albert88

Bought a 1997 2.2 CL 4 speed auto a few days ago...I think my tranny has engine oil in there because it has absolutely no color to it, it's almost clear/see through. It's shifting -kind of- hard, and staying in 3rd gear just a bit too long sometimes. Should I empty and re-fill, or flush, or leave it alone?!

OttaWacK

What does it smell like? Tranny fluid should have a pink/red tinge to it. If it smells burnt or is any colour other than pink/red then do a complete change as much as possible. I am not too sure on how for a 2.2 auto to completely change tranny fluid. You could also get the flush done too. I would not wait too long.

albert88

It smells burned.

albert88

I bought 6 more quarts, will do a flush today...How long do I let it run between the flushes? 15 mins of driving and shifting gears?

OttaWacK

15 mins of driving should be fine. Just make sure that you go through all gears and lock the TC on the hwy for a couple mins as well. May require some more quarts to complete a full transmission oil change. I know more of the 3.0 than 2.2.

Good luck.

albert88

I know the 2.2 tranny takes less fluid. I'm going to drain, fillup 3 quarts, drive for 15 min including hwy, then drain and refill, repeat. After another drain, I'll fill up the remaining 3 quarts and hopefully be done with this and have a working tranny still. This is nerve wrecking because I'm thinking what if the tranny dies on me right there and then, I have absolutely no money to fix. Wish me luck I guess...tnx for the help.

TexasHonda

When wrong fluid has been added, I would suggest flushing system more thoroughly. You need to pull one of the cooler lines at the radiator. Start engine briefly w/ a helper and determine whether you've pulled the supply or return line. You want to release only the supply line.

Once you've determined the supply line direct this line to a catch pan, and start engine (again w/ helper) and run out about 1-2 qts, and stop. Refill the trans through dipstick port w/ 1-2 qts of new fluid, and repeat. Repeat procedure until new red trans fluid emerges from supply line drain.

Reconnect supply line to radiator and you're done.

good luck

albert88

I don't mean to test your knowledge, but how is this better if the car isn't being ran on the streets to shift all gears? I assume the fluid that is in the torque converter and solenoids will not be flushed, will it?

OttaWacK

^^ I would assume because the drain and fill is always mixing the oils up. If you drain it per Texas Honda's way, you will be forcing all of the old oil out first without having to mix it up too much.

Texas is the definitely the guy to listen to on this forum for anything technical

albert88

I just got done with the flush, the fluid that came out was black. I did as TexasHonda advised me to. It's shifting a lot smoother and it doesn't hang onto 3rd gear as long. I don't know if it's my imagination, but it almost seems like when I let go off the gas in 4th gear the car has more drag now. Can this be in my head, or is it possible something is screwed up in the tranny? Far as I can tell, it doesn't shift down to 3rd when I let off the gas at 40+ MPH when I feel the drag.

Thanks again TexasHonda.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

The reason TH told you to drain the rad line, is because a drain/fill will not empty the fluid that's in the cooler for the tranny lines cooler, so you will still have old stagnant oil residing, by draining out the rad you helped remove more bad fluid from the mix

albert88

The flush went perfect, thanks Texas. Can the new fluid have ruined something in there? I feel like if I'm going 45 MPH + the car has more drag now almost as if it's shifting down to 3rd gear BUT it's not. Could this be something with the torque converter?

Erwin8r

Sometimes flushing an older tranny will cause particles to dislodge and lodge themselves in other places or push marginal clutch packs over the edge... this is why many times people are advised not to flush their fluid on an older/non-maintained tranny and just use it until it goes. This is all preventable, of course, with regular maintenance from new. Absent any other identifiable issues, I would say use your tranny as-is, and start saving for a replacement.