Aamco Power Purge

[TheGrooveking]

Any of you guys have any experience with this process they sell at Aamco Transmission shops, they call it the Power Purge? My wife wants to take her car in (2005 Camry) for this, as that she doesn't want to wait for me to get to it (very busy at work). Please let me know.

TheGrooveking

 

[ishiboo]

Any of you guys have any experience with this process they sell at Aamco Transmission shops, they call it the Power Purge? My wife wants to take her car in (2005 Camry) for this, as that she doesn't want to wait for me to get to it (very busy at work). Please let me know.

TheGrooveking

Manufacturers recommend a simple drain, replace filter and refill. I'd go that route. If you do it several times, you've got yourself a flush

Lot of unsatisfied "power flush" customers when the transmission fails shortly after it's done. I believe sometimes they really must loosen a lot of deposits which do harm in short order. I wouldn't risk it.

 

[Cardboard Man]

+1 ^^^ Don't do it.

 

[rickairmedic]

+2 SWMBO had her Jeep Liberty done about 6 months ago and surprise friken chrysler **** now she needs a transmision . Which I swear has to do with the powerflush she had done.


Rick

 

[BlindViper]

Had the trans flushed in the truck (97 f250 diesel) it went out 100 miles later. I don't like them anymore.

 

[draglink]

Would a transmission shop really try to sell a service that might prevent them from rebuild/replacing that transmission? HMMMMMMMM??!!

 

[1931S/X]

guy i know had slipping and shuddering trans in his truck think it had 180,000. he took it to a mechanic that did a lot of stuff for him and he recomended to flush and use synthetic atf said it has bought many of his customers 20,000 miles. he did it and was very pleased. my dad was always against the flush and drilled it into my head to jsu tdo a fliter and fluid regularly, but if it was never done and has high miles, dont touch it at all.

 

[cowboyjosh]

Wife has a Toyota Land Cruiser, we find it cheaper at least in Phoenix and Denver to use the coupons Toyota occasionally sends out and have fluids changed at the dealership. I know when the Cruiser needed brakes we got a couple quotes and the Toyota dealer was $90 cheaper then Brakes Plus and a couple mom and pop repair shops in Parker, Colorado.

If your not up to paying a dealer or other shop for the work, I wouldn't power purge, I'd just wait a little longer until I could get around to doing it myself.

 

[olsguy]

dont do it. the people at aamco seem like they are just out to make a buck atleast around here. form my experiance with auto transmissions is if the trans has high miles and never been serviced then leave it alone or if you take care of your stuff then just a drain, filter and refill.

 

[jay50]

Save your flushing for the *******, not your ******...

A all

a automatics

m must

c come

o out

 

[35mastr]

That camry only requires a drain and fill. Should be T type fluid only.

 

[Fedwrench]

A lot of Toyotas have a label around the dipstick that say the atf doesn't have to be changed. The problem with some transmission flushes is that most shops do not stock all of the OE specified transmission fluids. They try to use a generic one size fits most ATF which can cause many problems even with their additive packages. Where I work, we normally flush everything at 60K but, OE specified fluid is used. I would only get a flush if the shop will use the right fluid instead of the house brand. I work discuss the issue of techs trying to do several things at the same time ignoring machine beeps to turn the engine off and running the transmission dry. That would be another thread

 

[srmofo]

Im still amazed by how many people think flushing a transmission will harm it,lol.

Before I start on my rant let me just say that I am unaware of what they are doing when they sell you a "power purge". If in fact it is just a flush with a standard machine and it is performed correctly with the right fluid filled to the correct level nothing bad will happen.

All these damn stories you hear about about transmissions going out are usually a result of many years of neglect and abuse. I have witnessed it first hand. Let me give you a common scenario, customer comes in and asks for a trans flush on a 13 year old vehicle. A little common sense tells you to ask "why?". 9/10 times they will tell you, well its been "acting funny", "not shifting right", "its slipping". The other one time is the crazy old guy that still follows the manufacturers recommended service schedule and the car is in mint shape.

