Thanks Sambo for the source on the pads I'm about 4K miles short of 150K on the odometer...Im gonna try to make it...when I do replace those pads its going to be OEM for sure...

Thanks also Ldub for the advice In my day were were rebuilding about 200 transmissions a month for the 5 years I was in the business before selling. Transmissions are kinda like people. Some last longer than others for various reasons. Some meticiously care for themselves and live to a ripe old age, others drink, smoke and stay up late and hang out with loose women and live forever too. Having done so much work in this biz I think my rear end has like test equipment in it or something and the minute she started to "run up" between the shifts I was on it and got fluid level up to the overflow/fill hole. Still the damage may have already been done. Nevertheless if it breaks tomorrow I can't say I got swindled. The oil is actuall still red...not crimson but not amber or burn't either. In any case, Im not a big believer in changing the oil in a transmission with high milage, especially with one that has burn't oil and varnish on the insided of the pan. You know by then where your going... when you see that symtom...start saving your money..Also I think I would opt for new rather than rebuilt. But changing oil can create more problems due to the extremly high detergent index in ATF sluffing off "chunks" of varnish that can clog important pressure lines and channels within the transmission itself. When we saw a tranny like that come into the shop we wouldn't touch it. The reason? Cause, if we did we would "buy it" for the next 90 days, which means if that customers transmission failed for whatever reason, he was coming back to you like, "flies on duty"...."Hey what did you do to screw up transmission Man"...."It was running perfect and your screwed it up" Heat is what kills a transmission. ATF not only lubricates the internal transmission components it also cools them. You can create heat by hot rodding, towing, overheating the engine, running it low fluid. Component failure such as a pump or torque converter (rare) can do it too but the bottom line is this heat thins the oil to a viscosity where the clutch packs are no longer being cooled by the fluid. These are the weak spots. The clutch packs acts as a "cushion" between the shifts from one gear to another. When those components get worn or "glazed" trouble is not far behind...there is no cure for this. As the cluch pack tolerances increase the more noticable the "slip" becomes between shifts. The more slip the more heat and and on and on.

Anyway thank you AND your right you gotta have that fluid checked...They supposedly do that over at Wal-Mart every time I get the motor oil changed...now I think NOT ;eekg; Whats funny to me is not a drop of oil anywhere on the floor of my garage from any source. Im not sure but I don't think this is a "vacuum modulated" transmission, which is the only other place this oil could disappear without hitting the floor. Oh well if its a 3/4 th of a Qt. leak over the next 140K miles I guess I could spring for the cost...