I'm considering adjusting the bands to spec and am curious then, what tranny I have? The book says; BW55,AW55,AW70,AW71,ZF22 do NOT need adjusting as they are self adjusting.

Also, this may be just thick cold tranny fluid sticking to the stick, I don't think I overfilled it, but the stick is wet - over and over - the entire length of the plastic measuring end. If I've overfilled it, I suppose I ought to drain some of it out?

In the book it says; "remove dipstick tube and drain the trans" - but this just allows a small part of the fluid to come out right? To 'refresh' the tranny fluid, is the practice to drain what fluid will come out, refill and redrain a few times until you have clear red fluid?

Thanks, Dagaan

 

To replace the transmission fluid, I always drain the pan and refill. Then I remove the top trans cooling line from the radiator, connect a tube to it that collects the trans fluid in a container. Then, using a helper, I run the engine while simultaneously adding fresh fluid to the filler tube. I do this until the fluid coming out of the cooling line is clear and red. Usually 10 quarts or so. Also, it is good to have your helper (who is in the car with the brakes on) to move the shifter through all the gears while flushing.

 

daagan, we don't know what transmission you have if you don't tell us what car year/model you have. but if its anything since the mid 80s, its a AW70 or AW71 (the '71 is a heavy duty version used primarily on the turbos)

 

Oooops. Right. It's an'86 240 so your thought that it's an AW70 covers it as one of the self adjusting trannies. Thanks

 

That's a good trick - using the cooling line to remove the fluid. thanks!

 

if the shifter goes 1-2-3-D, its a ZF22, but I think those were mostly used on early 740s. If the shifter goes 1-2-D and has electric overdrive its a AW7x

 

You must come from an older generation. There are no bands to adjust!

The only adjustment is the kickdown cable. Nothing wrong with a good fresh one and setting it up properly. Ain't gonna type it all out.

 

Thanks Pierce. I jotted that down in my manual for reference. Yeah I think I must have the AW7x as there is an arrow that lights up on the panel activated by a button on the stick shift. What is an "electric overdrive" - since it just has to leap back into 2nd - what's the 'electric' part?

 

the electric part is the pushbutton, relay, light, and solenoid which enables the 4th gear aka OD.

D with light on won't shift above 3rd, while D with light out will shift into 4th/OD as needed.

you disable the OD (light on) when climbing grades, mild engine braking, and most especially, when carrying very heavy loads and/or towing.

 

I had a '92 Dodge something (didn't own it long before the tranny burned out) that DID have bands. I bought the car cheap in the New Mexico wilderness as it only had 1st and 2nd. I bought the manual and it said 'adjust the bands' which I did and got 3rd back. For about three months. The bands were either so worn out that adjusting them only worked for a little while or . . . . I adjusted them badly. SO - I am from a previous generation but not THAT previous!

 

AHA! DAmn. I didn't know that! I just thought enabling the light made it go into 2nd more 'sensitively' - I didn't know there was a 4th gear! You're a wealth of information my friend!

 

cruise at a reasonable speed, like 55 or 65 MPH on a freeway, and push the OD button to turn on the light, you should feel the engine RPM jump up. push it again, and it should drop back.

 

I need to learn more about auto transmissions myself. Not too surprised to hear about that one. I just know bands were on trannys way back in the day. I remember laughing at my dad when he asked about adjusting the bands on my Volvo.

The OD system on these cars fail commonly at this point in space/time. Oily wires failing underneath the car are most common.

 

The OD relay change usually solves the OD problem...