Ive been flushing transmissions for 10 years and you know how many have come back burned up? ZERO.

It seems many of you have no idea how they are even flushed but still seem to spread the rumors that it will burn them up with absolutely zero first hand experience, and only hearsay to go on.

Our Wynn machine connects "in line" usually at the cooler lines and primarily uses the torque converter to pump the fluid. It doesnt push at any higher pressures or force the fluid anywhere it isnt supposed to go. To the best of my knowledge every machine out there operates on the same basic principal.

We mainly use 1 type of fluid most of the time and double check that it meets and exceeds the manufacturers specs if we are unsure. It came with a product label that specifies everything from type F to ATF+4. We've had zero issues with it. The only exception to this is CVT. Those are drain and fill with correct OE fluid and the fluid looks as clean coming out as it does going in. CVTs are amazing little gizmos. We will use whatever the customer wants if they have a preference but there will be additional charges of course.

With all that said, theres is no way in hell I would let any of my vehicles near an aamco shop. We have one trusted guy in the area at an aamco and hes 45 mins away. Hes the only one that gets any business from our 27 stores. Too many horror stories.

 

[mrb]

my trans guy told me on very high mileage transmissions dont touch them as the particles suspended in the fluid are providing needed friction on the worn clutch plates and bands.

 

[tdkkart]

Our Wynn machine connects "in line" usually at the cooler lines and primarily uses the torque converter to pump the fluid.

There's enough funnies in this one sentence to convince me.........

 

[srmofo]

There's enough funnies in this one sentence to convince me.........

Im not really sure what your comment means btw we dont use wynns products

Anyway I just happened to do a quick google search and this is one of our old machines that we use as a back up. New one is just like but the adapters are different.

 

[Kev442]

We mainly use 1 type of fluid most of the time and double check that it meets and exceeds the manufacturers specs if we are unsure. It came with a product label that specifies everything from type F to ATF+4. We've had zero issues with it.

I've been told it does not mimic ATF+4 well at all, and the "additive" that is sold to "modify" fluids is a joke too. All this from a well trusted 40 year transmission man. Keep selling those flushes, he'll keep rebuilding Chrysler trannies.

 

[G_P]

Our Wynn machine connects "in line"

btw we dont use wynns products

 

[BlackLead]

Gee, this whole "******* in the Wynn" thing looks promising and all, but to get back to the OP's topic: while I don't know diddly squat about this so-called Power Purge, I do know that there's no way in hell I'd get near an AAMCO with my car either. Nor for that matter, any Midas, Cottman, or Mr. Transmission. Shysters, one and all, in my experience. Find a well-reputed independent transmission shop, or take it to a decent dealership. Seriously. I wouldn't recommend AAMCO to the f*ckin' Taliban.

Well, maybe the Taliban.

 

[srmofo]

We just use their machine and not their additives

******* in the wynn,lol

 

[srmofo]

I've been told it does not mimic ATF+4 well at all, and the "additive" that is sold to "modify" fluids is a joke too. All this from a well trusted 40 year transmission man. Keep selling those flushes, he'll keep rebuilding Chrysler trannies.

Its funny that you state it doesnt mimic atf+4 correctly , yet you have no idea what product we use. You cant possibly think Im going to take what you say seriously when you make blanket statements like that based only on hearsay from some guy. He may be a well trusted and good honest man, but where is all his independent research on the type of fluid we use. Furthermore how does he know that some jackass at a quicklube didnt contaminate it with the wrong fluid at some point?

We dont need or use additives because the fluid meets the grade.

I can show product specs and I assure you that a huge petro company is not going to open itself up to lawsuits by saying a product is compatible when its not. They're big enough targets already.

BTW our shop has been in business for 80 years with 27 locations. Im sure we would have discovered the fluids we use are causing transmissions to go out. We do have loyal repeat customers.

