Hardware oil change in automatic transmission. Advantages and disadvantages
Content
Technology of hardware oil change in automatic transmission
A hardware oil change in an automatic transmission is a procedure for a partially automated lubricant renewal by means of forced injection with a parallel drain of the used lubricant through the box cooling circuit. To implement this procedure, specialized stands have been developed.
In general, the stand consists of the following parts.
- Reservoirs for fresh and used oil.
- Hydraulic pump.
- Control block.
- Dashboard which includes:
- keys to start and stop the replacement process;
- pressure sensors, usually controlling two circuits: oil supply and return;
- separately displayed transparent sections of highways, which serve for visual control of the color and consistency of the pumped lubricant;
- soft keys and a touch screen that are used to set and control certain programs for more advanced versions of stands for hardware oil change (flushing, stepwise pumping of lubricant, etc.).
- Safety valves.
- A set of pipes and adapters for connecting to automatic transmissions of various car models.
Hardware oil change is not possible on all types of automatic transmissions, but only where it is possible to connect to the oil pumping circuit through a cooling radiator or heat exchanger. The essence of the procedure is extremely simple: the stand expels the old lubricant through the oil supply line to the heat exchanger and pumps fresh ATF fluid through the return line to the automatic transmission (or through the oil filler neck). At the same time, the operator controls the amount of pumped oil and its color in two circuits, the current pressure, as well as the presence of lubricant in the tanks. In more advanced stands with program control, control over the process is fully or partially assigned to the computer.
Before changing the lubricant in an automatic transmission, the automatic transmission is flushed, the oil filter is replaced (if provided) and the sump is cleaned of deposits.
Also, specialists without fail interrogate the driver about possible malfunctions in the operation of the automatic transmission, check the computer for errors and inspect the box body for smudges. If these procedures were not performed before the replacement, you should think about finding another service.
Advantages and disadvantages
A hardware oil change in an automatic transmission has several significant advantages over a manual one.
- The possibility of almost complete renewal of the lubricant in the automatic transmission. The traditional method, with draining the waste from the sump, allows, at best, to replace up to 80% of the oil. This is the case if a drain plug is provided in the torque converter housing. The old oil will partially remain in the actuators and hydraulic plate. When replacing using a stand (especially a modern design that distills oil on a running engine with parallel switching of the selector lever to different positions), you can almost completely renew the oil.
- Replacement speed. The distillation process of the lubricant itself rarely exceeds 10 minutes. Most of the time is spent on preparatory work. On average, a complete replacement procedure rarely takes more than 1 hour.
- Possibility of fast washing of a box.
- Accurate dosage when filling fresh oil. Modern automated oil change devices in automatic transmissions accurately calculate the amount of grease drained and filled.
The hardware replacement of ATF fluid in automatic transmissions also has its drawbacks.
- Oil waste. For a complete replacement, a large amount of oil will be required, exceeding the total amount of lubricant in the box by 2-3 times. The fact is that at the time of the start of pumping fresh oil, the old liquid is still in the box. The new oil is partially mixed with the old and is also expelled from the machine as a waste. And only when the color in the supply and return circuits is evened out, this means that the oil is completely renewed. At the same time, up to 2-3 nominal volumes of oil go into the tank with the waste liquid. Modern stands are more economical in this regard, however, they do not completely exclude the loss of fresh oil.
- High replacement cost. Here it affects both the cost of operating the installation itself (which usually costs more than manual replacement), and also seriously affects the final cost and the price of overused oil.
- The situational nature of the method. It is not always possible to connect the stand to a particular box, or the presence of errors or other malfunctions does not allow using the hardware replacement method.
The conclusion here can be made as follows: if the box is working properly and there is money to pay for a hardware replacement, it makes sense to use this particular method to update the lubricant in the automatic transmission.
Cost and reviews
The cost of replacement using specialized oil pumps has decreased significantly over the past few years. If earlier the price tags when using stands exceeded the cost of a conventional manual replacement by 2 times, today there is either no difference at all, or it is minimal.
Depending on the region and the type of gearbox (which determines the complexity of the connection and the need for additional procedures), the price of a hardware oil change varies from 1500 to 5000 thousand rubles, excluding the cost of oil.
Reviews about hardware oil changes are always positive. If there were no problems with the box before the replacement, then there will be no problems after the replacement. Except in cases of unskilled approach. At the same time, the procedure itself guarantees a complete renewal of the oil in the box and takes a relatively short time.
