General maintaince of the
CD4E is very simple. Have the tranny flushed every 30,000 miles. You
can take your car to most full service lube shops to have this
service done, but others do this themselves. Only real difference is
that a lube shop would be able to perform a power flush, which can
force contaminates out of the system. Some simple drain and fill the
unit every 15,000, but others feel that this process really does not
do enough good to justify. Opinions vary, so do what you think is
best.
By drain and fill, I mean you jack the
front of the car up a small amount. Remove the drain plug, using a
3/8" drive rachet. Allow the 4 quarts to drain out. After the ATF
drains out, simply re install the drain plug and let the car down.
Add 3.5 quarts and crank the engine. Hold the brake and work though
all the gears. This ensures that all the fluid works through the
system. Leave the engine running and check the fluid level and
adjust as needed. You should only have to possibly add the last .5
quart.
To perform a tranny flush yourself,
follow this little "How-To" by RoadRunner, Transmission Forum
Moderator at CEG.
Before you start put 4 quarts of WATER in a bucket and mark
the INSIDE of the bucket with an INDELIBLE INK MARKER, at the top
of the water level.
When you get under the car, you will see two lines that go
from the transmission to the passenger side of the car. One
attaches to the BOTTOM of the radiator, while the other goes to
the TOP of the radiator. Follow the line that attaches to the
BOTTOM of the radiator back to the transmission. This is where you
want to remove the line and then put the end of it into a bucket.
Pour out the water and dry. Now you have a 4 quart measure
inside the bucket !
Start the car and let it idle while the bucket fills.
When it gets close to the 4 quart mark, turn off the car, and
pour 4 quarts of ATX Oil into the Dipstick Tube.
Take the 4 quarts in your bucket and pour it into the 4 empty
ATX Oil bottles.
You'll need to repeat this until the oil coming out of the
line starts to resemble the oil you ar pouring into the dipstick
tube.
The filter, in the CD4E, is not a
serviceable item. By this, I mean that the filter cannot be changed
without actually disassembling the transmission. Don't go and get
all upset about this! The filter actually works pretty good. The
only known problem with the filter, was found back in `98, I
believe. It was redesigned by Flitrek to address a fluid flow issue
during extreme useage. In other words, when you would drive your car
like a mad man - like most of us do on weekends, the fluid was not
able to flow properly through the filter. This lead to premature
failures of the coast & direct clutches.
Since we are on the topic of ATF, the CD4E is
designed to use Mercon. Not Mercon V! This holds across all models
years. If you want, you can use synthetic based fluids such as,
Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF or Amsoil Synthetic ATF. There are of course
others out there and I will let you do all that research. I will let
you draw your own conclusion in that area on what is best for your
CD4E. Just stay with either Mercon or a synthetic variant and you
will be fine. And yes, if you want to slowly change over to a syn,
by performing the 4 quart drop procedure, you can.
I would also like to address another topic that
often comes up with automatic transmissions, in general, quite a
lot. Changing of the fluid period! A lot of people think that you
should not change your transmission fluid unless you are having
problems. This is about as wrong as you can possibly be. Look! ATF
is not some miracle fluid that will not break down. When ATF breaks
down, it actually becomes abrasive. If you allow this liquid sand
paper, if you will, continue to run through your transmission... it
will eat away at everything it comes into contact with. Keep your
fluid changed on a regular basis, all those parts will continue to
be happy for a long time.
If you have purchased
a used car, that you are not sure about the level of care that the
previous owner car gave the transmission, I would suggest performing
the 4 quart drop routine and not flushing the tranny. "Why?", you
ask. "But I thought I was suppose to get all that stuff out, if the
fluid was in bad condition. I am confused now!"
Well
see here is what happens with old ATF, while still floating around
in your tranny. The old fluid flows through the tranny, causing all
sorts of damage. One of the main problems is scaring. Scaring is
where a piece of grit runs through say, the bore of the valve body.
When it reaches the piston or valve, it gets caught between the seal
and the bore. As the valve or piston continues to work normally, it
is also cutting into the bore. Now, with scaring out of the way - As
time goes by, this scare will become filled with other particles of
grit and trash. This eventually seals whatever leaks might have been
caused by the scaring action. Now! This is just one piece of grit,
so imagine thousands if not millions upon millions of different
examples of this happening throughout an entire trip! It does not
take long for your transmission to become riddled with this damage.
Well, here's the catch. ATF is naturally very good at cleaning. And
if you flush your tranny with 12 quarts of new fluid, it is only a
matter of miles before all those scares are cleaned out and you have
a hydraulic mess on your hands. Valves and pistons will begin to
stick or leak. Line pressure will fluctuate wildly. All sorts of
problems. It is not unheard of for someone to flush their tranny,
that has not taken very good care of it, and soon after flushing -
it dies.