Flush Transmission and Radiator?

[LostInOz]

Hey All,

I have a 2006 Chateau Sport (Class C) Chevy Express RV with about 60,000 miles on it. The previous owner took pretty good care of it, and I picked it up with about 38,000 miles on it. It's always been stored in a storage unit and is in really nice condition inside and out. It's my first RV and I've loved owning it.

Previous owner always ran Mobil 1 synthetic motor oil and had it serviced regularly.

I have a check engine light on (probably o2 sensor), and am going to get it serviced soon before spring arrives.

I got to wondering about the transmission and I seem to recall the manual says to change transmission fluid at 100,000 miles. BUT I'm gonna have the mechanic go through everything and replace anything that looks suspect (belts whatever) as it's getting some age on it since it's a 2006.

If you didn't know when the transmission and radiator were flushed last, would it be a good idea to go ahead and have these taken care of "just for the hell of it"? Or am I being overly cautious??

Anything else that's normally overlooked that I should have my mechanic take a look at while he's got it??

Thanks in advance for your knowledge and advice.

[joshuajim]

klutchdust wrote:
My friend Jerry owned Jerry's transmissions for 35 years. He told me once" Do Not " flush your transmission. Change the fluid and filters regularly. On my Allison tranny

on my pickup there is an external spin on filter, it gets changed every oil change. When you check your fluid if it looks off color or smells burnt change it, even if it is not due by the mileage

suggestion.

I owned a transmission shop and would NEVER recommend a flush. Just drop the pan, inspect and replace fluid. If there is a lot of “mud” in the bottom of the pan, plan a rebuild soon. Probably sooner than you want as new fluid has detergents that will loosen up a lot of things that were glued together by old fluid.

It’s not the tranny shop that caused failure after a fluid change, it’s just a worn out transmission.

[klutchdust]

klutchdust wrote:
My friend Jerry owned Jerry's transmissions for 35 years. He told me once" Do Not " flush your transmission. Change the fluid and filters regularly. On my Allison tranny

on my pickup there is an external spin on filter, it gets changed every oil change. When you check your fluid if it looks off color or smells burnt change it, even if it is not due by the mileage

suggestion.

Jerry gained more business once the "flush" thing came into the picture.

[klutchdust]

My friend Jerry owned Jerry's transmissions for 35 years. He told me once" Do Not " flush your transmission. Change the fluid and filters regularly. On my Allison tranny

on my pickup there is an external spin on filter, it gets changed every oil change. When you check your fluid if it looks off color or smells burnt change it, even if it is not due by the mileage

suggestion.

[BFL13]

Your guy will no doubt do all this and more. I picked up a few things from getting things done, but don't know details like the garage guys will.

Rear diff for gear oil (watch for shavings---there is a Kit for that if there are lots)
Was warned not to flush transmission in case of any shavings getting in everywhere, just get a "service" job done. If really bad oil, you have to get it done twice since the service only gets some of it changed.
Coolant can be tested, but change it every two years is the usual story--goes bad even if not being driven much, same as your engine oil.
Air filter, grease job. Brakes and emerg brake check.
See what codes it has or had

Ours has a heater in the back that gets coolant from the front rad, so there is more coolant to be flushed than just for the front. I don't know if they would get it all from the usual "flush". The back heater can be drained where the hoses to it connect underneath by the back tires. I did my own "flush" by undoing one of the hoses at the back heater and ran the engine with a garden hose down the rad at the front. Eventually the water ran clear from that back hose, so I figured that meant it all got done. Put new coolant in the front after that.

Watch for spare tire being over 10 yrs old. Here the garage won't use it in place of a flat tire if it is over 10. So if your tires need changing and they are over 10, no point in using one as the new spare. I had a flat in a rear and they would not repair the tire, all four being over 10. Had to get four new back tires just to fix the flat--needed to be done anyway though. Fronts have two years to go to be 10 but can't use one as the new spare when I get new fronts, so will need three.

[Gjac]

At 60 k miles I would change it. You don't know if the transmission was ever overheated when climbing long grades. I change mine every 30k miles or so. You would be surprised at the debris in the bottom of the pan on the first fluid change. Each subsequent change showed less debris. I change the fluid in the rear end every 30k miles also. I don't know what your MH weighs but the heavier it is the more load is on the transmission especially climbing hills. After you drop the pan and change the filter look at the magnet on the bottom of pan and clean it off of metallic chips. You can disconnect the transmission line to you radiator and run all the old fluid out buy running your engine and adding new fluid until all the old fluid is flush out. This will get the old fluid out of the torque converter unless you have a drain plug in it.

[LostInOz]

valhalla360 wrote:


PS: How old are the tires?

Rear tires are probably 4 years old now. Front tires were new last summer as I had an alignment issue and the front ones were getting cupped...

[valhalla360]

I might preemptively replace the belts. If they are 15yrs old, even if they look OK, they may be ready to fail.

It probably wouldn't hurt to flush the trans.

Keep in mind, 4,000 miles per year is way below what the chassis would expect in a commercial application, so age will push some issues long before miles.

PS: How old are the tires?

[gbopp]

LostInOz wrote:
If you didn't know when the transmission and radiator were flushed last, would it be a good idea to go ahead and have these taken care of "just for the hell of it"? Or am I being overly cautious??

I wouldn't 'flush' the transmission, I would just change the fluid/filter.
I think it's a good idea to service the transmission and radiator, especially if you don't know when or if it was done previously.
It gives you a base line for future maintenance.

[MDKMDK]

I had a 2002 Roadtrek (3500 Chevy Express van) with the 5.7L V8. Somewhere between 60,000 and 100,000 miles I had to replace the intake manifold gasket due to leakage between the gasket and the cooling system. Caught in time, small coolant/oil drips on the driveway, and I think it cost around $1200 to repair. I guess the Dexcool goblins got to that gasket. Might want to have that checked, if possible?