My approach on the Aisin aw55-51sn...long

[johnschnupp]

abscate and vt9000cse. Sent you guys PMs thru the forum.

John Schnupp, N3CNL
1995 Sportster XLH 1200 +106,000
2004 Subaru Impreza RS +216,000 RIP
2005 Volvo V70 +163,000 (it's new to me)
Georgia, VT

[johnschnupp]

Quick update. Stopped by my local shop today with a case of 3309 transmission fluid. They drained and refilled. Drained into a shop oil can so no real measure on what was taken out but it took 3.75 quarts to get to proper level. The means I should have enough to do two more drain and fills. The fluid coming out of the tranny looked like motor oil, all brown and dirty and not a hint of red. I was for sure overdue. Leaving the shop it felt like it was shifting better but that could have been because what we added was not yet hot. About 8 miles to home. At the last two stop signs I could feel the low gear shifts, but they did not seem as bad. Sounds and feels promising. The commute to work this evening will be the real test.

John Schnupp, N3CNL
1995 Sportster XLH 1200 +106,000
2005 Volvo V70 +163,000 (it's new to me)
2004 Subaru Impreza RS +216,000 RIP
Georgia, VT

[deano1]

Hey John
anxious to hear how it went.
You're probably already aware that 3.75qts is approximately half of the total capacity of aw55-50sn so while doing a drain and fill is a good start there's still a lot of that brown filthy fluid in there.
I really don't like waste so the idea of cross contaminating perfectly good fluid leaves me to look for a better solution and For me that solution was to pop off the cooler return line and literally pump out the old fluid 2 qts at a time, while adding pristine new fluid 2 qts at a time.
It's the solenoids that are in need of fresh clean fluid in hopes of flushing out the crud that causing them to stick.
cheers

[abscate]

Hopefully John isnt still pushing his Volvo home this morning....



If you do three 1/2 drain and fills you are 88% ish new fluid - then just do one drain and fill each year as a PM item and you are set for life.

[johnschnupp]

No pushing for me, yet. My commute is about 25 miles one way and included rural, interstate and city driving so it is probably a good test as to how the fluid replacement has effect things. Initially on the way home from the garage there did not seem to be much of a difference. I sort of expected that. After and additional two round trips to work and back (100ish miles) I can say that there is clearly and improvement, especially in rural driving where there are occasional stop signs and moderate speeds. Highway driving as never really been a concern. It is still a little "clunky" when driving around town with much more frequent stop/go traffic but I can honestly say that it has gotten better. It's not like I'm going to be doing burnouts and neutral drops but that was never my style of driving anyway. I bought a case of the 3309 fluid. It's enough to do it two more times. I'm going to get another change scheduled in the next week or two and then the final one in the beginning of January. My supposed mechanic friend from dart league who warned me of imminent tranny failure was wrong and probably full of something else that was brown and foul smelling too. I'll post some final thoughts after I've completed my cycle of fluid changes.

Deano, it's been recommended quite frequently on this site that high mileage vehicles with the status of the fluid changes unknown, that the best procedure is to drain the pan and refill. Doing this will incrementally get the old fluid out without causing sudden changes that might have unwanted consequences. Yes, it might not be as quick as doing a 100% replacement but to me it seems the better approach.

John Schnupp, N3CNL
1995 Sportster XLH 1200 +106,000
2005 Volvo V70 +163,000 (it's new to me)
2004 Subaru Impreza RS +216,000 RIP
Georgia, VT

[johnschnupp]

My final post on this thread. I owe an updated on this. I've now done the drain and fill option 3x which used about 11.5 quarts total 3309 transmission fluid. With each drain/fill the shifting is slowly improving. The most recent time was last week when I had it to my local garage for oil change at 165,000. It's still not perfect but it no longer feels like and eminent failure, I would say it's no longer teetering on the edge of the cliff. Amazon has the Mobile 3309 for $59/case. I'm going to get another case and have the tranny drained and filled at each oil change. Amazon also has a WIX 58964 Magnetic In-Line Transmission Filter that I'll add once it gets warm enough to be mostly comfortable working in an unheated garage. It will never be "like new" but I'm now confident that there is still plenty of life left in the vehicle.

John Schnupp, N3CNL
1995 Sportster XLH 1200 +106,000
2005 Volvo V70 +165,000 (it's new to me)
2004 Subaru Impreza RS +216,000 RIP
Georgia, VT

[jonesg]

My final post on this thread. I owe an updated on this. I've now done the drain and fill option 3x which used about 11.5 quarts total 3309 transmission fluid. With each drain/fill the shifting is slowly improving. The most recent time was last week when I had it to my local garage for oil change at 165,000. It's still not perfect but it no longer feels like and eminent failure, I would say it's no longer teetering on the edge of the cliff. Amazon has the Mobile 3309 for $59/case. I'm going to get another case and have the tranny drained and filled at each oil change. Amazon also has a WIX 58964 Magnetic In-Line Transmission Filter that I'll add once it gets warm enough to be mostly comfortable working in an unheated garage. It will never be "like new" but I'm now confident that there is still plenty of life left in the vehicle.

John Schnupp, N3CNL
1995 Sportster XLH 1200 +106,000
2005 Volvo V70 +165,000 (it's new to me)
2004 Subaru Impreza RS +216,000 RIP
Georgia, VT

Thanks for updates, many of us follow these threads without comment.
I don't listen to the parts guys in AutoZone places, they warn against tranny fluid change. They parrot each other.
Parrots have no song of their own.

[abscate]

I had a Norwegian blue who just to pine for my Ford, was awfully quiet though.

Thanks for update, John