Replacing the head gasket on my car as well as timing components and cam seals, oil change all that good stuff. The car has been sitting for about 4 months and I'm wondering if I shouldn't drain fill the transmission.
Could this shock the transmission or cause some bad stuff?
Any thoughts appreciated.

 

As long as you use the proper amount of the proper fluid there should be no issues......that is unless there was something wrong with the transmission to begin with.. I change the fluid (actually a drain and refill) in ours every 30,000 miles. Basically I drain the old fluid into a pan, and then use a measuring cup to measure how much I drained out. Then I just refill with the same amount of fluid I drained out (adding just a touch more to account for any spillage) I drive for about 100 miles or so and do the same thing once more as that tends to get rid of a good portion of any old stuff that the first drain missed. Then I just check it regularly to look for any fluid discoloration or burnt smell. Good luck, I've changed a head gasket on these cars and it is not an overly fun job especially if you have a turbo. While you are in there you might want to check the starter as it is under the intake manifold, and I would do a PCV system job on it now as you already have it apart. Again, good luck

 

I am going to check and see if there's any discoloration, will plan accordingly after that.
thank goodness I have already done. Full pcv job as well as a new starter in the last year. I've owned the car for a about 30k miles now and have done a ton of maintenance, trying to get back to a stage 0 before anything else.
Thank you for your feedback friend, it helps a lot.

 

Good to hear you have the starter and the PCV sorted out. Transmission drain and refill is not that hard and fairly cheap insurance in my honest opinion. Good luck with the car, sounds like you are definitely sorting it out proper.

 

Not sure of the connection between the head gasket repair and the transmission question = are you just asking about the value of a drain/fill for general maintenance or are you thinking that the head rebuild may do something to the transmission (nope...)? Assuming the former, I'd say get the engine running first then check all the fluids - coolant, oil etc and if those are good enjoy the car. You can do the drain fill of the transmission at any time - just make sure that you use the correct fluid for your car (the 4 and 5 speeds may be different with one using Dex III and the other JWS3309 so best to research). Also make sure you check levels using both the cold and warm fill lines.