When a vehicle has high miles and most likely hasn't flushed the transmission before, is it better to not attempt? Buick Regal. (Transmission Automatic Leaks Buick Regal)

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Question Details Asked:Jan 06, 2013 - 10:15 PMStatus:Closed

drusopher	When a vehicle has high miles and most likely hasn't flushed the transmission before, is it better to not attempt? Buick Regal. After Christmas of this past year, my 1994 Buick Regal Gran Sport 3.8 liter engine vehicle transmission started acting up. I added about three quarts one night and had to add another two quarts within the next night. Eventually I had taken it to Aamco, thankfully it got there. One of the managers Ken told me that the motor mount was busted and that every time I stepped on the gas pedal, it would cause the car to lift in the air and rip the transmission line, obviously causing a big leak. Anyway Ken tells me and my father that they're going to drop the pan first to see if there is any metal in the oil because if there was, that would raise a red flag to even work on my car. There was no metal found in the pan, so next they told us they needed to order a motor mount, remove and replace the new one, change the transmission lines and the dreaded transmission flush. I said fine to all that. A few days later I am able to get my car my car back New Year's Eve day, that was Monday. Thursday I am attempting to pull out of my parking spot and the car will not get into the reverse gear. After idling for a few minutes I finally get out of my spot and head towards town and it was running smoothly again. Few more times where it wouldn't shift into gear and I had it towed back to Aamco where they told me the fluid was a little over the line but not a drop was missing. Do you think the transmission flush they did may have loosened varnish that caused control valves to stick?
	In Maintenance & Repair > Transmission > Automatic In Maintenance & Repair > Transmission > Leaks In Makes & Models > Buick > Regal 1 answer - 135 days ago
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mr_shiftright 01/07/13 9:47 am PST

Certainly possible. I wonder if this was just an "up-sell", since there was apparently no reason to flush the transmission. A 'drop and fill' would have been sufficient it seems.

It's hard to say what caused what though, given that the transmission ran so low on fluid. The primary enemy of transmission is heat, and fluid cools the unit, so it seems plausible that overheating could also cause this condition.

Last of all, this is a 20 year old car, so I presume the transmission has a lot of miles on it---and transmission do have a natural life span after all.

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