, but they probably won't tell me anything unless they drain it to see the fluid, right? Not my car yet, so can't really have the fluid done. Any suggestions? If i purchase, I may just drain off a couple quarts and top off again so less likely to shock the system, but open to advice!!

Thanks!

I was in the same situation with mine. Didn't know the history of it and it had 105k. Since I wanted to "get in there" I bought a gasket, filter and a ton of ATF. I dropped the pan and replaced the filter (which was fine and didn't need replacing) and changed the fluid. I then drove 1k miles, drained the fluid, topped it off, drove another 1k miles, drained the fluid and topped it off. At this point "most" of the fluid had been renewed through this process and I called it good. I wouldn't do a power flush with that kind of miles and no history of it being done. Just drain and replace 2 or 3 times and you should be good. They first drain is the most important and will tell you a lot. I usually try to filter the first few quarts using a coffee filter and a funnel. This will tell you if you have any metal shavings or sludge in there (be careful, it is messy) Good luck!

Power flush, no. Do as krazz suggested, the fluid definitely needs to be replaced. Use Dexron III ATF.

Thanks...
 

That does sould like good advice, get the fluid changed, but with out the shock to the system... Thanks!

Also, if you don't turn your own wrenches you could also just have the ATF changed at 3 consecutive oil changes. It would take longer but the end result would probably be just as good.

Agree with Krazzz as well. You definitely want to change it. The multiple changes isn't so much to avoid "shock", but rather to try to get all of it out of the torque converter and cooler that don't come out when you just open the drain.

Just because the current owner hasn't changed it, doesn't really mean it has never been changed. You have to remember that these vehicles were very expensive when new and were probably dealer maintained for a good portion of their lives. So just change the fluid and the filter. I would not flush it.

Never Flush, always change oil, filters, clean the pan, drive for 500 miles and then do it again!