Transmission Fluid Change

[denalimike]

I had the Hub Bearing Assembly changed and since it was in the shop, I decided to buy the parts to change the TF. So, as I was talking with the guy whom I trust fairly well, he asked if the I was having issues with the gears and how many miles I had (140k) and (I've noticed it takes a bit higher rpm for it to change from gear to gear). He said that he could change it but because of the miles and I hadn't had it done before it could start slipping because the fluid is so much thinner than what's running through it now. Not that it will definitely slip but there's a chance.
Any thoughts on this? I was pretty bummed and said forget it.

 

[4WDTRK]

Never heard of anything like that myself? I wouldn't shy away from servicing your tranny. Maybe get second opinion?

 

[ezdaar]

Use the cooler line fluid change method. It's posted numerous times here and is a sticky over at gmfullsize

 

[denalimike]

You mean where the guy plugs the bottom of the radiator and it eventually come out pink as a .... well. clean? I bought the filter and gasket too... How many quarts does this method go through?

 

[ezdaar]

This method <---- Click it, you know you want to..

 

[NGAneer]

I did the fluid cooler method. I was nervous as hell it worked like a charm. Just change the fluid in the pan first so you don't run the tranny dry. I bought 12 quarts and it was enough. Be prepared to get the filter seal out of the transmission, it's an expletive filled adventure.

My bad, just saw the 00-06 section. I've got an 07 but it can't be that different.

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

I had the Hub Bearing Assembly changed and since it was in the shop, I decided to buy the parts to change the TF. So, as I was talking with the guy whom I trust fairly well, he asked if the I was having issues with the gears and how many miles I had (140k) and (I've noticed it takes a bit higher rpm for it to change from gear to gear). He said that he could change it but because of the miles and I hadn't had it done before it could start slipping because the fluid is so much thinner than what's running through it now. Not that it will definitely slip but there's a chance.
Any thoughts on this? I was pretty bummed and said forget it.

i know what hes talking about but he just explained it wrong
what can happen on rare occaisons especially if you have alotta miles on yer tranny after a tranny flush its possible that it mite start to slip alot and thats not becuase the fluid is thicker is becuase all that clutch material floating in yer tranny fluid from the clutchpacks is keeping the clutches from slipping so when you get new fluid in there its possible that yer tranny will start to slip alot more if yer tranny fluid is a light clear pink then its good you can swap it out with new stuff but its not needed
now if it was dark or smells burnt do not change that

 

[VikingTrad3r]

i know what hes talking about but he just explained it wrong
what can happen on rare occaisons especially if you have alotta miles on yer tranny after a tranny flush its possible that it mite start to slip alot and thats not becuase the fluid is thicker is becuase all that clutch material floating in yer tranny fluid from the clutchpacks is keeping the clutches from slipping so when you get new fluid in there its possible that yer tranny will start to slip alot more if yer tranny fluid is a light clear pink then its good you can swap it out with new stuff but its not needed
now if it was dark or smells burnt do not change that

^^^^
if you dont' change it, be prepared to do a tranny rebuild though.
on borrowed time. but you can get through till you have the money and/or time to do it at least. but if you remove all the extra friction material floating in the fluid you are done for as this person has said.

 

[ezdaar]

Don't trust fluid color or smell from the dipstick.
When I did my first fluid swap on my first denali. The stick showed nice pink fluid.
However when I dumped the pan into a bucket it was as brown as it could get. And smelled very badly of burnt fluid.

So I put the pan back on and poured in just enough to fill it then did the fluid swap as linked above.
Two 5 gallon buckets half full of rotten trans fluid is a very potent stink.
So. Don't trust that dip stick. Check the fluid in the pan and the cleanest and simplest way to do that is listed is that link.
Your not forced to do a full fluid swap. You can simply do a pan drain and refill via that method.