Those with 150000 miles or more on A/T check in
- Thread starter pbm
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I have 160K on camry. the only maintenance I have done is drain transmission every 20K to 25K change filter and refill it with Amsoil universal ATF. although its changing this time to Royal purple to give it a shot. transmission still shifts very smooth and is very responsinve.
Just got rid of an '89 Chevy truck. 350 V-8 with four speed automatic tranny. Never did anything to the transmission other than add a little fluid every now and then. It belonged to my Dad prior to coming my way - he never did anything to it either. Sold the truck with 170,000 miles on it and never had a bit of problems with tranny. (Don't worry fella's - I told the person who bought it that I had never touched the transmission - I like to deal with others the way I hope others will deal with me
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Hey, I don't know if this counts, but my brother has an '85 Chevy half ton with 345,000 miles on the original motor. He never does anything to his transmission other than check and add fluid as needed - he's on his third tranny,
- The killer is, he changes the oil "every now and then" and the motor is still running strong. Go figure -
94 pontiac formula LT-1 350 with original 4l60E at 220,000 miles still going strong. Changed fluid and filter at 100k and 200k with mobil 1 atf and whatever filter autozone was selling. did not flush just dropped pan and replaced fluid. Still smokes the tires all the way through first and gets 15 feet of rubber when it hits second gear. Countless qqtr mile runs, burnouts and general abuse. NO downshifts ever !!!!. I blew a 700r4 in a pickup and broke lots of parts downshifting and rebuilder told IF i wanted to shift by a manual. I took hsi advice and have not had a problem since.
father's 1999 lincoln town car, 306000 miles,
maintenance is defined as fixing it after it breaks for him. As far as I know, never had transmission or differential fluid changed, just gets 3000 or 4000 mile oil changes with cheap oil by local garage. Car still runs excellent, no smoke, 25mpg + on highway, biggest thing it needs is suspension work.
also, car he bought from limo service he knows, car was a CT-NY limo. I think he got it with around 250k miles on it 2 or 3 years ago, and has since driven from CT to FL with it at least 5 times. He does minimal maintenance on it, but the limo firm always maintened them so it may have had 1 or 2 transmission or diff. fluid changes, but can't be sure.
maintenance is defined as fixing it after it breaks for him. As far as I know, never had transmission or differential fluid changed, just gets 3000 or 4000 mile oil changes with cheap oil by local garage. Car still runs excellent, no smoke, 25mpg + on highway, biggest thing it needs is suspension work.
also, car he bought from limo service he knows, car was a CT-NY limo. I think he got it with around 250k miles on it 2 or 3 years ago, and has since driven from CT to FL with it at least 5 times. He does minimal maintenance on it, but the limo firm always maintened them so it may have had 1 or 2 transmission or diff. fluid changes, but can't be sure.
1995 Mitsubishi Montero. 150k on car. Transmission is made by Aisin. It has no filter just a little screen. It is very difficult to remove the pan so the pan has a drain plug. About 30-35% of the fluid comes out of the drain plug. I drain the fluid about every 30-40k. Had it flushed by the dealer at 100k. Never dropped the pan or cleaned the screen. Transmission has always shifted like it was brand new.
I believe maintenance (fluid changes) is critical for auto transmissions, but I think the general public doesn't know that.
I believe maintenance (fluid changes) is critical for auto transmissions, but I think the general public doesn't know that.
I no longer own the cars, but we put over 200k miles on a purchased new 1983 Toyota Camry (1st year for Camrys, ours was just over number 30000) with their first crossways 4 speed automatic. Then we gave the car to my MIL who drove it until it had 230k miles. No complete fluid changes, no problems with it either. Maybe 2 partial fluid changes. Tranmission was still in good condition when my MIL sold it at 230k miles.
Our 1991 Honda Accord 4 speed auto is now posessed by my MIL and has over 200k miles. No problems and the same lack of fluid changes and maint as the Toyota.
Our 1991 Honda Accord 4 speed auto is now posessed by my MIL and has over 200k miles. No problems and the same lack of fluid changes and maint as the Toyota.
319K KM (almost 200K miles) on the '84 Accord. It's had 2 trans fluid changes at roughly 100K KM intervals.
It's definitely starting to wear as the some of the downshifts are getting sloppy.
It's definitely starting to wear as the some of the downshifts are getting sloppy.
