Question on changing trans fluid

Aug 20, 2003 4 Replies

I have an 02 2500HD with the HD trans. When I change the fluid which I do after every long trip towing a travel trailer, I can only drain



4qts. and 5 qts. with a filter change. I know that it holds much more fluid than I am draining. Is there some method to get most of the fluid to drain. TIA MR

Unless it has a drain plug on the torque converter, no. The only other thing you can do is let it sit over night with the pan and filter off, sometimes another quart or two will drain down out of the converter that way. You really don't have to change it that often however, unless it is getting overly hot and discolored.

about 3 to 4 qts at a time. Then refill it the same amount then do it again. After about 4 gallons it will be clean. You shouldnt need to do this unless it is burt/brown and smelly. If it gets burnt after a trip with the trailer maybe you need to invest in a additional cooler.

for a routine ATF change... the 5 qts is plenty sufficient unless you seriously overheated the tranny and burnt the fluid.

-Bret

I have the tow pkg. which has the trans cooler. The fluid is usually pretty clear when I change it. After a 3-4k mile trip the trans has worked pretty hard and I think it is good insurance and cheap to change the fluid each trip. The trans temp gage never gets over about

190 deg. F when pulling hard in the mountains, so I would guess that is well within the operating temps. I was just curious about the trans not draining more fluid that that. Thanks for the info. MR

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