Update: I drained enough transmission fluid to drop the pan, then drained the pan and cleaned it out. The only thing I found in there was this glop of gray greasy stuff and the factory dust plug. Two of the bolts on the pan have damaged threads, which is not from my work.
Underneath the grease, of course, is where I found a large magnet. There whole thing was a little smaller in diameter than a tennis ball, but most of the glop was actually the magnet, not the grease.
My mechanic explained that the gray grease was actually fine metal shavings from the transmission. While it's not good, it's to be expected since the vehicle has 185,000 miles. I cleaned the pan thoroughly, tossed the dust plug, and installed a new filter. The gasket is supposedly reusable, so I reused it when I put the pan back on.
I slowly added five quarts of fluid. I think the level is a tad high (it's just over the crosshatched area when it's hot), but I'm not terribly concerned at the moment due to the fact then pan might leak.
Let me tell you it has made night and day difference. There's no whine, no bumping in ANY gear except rarely when the torque converter locks up...and it definitely doesn't slip at all! It's like I have a new truck. The thing sounds like a luxury car now instead of an old school bus. I'm tellin ya, it shifts smooth as glass. There must have been a mechanic in one of those bottles of fluid. I bet I poured him into the transmission and he fixed it all up.
The thing about old fluid holding a tranny together is probably overblown. Sure, tranny service is expensive, but it's better than replacing the gearbox. An overwhelming majority of the people I asked here and on facebook told me to change the fluid and filter. My mechanic didn't tell me not to change it, but she did inform me of the "risk", and told me she thought the filter was "stopped up".
I had another mechanic tell me the transmission would need an overhaul if the filter was stopped up. It may eventually need that, yes, but I also expect that over the course of its lifetime, EVERY transmission is going to deposit at least some metal into the oil from normal wear and tear.
Now if I can convince a friend of mine to change the fluid in his Dodge...
onder:
Oh, yeah, the one thing I still need to ask is what's the easiest way to drain a bit of fluid? A week from Saturday if it isn't cold out and if the level still shows high, I'm gonna drain a little of it.