My 1989 Dodge Spirit (nonturbo 2.5L, same transmission) was one of the best cars I have ever owned. Yes, it was gutless, but it was comfortable, practical, reliable, economical, and very easy to work on. My only nonmaintenance repair was to replace a leaking power steering rack. Unfortunately, the car was totalled 2 years ago. I had a pan-drop fluid-and-filter change after about 40K hard urban miles.
Any ZF transmission owners here? Is it really true we can use Valvoline Multivehicle ATF?
dunno, Ive got 3 BMW 528es with ZF ATs with over 200 k on each. the 88 has less than 130miles to go to reach 300k. I bought it with 150k. Ive replaced the filter twice and topped off the trans with 4 qts of cheap dino dexIII after. Last summer when I replaced the drive shaft, I replaced the out put seal. Thats been it. As insurance. I picked up another trans with 240k on it. So far ,this scheme has worked perfectly. The spare trans is waiting patiently under my work bench
just curious, is that the original motor in the 56 Ford? a 312? I used to have 10yr old 56 fords given to me when i was a kid. the motors were shot by 70k
Kestas: I think that all your trouble free trannys were good ol' RWD. The Lebaron I'm not sure about but I do agree that the old, less complicated transmissions seemed to be sturdier built. On the other hand the newer trannys enabled one to attain the MPG of a stick shift with an A/T.
Kestas
Staff member
I was 12 when we sold the car.
I made a mistake - it was a 55 Ford.
Yes, it had a V8.
No, the engine was never replaced. My dad wasn't into replacing engines. In Michigan the body gave out long before the mechanicals. He did basic oil change, tuneup, and coolant change - nothing else. The car was a classic jalopy when we got rid of it. I wouldn't be surprised if the engine was on its last legs.
I made a mistake - it was a 55 Ford.
Yes, it had a V8.
No, the engine was never replaced. My dad wasn't into replacing engines. In Michigan the body gave out long before the mechanicals. He did basic oil change, tuneup, and coolant change - nothing else. The car was a classic jalopy when we got rid of it. I wouldn't be surprised if the engine was on its last legs.
Kestas
Staff member
PBM, I agree the new transmissions are more efficient. Like I said in the last paragraph, I'm not sure car owners have collectively seen a total savings.
What's the point of saving maybe $1000 worth of gas over the lifetime of the car if the average owner has to shell out $2000 extra (plus grief) for transmission maintenance and repair? Of course I'm making up these numbers, but I'm curious what the real numbers really are.
What's the point of saving maybe $1000 worth of gas over the lifetime of the car if the average owner has to shell out $2000 extra (plus grief) for transmission maintenance and repair? Of course I'm making up these numbers, but I'm curious what the real numbers really are.
Kestas
Staff member
56 Ford, 132K, never serviced
63 Mercury, 130K, never serviced
67 Ford FMX, 132K, never serviced
72 Ford FMX, 145K, never serviced
74 Ford FMX, 142K, never serviced
80 Ford FIOD, 150K, with service
90 Lebaron A604, 175K, with service, transmission replaced twice
71 Cutlass, transmission working fine after 170K, with service. It was rebuilt only as a precautionary measure after 31 years service.
Can you see the trend here? I'm sure others my age have the same experience. Our family has never had to worry about automatic transmissions until the manufacturers started coming up with new designs (4-spd, electronic, lock-up torque converters).
It seems that any money we've saved by burning less gas with this new technology has gone straight to the transmission shop for repairs. This is not what I call progress. I believe we've taken a step back in automotive transmission technology.
63 Mercury, 130K, never serviced
67 Ford FMX, 132K, never serviced
72 Ford FMX, 145K, never serviced
74 Ford FMX, 142K, never serviced
80 Ford FIOD, 150K, with service
90 Lebaron A604, 175K, with service, transmission replaced twice
71 Cutlass, transmission working fine after 170K, with service. It was rebuilt only as a precautionary measure after 31 years service.
Can you see the trend here? I'm sure others my age have the same experience. Our family has never had to worry about automatic transmissions until the manufacturers started coming up with new designs (4-spd, electronic, lock-up torque converters).
It seems that any money we've saved by burning less gas with this new technology has gone straight to the transmission shop for repairs. This is not what I call progress. I believe we've taken a step back in automotive transmission technology.
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