Transmission life on the early Hoes?

[Mean_Green]

I don't even know what most of those words mean.

I'll be having a shop go through the whole vehicle once I can get it scheduled. I'll see what they find. Transmission work seems to be a matter of opinion. I've seen quite a few say not to mess with older ones so you don't stir something up out of the pan that can circulate to where it can do damage. Others say to do a full flush and fill.

 

[Mean_Green]

In the OPs case, I’d absolutely remove the pan and if nothing out of the ordinary is visible, replace solenoids, filter, gasket then put it back on to do the flush. Maintenance extent is dictated by usage patterns. Heavy duty use, swap filter every 18-24k; daily driving, once every 48k-50k.

What should I expect a competent shop to charge for that?

 

[Doubeleive]

What should I expect a competent shop to charge for that?

prices may have changed due to inflation but typically around $250 to change the solenoids and new filter, fluids.
can really depend on the shop I guess. I am sure fluid cost has risen in the last year or so.

 

[NickTransmissions]

What should I expect a competent shop to charge for that?

Agree with Wes….$250-$400 on the high side. The shop may ohm out your solenoids or, upon visual inspection see they’ve already been replaced in the recent past and tell you they’re fine but if they’re all original, my cost for all of them is just under $120. Many shops will mark up between 10-20% over wholesale cost.

Id call around if you haven’t already to see what’s out there. Alternatively you can do the solenoid/filter/pan gasket/flush job yourself for a lot less (most shops will not do an actual transmission flush if mileage is north of 100-125k). They fear new fluid will flush out “gunk” in the trans and cause it to have problems after the flush. A non-issue in my opinion but they don’t want to be stuck with paying for a trans rebuild if the trans starts to act up and customer complains…

 

[nonickatall]

Agree with Wes….$250-$400 on the high side. The shop may ohm out your solenoids or, upon visual inspection see they’ve already been replaced in the recent past and tell you they’re fine but if they’re all original, my cost for all of them is just under $120. Many shops will mark up between 10-20% over wholesale cost.

Id call around if you haven’t already to see what’s out there. Alternatively you can do the solenoid/filter/pan gasket/flush job yourself for a lot less (most shops will not do an actual transmission flush if mileage is north of 100-125k). They fear new fluid will flush out “gunk” in the trans and cause it to have problems after the flush. A non-issue in my opinion but they don’t want to be stuck with paying for a trans rebuild if the trans starts to act up and customer complains…

From my humble view is a transmission flush the most misunderstood thing.

Here in Germany garage charges for a flush 500 to 800€ and people think that they can't do it themself and it cleans the unit. But at least the problem is only, that at most transmissions only have 1/3 to 1/4 of the oil in the pan and the rest is in the toque converter, valve body and pistons.

That is great at the GM transmissions on the GMT 800. You can disconnect the oil cooler, let the engine run, and refill what comes out. You do that 4 times, invest 20 Liter ATF Dexron VI and you have everything changed. Even if you remove the pan, you should do it like this.

 

[NickTransmissions]

From my humble view is a transmission flush the most misunderstood thing.

Here in Germany garage charges for a flush 500 to 800€ and people think that they can't do it themself and it cleans the unit. But at least the problem is only, that at most transmissions only have 1/3 to 1/4 of the oil in the pan and the rest is in the toque converter, valve body and pistons.

That is great at the GM transmissions on the GMT 800. You can disconnect the oil cooler, let the engine run, and refill what comes out. You do that 4 times, invest 20 Liter ATF Dexron VI and you have everything changed. Even if you remove the pan, you should do it like this.

Yep, its a fairly straightforward process; nothing to be afraid of if you’re a DYI’er.

 

[Mean_Green]

Yeah, well I can screw up refilling the washer fluid bottle.

 

[nonickatall]

Yeah, well I can screw up refilling the washer fluid bottle.

You should NOT fill washer fluid into the transmission and no ATF into the washer fluid tank.

Both will not work...

Even if both products are available in red...

 

[oldchev]

The original question was how long will my transmission last. So, as one has already stated, that depends.

Hard driving will surely take its toll. I am a very easy driver (to many’s disdain) and made almost 280k on my 2004 4L65e.
On mine the reaction carrier shell splines stripped on the shaft. A bang, then lots of noise. It limped home.

Besides that, it showed what I would consider normal wear and may have gone another 20-50k miles or who knows? Keep ‘em clean, drive easy = longer life.

 

[Eman85]

I don't even know what most of those words mean.

I'll be having a shop go through the whole vehicle once I can get it scheduled. I'll see what they find. Transmission work seems to be a matter of opinion. I've seen quite a few say not to mess with older ones so you don't stir something up out of the pan that can circulate to where it can do damage. Others say to do a full flush and fill.

I was a GM dealer tech, started at Chevy dealer in mid-70's. Never worked at a shop that had a transmission flush machine and have never done a transmission flush. I've done countless transmission services on newer vehicles and high mileage vehicles, basically drop pan, drain fluid, replace filter and fluid. I've never had one that went bad because of "stirring something up". Those that went bad were on their way well before the service and they were trying to band aid it. Anything that might get "stirred up" would be stopped by the filter. I think some of the tales might have been started back in the old filter style days where the filter might have been prone to clogging, I'm talking real old days.