Trans fluid color ?

Ilikemy3s

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
367
Wanted to check with the brain trust here. Had a trans service / fluid change on 2/26 .. so about a week and half ago and about 500-600 miles mostly highway. No noises or issues with trans shifting or power .. but just for heck of it, i check the fluid today after getting home from work (approx 35 mile drive) Before i check it, i dropped a bit of Dexron VI fluid onto a white shop rag to compare color. To me, the outter ring of the spot from the bottle closely matches what is on the rag from the dip stick. I always thought it was bright red. Maybe my memory is getting too old. But i should be good for a 800 mile round trip with wife to see friends right?
 

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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
It looks close, maybe a tad darker except for the dirty portion.

Was it a full fluid exchange or just a pan drop? The pan drop doesn't get it all out. A lot of the old fluid gets left in the tranny.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,047
Brighton, CO
Yeap, if it was just a pan drop, there is over 1/2 of the tranny fluid still in the Torque Converter, and tail end of the tranny.

The only way to get a near 100% new fluid is with a exchange service. And I personally dont recommend them unless you know the specific history of the vehicle, and have followed fluid service intervals to a -T-.
 

Ilikemy3s

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
367
Thanks for getting back to me. Some history .. I bought the truck 6 years ago with about 85k miles on it. That weekend I changed what fluids i could and had a shop change the rest. Kept up in all scheduled changes and maybe even a few before needed. Now have 220k miles and it runs great Everything works but the CD player Yes I think it was just a drop and fill, but since I have kept up on those as well, i dont think I should have any issues but wanted to get a second (or third) opinion.
 

Reprise

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Jul 22, 2015
2,724
I think your fluid is just fine. As regards the (paper) cloth you put the fluid on... the lightening of the color on the outer edge is due to less fluid at the edge permeating the cloth.
IOW, nothing to be worried about.

If the fluid is pinkish-red or even darker red, and smells 'sweet'... you're fine. I'd be more concerned with 'amount' of fluid, than condition, at this point.

I probably wouldn't have left the old fluid in for... 135,000 miles, but for now, at least, the trans seems to have suffered no ill effects for it. If you want to get more fresh fluid in... wait 10K, and do another drain / fill (pan removal optional, unless you don't have a drain plug). That won't get you to 100% fresh, but you'll be over 50%, even with intermixing.

Frankly, at 220K on an later OEM 4L60e... you did something right, or you should go buy lottery tickets. (I don't say that to scare you off your trip; just to state that the ones in our trucks generally don't go too much farther than that, unless they've had some TLC along the way.)

Bottom line... enjoy your trip, and drive safely! :thumbsup:
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
We never recommend using a fluid flushing machine as it usually does this backwards to normal flow and dislodges crap that has caused some failures. We suggest using the methods in the FAQ using the cooler line.
 
Dec 5, 2011
574
Central Pennsylvania
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Ilikemy3s

Original poster
Member
Dec 3, 2011
367
I probably wouldn't have left the old fluid in for... 135,000 miles,

My mistake .. I meant in the 6 years I have had the truck, this was like the third trans fluid change I have done on it ... once soon after I got it .. then about 60k miles after that and then back on 2/26 of this year
 

Daniel644

Member
Feb 27, 2015
573
Yeap, if it was just a pan drop, there is over 1/2 of the tranny fluid still in the Torque Converter, and tail end of the tranny.

The only way to get a near 100% new fluid is with a exchange service. And I personally dont recommend them unless you know the specific history of the vehicle, and have followed fluid service intervals to a -T-.
Can vouch for this, lost a transmission in one of my old Honda's to one of those machines, well it was a month or 2 later after the service from what i can remember (it was almost 20 years ago after all), thats when I learned how those machines work and how they can break sludge and other things loose and those can fry transmissions by blocking passages for fluid flow.
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,262
Ottawa, ON
That is true for the older machines but there are now some that basically do the same as how we do it with the cooler lines using the tranny's pump in normal flow.

Rainman Ray shows a newer machine however I don't agree with the additives he uses.


When I did a manual exchange on my '02 TB when I first got it, the fluid was a really skanky brown. Did a full exchange and it lasted another 150k km until the sunshell broke. A hard mechanical failure, not the clutches. Also did an exchange on my son's '11 Silvy with the 6 speed. His fluid was BLACK. Took like 16L to do it. That was a couple of years ago and it's still running strong.
 
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