I still stand by my original statement that I wouldnt go anywhere near an aamco and lets add Brownies IT to that list mentioned earlier

 

[Fizza1742]

Aamco is not the only shop that offer's trans flush. RTI is the company that came out with the machines to do a Purge. Many years ago ( about 30) when you had a trans services done the tech would drop the pan & filter and then remove the drain plug in the torque converter, you removed about 90 % of the old ATF. Then all on the car manufacturer came out with a lock up torque converter and the drain plug was no longer there so the only trans service would be drop the pan & filter and only about 1/3 of the ATF would drain from the trans. Not a good idea to leave 70 % of the old ATF in the trans. That's like changing 2 out of 5 qts of engine oil.
The next thing the car manufacturer's came out with were transmission with no dip sticks or filler tubes which means you can not do the old pan & filter drain & refill. You need a machine to do a trans service. These machine will exchange about 95 % of the ATF.
If you have a vehicle with a 150'000 mile or more and you want to do the first trans service its not a good idea more then not changing the fluid for the first time with very high mileage will cause a problem done the road. Trans services should be done based on the type of driving you do follow the OE's recommendation's

Just my 2 cents

 

[Kev442]

You will never get me to believe as long as I live that one fluid can mimic both Ford F and Chrysler ATF+4. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum and I'm glad I will never visit your "one size fits all" shops. Your supplier is selling the same barrel of all-in-one to AAmco and Jiffy Lube too, why are theirs garbage and yours the cats azz?

If these lubricants were perfect for all transmissions, why on earth would corporations spend all the time and money creating formulations specific to their transmissions? They certainly aren't selling the fluids in the aftermarket.

I work in an industry where people feel all the time that "one lube works on everything" They think the fully synthetic non oxidizing lubricants we sell from Nye are overpriced, right up to the time I have to rebuild their machine.

http://www.nyelubricants.com/products/pennzane.shtml

 

[regguy1]

You will never get me to believe as long as I live that one fluid can mimic both Ford F and Chrysler ATF+4. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum and I'm glad I will never visit your "one size fits all" shops. Your supplier is selling the same barrel of all-in-one to AAmco and Jiffy Lube too, why are theirs garbage and yours the cats azz?

If these lubricants were perfect for all transmissions, why on earth would corporations spend all the time and money creating formulations specific to their transmissions? They certainly aren't selling the fluids in the aftermarket.

I work in an industry where people feel all the time that "one lube works on everything" They think the fully synthetic non oxidizing lubricants we sell from Nye are overpriced, right up to the time I have to rebuild their machine.

http://www.nyelubricants.com/products/pennzane.shtml

So they can get you to come to their dealers and spend $10.00 a quart on it....?? Marketing 101: create a need and fill it

Remember the game show "The 64000 dollar question" sposored by "Geritol"
what did it do..."cured tired blood" they made millions..how much tired blood did it "cure".... you figure it out

This was a scandal in the 1950's, there's amovie about it called "Game Show" worth watching IMO

 

[Kev442]

So they can get you to come to their dealers and spend $10.00 a quart on it....?? Marketing 101: create a need and fill it

Way to conveniently not read the part where I stated it is sold in the aftermarket.

I buy it where 95% of most people do, at a chain store of some sort. Everybody raise their hand that goes to the dealer for a quart of ****** fluid. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? (a movie I would much rather watch)

 

[shoot summ]

I've had several vehicles flushed, all GM, all within the factory specified limits for changing the fluid. All saw towing service of some sorts. None of them experienced any transmission problems.

I have a local trusted shop I use for repairs I don't do myself, they recommend the flush instead of dropping the pan. I trust their recommendation.

I would not use AAMCO though, too many horror stories about them.

