Metal on tranny dipstick

[Yeret]

Okay, so I had my transmission flushed and filled several months ago. Had somewhere around 30,000 miles on the old stuff and it still looked pretty good but figured it would be good to start a flushing routine since the tranny was rebuilt and this was the original fluid.

Anyway, went to a reputable shop, they flushed the tranny and replaced the filter. Tranny did and still does perform fine but today, I decided to check the fluid just to make sure everything was okay. Level is fine and the fluid is pink but I noticed significant metal on the dipstick. Cleaned it, dipped it again, pulled it up and it came up again with pink but metal-filled fluid.

How concerned should I be? I had checked the original fluid multiple times before having it changed and never noticed metal in it. Now, after having it changed, it's got metal in it. Never towed or hauled anything heavy or beat on it. Done nothing different now than I would have then.

 

[dudeman2009]

The shop that changed the fluid. Did they notice anything on the pan magnet? If it's just a regular shop and not one that specializes in transmissions and would thus do a lot of dodges, you may be able to go back and ask if anyone there remembers you and could tell you more. It's not uncommon for strange requests or old cars to stick in someones mind for years. We had a guy come back in and wanted to know something about the last time he was in. I didn't work on his car back in february 2017 but I still remember this guy and his car perfectly because it was a rather strange situation. We replaced a radiator and advised him that driving without any coolant may have caused damage to the head gasket that a pressure test wouldn't find. Turns out he was losing coolant again and it was the headgasket. All he told us was the car, what we did, and what it was doing and I remembered his car.

As far as your situation i'd drop the pan and take a look at the fluid and pan magnet to see whats going on. A visual of the bands may reveal something too. Do you have any pictures?

 

[Yeret]

The shop in question does specialize in transmissions. They're also the same guys who rebuilt my tranny at ~156,000.

Snow's on the ground, so looking around underneath the truck will be delayed. I'm off all week and I'm planning on clearing out the barn and getting a proper garage set up once and for all.

In case anyone's wondering, the metal on the dipstick is like a fine dust. I rubbed it between my fingers and it smeared like paint. NO pieces/shavings/chunks of steel that I noticed but it would still be worth checking the pan. I would think that if there was crap in there before, the tranny shop would have noted it...

 

[dudeman2009]

a fine dust is better than shavings.

 

[bulrid8]

The shop in question does specialize in transmissions. They're also the same guys who rebuilt my tranny at ~156,000.

Snow's on the ground, so looking around underneath the truck will be delayed. I'm off all week and I'm planning on clearing out the barn and getting a proper garage set up once and for all.

In case anyone's wondering, the metal on the dipstick is like a fine dust. I rubbed it between my fingers and it smeared like paint. NO pieces/shavings/chunks of steel that I noticed but it would still be worth checking the pan. I would think that if there was crap in there before, the tranny shop would have noted it...

Is it metal or clutch material?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk