Transmission Fluid change interval

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: outoforder
Tech at Mr. Transmission says to service the transmission every 30k, the dealership says 60k, and my book says 102k. Who to believe?


First I never would go to a shop called Mr. Transmission nor call someone to fix my house called Mr Fixit. But thats just me.

I think 50K to 60K is a reasonable number for a complete exchange of the ATF. Amsoil with their synthetic ATF says 50K severe service and 100K normal. But more people than you think fall into the severe category.

But when you say "service the transmission" what are we talking about? Simple drain and fill? Complete exchange via a flush? Remember a drain and fill gets between 1/3 to 1/2 of the total ATF. The Amsoil website will tell you how many QTs for each. If you are going to do a simple drain & fill, then maybe 30K is about right. And 50K to 60K for a complete exchange of the ATF.

Or better yet sample at 50K (include TAN) and see where you are.




Boy do I ever agree with you!

 

[dnewton3]

It's no different than oil for your engine, or any other lube application.

You have three choices:
1) use facts and data (UOAs) in conjunction with statistical modeling
2) follow the OEM mandates; use your owner's manual or get a Haynes, Chilton, etc
3) wing it with emotion; typically falling prey to marketing hype and unsubstantiated rhetoric

Your choice.

 

[Zako2]

Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: outoforder
Tech at Mr. Transmission says to service the transmission every 30k, the dealership says 60k, and my book says 102k. Who to believe?


First I never would go to a shop called Mr. Transmission nor call someone to fix my house called Mr Fixit. But thats just me.


I take it you don't use the Mr Coffee brewing machines either.

 

[dwcopple]

Quote:
Originally Posted By: Zako2
First I never would go to a shop called Mr. Transmission nor call someone to fix my house called Mr Fixit. But thats just me.

I take it you don't use the Mr Coffee brewing machines either.

or eat at Mr. Bo Jangles...

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: Donald
First I never would go to a shop called Mr. Transmission nor call someone to fix my house called Mr Fixit. But thats just me.

I think 50K to 60K is a reasonable number for a complete exchange of the ATF. Amsoil with their synthetic ATF says 50K severe service and 100K normal. But more people than you think fall into the severe category.

But when you say "service the transmission" what are we talking about? Simple drain and fill? Complete exchange via a flush? Remember a drain and fill gets between 1/3 to 1/2 of the total ATF. The Amsoil website will tell you how many QTs for each. If you are going to do a simple drain & fill, then maybe 30K is about right. And 50K to 60K for a complete exchange of the ATF.

Or better yet sample at 50K (include TAN) and see where you are.

+1 Spot on

 

[WishIhadatruck]

Originally Posted By: Kestas
As a basis, I recommend the following schedules:
- every 30K for regular fluid
- every 60K for synthetic fluid

This includes a complete fluid exchange, using the cooler line method.

There are mitigating factors to the basic schedule:
- the first fluid exchange is most important to get rid of the breakin debris, and should be done around 10K.
- a lot of highway driving can extend the schedule (fewer shift events)
- towing or hot driving should shorten the schedule


This makes a lot of sense to me. My daily driver gets changed with synthetic every 30k with a pan drop. If I did a complete flush I'd feel fine going 60k. My pan drops get 8+ quarts out however which is much more than most cars. On my tow vehicle that only loses 4 quarts if I'm lucky on a pan drop I do it every 10k miles. I did flush it a few years ago and added an external spin on filter. I change the filter and drain the pan every 10k but it does a lot of towing as well. Sometimes I let it pump out a little extra from the cooler line and get 5-6 quarts.

It all depends on use of the vehicle, type of fluid, ease of fluid exchanges versus a drain and fill or pan drop, and also how much fluid comes out of the pan if not doing a flush.

 

[outoforder]

Decided to go with the drain and fill approach. Had the shop drop the pan today and change the filter. I'll go back in a few weeks and pull the drain plug and drain out the pan again in refill. Figure this method will give me at least 80% new fluid and save me some money in the process.

 

[LEADED]

Hi Mr Allen, that's why I installed a perma cool remote Trans filter,on the ASIN AF-33 trans fluid used T-1V with a baldwin B2 filter since it only has a screen filter inside Trans.Next time will use Fram XG8A it incresed fluid amount by 1 quart

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: outoforder
Decided to go with the drain and fill approach. Had the shop drop the pan today and change the filter. I'll go back in a few weeks and pull the drain plug and drain out the pan again in refill. Figure this method will give me at least 80% new fluid and save me some money in the process.


I take a similar approach. I let a local shop drop the pan and replace the filter, I do fluid exchanges with a Miti-Vac after. This way if the pan gasket leaks its not my headache. For what the shop charges for the pan drop and filter replacement its worth having them do it. Lately this is the only maintenance item I'll pay someone to do.

 

[ledslinger]

Some manufacturers suggest a 5 year shelf life for unopened containers. It lasts longer in use?

 

[sm00thpapa]

Transmissions are sealed how can it get gritty? Maybe burnt but not gritty. 100K I say is fine. But that's my opinion.

 

[SteveSRT8]

^^^May want to think about that one a bit.

Various surfaces in the trans contain friction enhancing coatings that wear off as the trans ages. Normal and natural action puts these "gritty" products into the fluid, many filters are not good enough to catch them all.

 

[nicholas]

Transmissions are sealed how can it get gritty?

Clutch pack material, and gear wear produce a lot of fine particulate, once the magnets in the pan become over loaded, the particulate just circulates through the ATF.

 

[gathermewool]

Originally Posted By: ledslinger
Some manufacturers suggest a 5 year shelf life for unopened containers. It lasts longer in use?


By shelf life, I don't think they're implying the ATF is unfit for use after five years. IMO, the logic is that X number of years on the shelf PLUS an interval in your AT may be too long. I don't subscribe to this logic, though I wouldn't go out of my way to use five year-old ATF either.

I plan to drain and refill the ATF (replacing 1/3 of the total capacity) in my wife's Civic every 30-50k miles from now on.

The first drain and refill was done by the dealer for the PO, at 30k, most likely with Honda's older ATF, Z-1. When we purchased the car, it had just over 60k miles on the ODO. I drained and refilled then, and again 3k miles later, with Honda's newer ATF, DW-1.

 

[wtd]

On my 98 chevy K1500 that I bought new, I drop and refill the tranny fluid every other oil change. My pan has a drain plug in it and using this method, only about 3.5 qrts comes out. I change the filter out about every 30,000 miles. The 4L60E has a spotted history for reliability, especially the older ones, so I feel this is cheap insurance to hopefully making this tranny last. It has almost 125,000 miles on it with no issues yet but I do have a whining noise coming from somewhere that I suspect is the tranny since my power steering pump and AC compressor have been replaced.