Transmission fluid 261K miles, never serviced.

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Normally I agree that "lifetime fill" is bogus, and you should always change fluid. But this time I'm not sure. 261k miles is a very good lifespan for any automatic transmission, regardless of its maintainance history. Even if it had regular fluid changes every 30k and the transmission failed right now at 261k, that's good service and the transmission has now reached the end of its life. So since this trans is at end of life (living a good long time, as long as anyone can reasonably expect a transmission to last) and it never had a fluid change, the fluid did indeed last the life of the transmission. You can argue that it may have lasted even longer with fluid changes, but the truth is nobody will ever know for sure if it would have. Like I said, it could have just as easily failed at this mileage even with regular fluid changes.


Both myself and the vehicle owner fond you post very interesting. The concept of a transmissions life time bring 261K miles is valid.

 

[tinmanSC]

Just an update, the vechile owner has driven the vehicle as a grocery-getter but that's all. He's not willing to drive it further than a block or two, or maybe just down the street to the store. My prediction is that his confidence in driving this car will grow and in a few hundred miles we will drop the pan again and have some new pictures.

Additionally, we are going to do an oil analysis of the trans oil. We are curious as to the viscosity and what metals are present.

For those who are curious, it was refilled with 8 quarts of Castrol Dexron-VI and a quart or two of Vavoline max life Dexron-VI because the parts store only had 8 of the Castrol and I had 2 of the Vavoline. The manual says that the trans takes 7.8 quarts but it took more. Yes, the car was on a flat surface and trans temp was at spec when we did the fill.

 

[meborder]

261k miles out of 8 quarts of fluid is quite impressive.

having talked with transmission engineers, 250k miles is considered a "good life span" for most transmissions. So he got everything out of it that it was likely designed for.

periodic fluid changes are a good idea, though, and will likely extend that lifespan notably.

I think your plan to drop the pan and change the fluid again is a good one. Though, that being said, I wouldn't expect much more out of it. Either save for a replacement, or sell while it is running it telling the new owner the truth that the transmission is a gamble.

 

[tinmanSC]

Originally Posted By: meborder
Either save for a replacement, or sell while it is running it telling the new owner the truth that the transmission is a gamble.


What do you guys think would be a fair price for this car in this condition? 2009 chevy Cobalt coupe LT with the 2.2L I4. He has all repair logs, and the car looks amazing for 261K miles. Like honestly, the cloth interior looks fantastic. Exterior looks great, everything works, brakes are new. Tires are in good shape.

 

[SatinSilver]

Let's see, 8 years old, working condition, great shape cosmetically are some bigs pros. Just off the top of my head, $1500 I think. Plus when people get their tax refunds it would go fast I bet. If or when the trans takes a dump the value would plummet to $300 or so, pretty much scrap value. I'd be more comfortable trading it in so a buyer doesn't come back a short time all ticked off about the trans going bad.

 

[JTK]

TinmanSC, you are a great friend indeed!! The filter in that 4T45E did it's job well keeping that mess from jamming up the works. I've never seen one that bad come back to life after a fluid/filter change, but like said, this particular 4spd is a tough one. The miles alone on the car tell you that.

I never did change the ATF on my 2007 Cobalt I bought new, but I did do a write-up on this site, with pics on how to check and fill the ATF on one.

$1500-2000 is probably a good asking price for a clean Cobalt with this many miles.

 

[tinmanSC]

Sadly, this story has an end. Today my friend was driving the car around and went to put the car into reverse... and... nothing. The engine started to rev but not free rev. It felt like it was pushing against something, followed by a "tink" then "chunk" sound. The car would move, but it would only move in massive jerks and fits and starts. It was pretty violent, actually. Looks like all that metal finally took its toll, the teeth on the gears must be shot. My friend is going to have it towed and then think about donating it or selling for parts.

The "repair" was a good shot, and it worked for another 15 miles! =)

 

[zeng]

Thank you for sharing ..... a good attempt anyway.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: tinmanSC
Sadly, this story has an end. Today my friend was driving the car around and went to put the car into reverse... and... nothing. The engine started to rev but not free rev. It felt like it was pushing against something, followed by a "tink" then "chunk" sound. The car would move, but it would only move in massive jerks and fits and starts. It was pretty violent, actually. Looks like all that metal finally took its toll, the teeth on the gears must be shot. My friend is going to have it towed and then think about donating it or selling for parts.

The "repair" was a good shot, and it worked for another 15 miles! =)


From the looks of those pictures I'm not one bit surprised it lasted another 15 miles. If I had to guess after seeing the pics how long it would have lasted, I probably would have thought about 50 miles, tops.

 

[ttvr4]

Thanks for sharing! The transmission outperformed the life of the fluid, that's for sure. Look on the bright side, the transmission lasted your friend over 200k miles. On a side note, 1999-2007 Hondas have the worst transmission...

-ttvr4

 

[fcjeep]

TinmanSC

I am sorry to hear that your friend's transmission died even though I think it was to be expected at 261,000 miles.

However I want to thank you and commend you for taking the time and extending the courtesy to update all of us who were interested in the outcome. I wish more posters on forums would do that.

Way to go!

 

[nascarnation]

Originally Posted By: Chris Meutsch
Quality engineering right there.
"No need to service the AT for life makes us win awards! More dumb commercials with the bearded guy!"

I'm shocked it still moves under its own power. Pictures tell the story.


So an economy car transmission goes a quarter million miles on zero maintenance.
What would be your definition of product success?

"An engineer can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two" A. M. Wellington