 

[srmofo]

You will never get me to believe as long as I live that one fluid can mimic both Ford F and Chrysler ATF+4. They are at opposite ends of the spectrum and I'm glad I will never visit your "one size fits all" shops. Your supplier is selling the same barrel of all-in-one to AAmco and Jiffy Lube too, why are theirs garbage and yours the cats azz?
]

Where did I say their fluids were garbage? I have no idea what they use and neither do you. Ive seen too many horror stories first hand is why I would not recommend those types of places. Half the time I get a car from jiffy lube, the filter hasnt been changed, the drain plug is stripped, or the damn thing is over full on oil. If you pay a guy $8/hr, thats the quality of work youre gonna get. ALmost every single car I have seen or heard go to a trans specialist has always needed a complete rebuild. I have seen several first hand that developed serious issues shortly there after. And its always something elses fault so the warranty is void. It happened to my sister (other side of the country). They tried to blame it on "dragging brakes" which she had to get 3 different quotes/statements from other shops stating they were not dragging. She finally gave up. Another recent one locally was for a trailblazer that came to us from a local aamco. They (aamco)were trying to blame some coolant spillage on the frame rail from a recent water pump job for taking out a rebuilt transmission. Appearently it contaminated the trans fluid somehow even though it was still bright red with no visible signs of coolant mix.

Im not gonna debate this with you anymore because you obviously have no cold hard data to back up your statements. All you have is personal feelings and hearsay. I have the product sheets with every spec that it does meet along with the specs that it doesnt meet. I also have several years experience with zero issues along with about 150 other techs years of experience with zero issues.

If you dont want to use the fluid then thats fine, dont. Its not really any sweat off my back, Id rather not have your type of customer anyways. They seem to know everything but for some reason, They brought the vehicle to me to have worked on.

Im not one of the people that believe one lube fits all, but when it says it meets or exceeds certain specs. I trust them. You dont. Take Gms new dexos engine oil. We had to buy cases of the stuff to keep on the shelves (along with all kinds of other fluids for euros,cvts, etc). Obviously we bought it aftermarket, but the reason wasnt completely because of price. Nope, the local GM dealerships cant even get their hands on it and they are not allowed to use after market products. They're using regular old 5w30. Funny thing is....5w30 doesnt meet the spec, and we wont use it. Just because you go to the dealer dont assume you are always getting the right stuff

Further, GM says that if a customer has an engine failure that is traced to oil or lubrication issues, and if the customer does not use dexos 1 oil in their gasoline-powered GM vehicle, that act alone could void the warranty. The same goes for GM vehicles with diesel engines, which use a diesel-specific “dexos 2” oil blend.

 

[rwhite692]

Aamco used to run TV and radio spots with the tagline:

"Nearly half of all cars serviced by AAMCO, don't need a new transmission!"

So...half, or more.....DO!

LOL

 

[Kev442]

"Heresay" from 76 Performance division. Over 10 years old, but something to know for those of us running older vehicles.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCQQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.studebaker-info.org%2FPDF%2F44_TN4_8.PDF&rct=j&q=fluid%20specs%20type%20F&ei=36Z-TZWEK8LmrAHr8bihCQ&usg=AFQjCNHho8cbWwoZ-bY3dNkfTm-CTdXqOg&sig2=j1f8fCTH4QfpTExG4XDzwQ&cad=rja

It was pretty common in the 70's and 80's to try and "save" a slipping GM ****** by putting Ford F in it. I never saw a "save", but people kept trying!
I'll stick with ATF+4 myself.

 

[Tim-Bob]

If you have dirty fluid and no transmission problems, flushing properly will not harm the transmission. If you have problems with the transmission before a flush, 99% of the time it'll be there after the flush. A flush simply exchanges the old fluid for new fluid in a more complete way than dropping the pan does. It is not magic or harmful, and can be beneficial when performed as MAINTENANCE. It won't fix a thing. However,to think that a proper flush can cause harm is nonsense. Also, you must use the correct fluid for the application. That is not manufacturer propaganda. Incorrect fluid can cause numerous shifting and driveability problems.

 

[350XinNY]

Hate to revive an old thread, but....

I have a 2009 Honda Pilot. The fitting on the transmission inter cooler in the radiator gave way and allowed the tranney and antifreeze to mix. My local repair shot recommended to change the tranney. I asked him to flush the tranney and coolant and put in a new radiator. He did it reluctantly. He says it could fail at anytime. I drove it home and drives same as always. He says that there is fluid stuck in the the torque convertor so each flush leaves 3 or so quarts in the system.

