Over the weekend I performed my first transmission fluid flush. This was prompted because at low temperatures on the freeway it would take 5-10 minutes for it to finally shift into OD. The relay had already been replaced.

The fluid that came out looked REALLY bad. It was brown and smelt like burnt chocolate. The car claims to only have 80K miles but I've found that the odometer has been messed with (repaired gear?) so I'm not sure how many miles the car has. The fluid looked like it had never been changed!

The whole process was very easy but time consuming. Walmart sells a hand air pump in the auto section with a red 3/8"ID tube that is perfect to fit over the top trans cooler fitting on the radiator. The paint section has 5 quart buckets that are marked for quarts.

I pumped out a quart at a time letting the car idle for ~20 seconds. Then added a quart, etc. The fluid became red after about 7 quarts, I used 9 total.

I also had a dent in the rear fender. I removed the spare tire and insolation to get access to the inside of the sheet metal. With 2 whacks of a 3 lb. hammer and a block of wood it popped out to the original shape!

I found yet another split vacuum line on the throttle body, I've had to repair almost every line now.