I looked and saw this Aamco Power Purge, discussion here. I agree in most cases, just repeat drain/filter change is the way to go. BUT in my case, it would take many flushes to get the fluid to lose the milky antifreeze which my repair shop says gets soaked in the clutches and will cause them to slip prematurely.

Under my circumstance, Power Flush, multidrain, or replace the tranney?

Any advice welcome!
Bruce

 

[theoldwizard1]

He says that there is fluid stuck in the the torque convertor so each flush leaves 3 or so quarts in the system.

True

BUT in my case, it would take many flushes to get the fluid to lose the milky antifreeze which my repair shop says gets soaked in the clutches and will cause them to slip prematurely.

Under my circumstance, Power Flush, multidrain, or replace the tranney?

Multiple drain and refill. Use the Honda ATF. Have a drain plug installed in the pan. After the second drain you might be good ! Check fluid level frequently.

Oil and water don't mix. The heat from the ATF (over 200F) will drive the moisture out. As long oil looks and smells reasonable and is at the full mark, keep driving.

 

[gearhead1]

I never do this and do not have transmission problems. My rule of thumb for an automatic is to drain and replace every 100,000 miles. I use mobile 1 synthetic ATF.

I hear how Chryslers are the worst trans, but I’ve never had a problem. I’ve even run them in multiple demolition derbies with just tractor hydraulic oil (cheaper than ATF) with no problems.

Wife’s 2005 Ford Sporttrac has almost 300k miles, no issue ever.

I had an ‘89 F250, no problems.

My S10 and Cavalier were manual trans, but Mom and Dad had a Cutlass, a cavalier, an S10, and a Corsica all with automatics - no problem.

I think as long as you change the fluid and filter every 100,000 miles, you’re not going to have a transmission problem unless there is a design issue and the flushes are a waste of time and money.

I never use injector cleaners or fuel additives either.

 

[isb cornbinder]

Do not waste you time or money. I worked for a company with 1500 vehicles. All ewre Allison Automatic. Part of the regular service was a filter and drain and fill. The average transmission life was well over one million kilometers. There were very few exceptions.
If the OEM does not suggest a flush, forget about it.
There are service plans that tell the customer that there may be a problem. The customer starts to worry because they do not have the understanding. Then the service plan offers a solution to a problem that does not exist. The customer worry factor is gone along with their money.
Watch the colour of the ATF. If is starts to discolour and get brown, a flush will not fix a failing transmission or oil cooler.
The transmission temperature may be lowered if the transmission is put into neutral when the vehicle is not moving. Heat is the killer.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

Would a transmission shop really try to sell a service that might prevent them from rebuild/replacing that transmission? HMMMMMMMM??!!

Aamco is about as much of a "transmission shop" as Iffy Lube is a full service garage.

Tommy

 

[xxxstevemanxxx]

Chrysler transmissions specify ATF+4 for my 62TE in the Grand Caravan. Do not ever, ever put anything other then Mopar ATF+4 into them. I specifically buy Mopar ATF+4 by the case from the dealership or online if I have time for the case to be shipped. I installed a Dorman transmission pan with a drain plug so I can drain and refill every 15000 miles.

In an old transmission that uses Dexron fluid, you can get away with any sort of those blended formulas, as the valve bodies were not electrically controlled. ATF+4 is not compatible with Dexron, therefore, you cannot buy a fluid that does both purposes and have the same results. It is a well known fact that chrysler electrically shifted valve bodies are sensitive to fluid type and the people that frequently change the fluid with the correct type do not have the same issues as someone that goes to a transmission shop and gets the universal blends.

 

[GRB]

You would pretty much have to be clueless to let Aamco work on your trans or let Jiffy Lube "service" you car. I won't even mention the idiots that ask "how much is an oil change". We just throw them out and let them ruin their cars as they seem determined to do.
People just seem to be getting more and more ignorant of how to maintain a car. Only good thing about that is the newer cars seem to take poor service better than the older cars.
Actual repairs are a different matter.