Transmission Fluid change philosophies

[rat]

There really is something about foreign vs. domestic owners too as applies to this thinking. From working in a dealership that sold GM and Nissan, its really in how the customer is "trained".
GM sales people rarely, if ever even spoke of maintenence when selling a new car, and in turn, that car only came into the shop for warranty work, or wanting the transmission covered because it failed just out of warranty.
Nissan, and I'm sure other foreign manufacturers spend a little time going over maintenence schedules with the customer, and explain their importance to the longevity of their vehicle. In turn, customers would bring their Nissan in for a x,000 mile service, change the trans fluid, and extend the life of their transmission, (in most cases anyway). It is this lack of communication with the customer that gives reason to the thought that foreign cars last longer that american cars.

 

[Pluto5]

I had my 03 Impala with 65,000 easy miles at the dealer yesterday for a safety recall.

They gave me several service recommendations including:

Transmission flush, $200!

The reason they gave was that the fluid was brown rather than pink.

To me, it looks pinkish brown and smells like trans fluid should.
The trans shifts fine.

The owners manual does not recommend this service so I haven't done it.

Your thoughts appreciated!

 

[unDummy]

Flush it Pluto5. UOA it for a reason why you should.

 

[AdRock]

Personally I do a trans service every 30k. I had an "86 F150 that I bought from my father in '96 that had 160k on it. The AOD still ran like new. A fluid & filter change was done every 30k on that trans. I continued that 30k interval until I got rid of the truck with 302k on it. It still performed perfect and never needed any repairs.

 

[wander2039]

Originally Posted By: Pluto5
I had my 03 Impala with 65,000 easy miles at the dealer yesterday for a safety recall.

They gave me several service recommendations including:

Transmission flush, $200!

The reason they gave was that the fluid was brown rather than pink.

To me, it looks pinkish brown and smells like trans fluid should.
The trans shifts fine.

The owners manual does not recommend this service so I haven't done it.

Your thoughts appreciated!


Ummm I would do it.. probably to late. My parents had a 00 Impala the transmission was slipping bad at 100k. I changed the filter at around 50 or 60k and told them to do another flush in 20k. Never did it though.

 

[BlueOvalFitter]

I bought a factory pan and TIG welded a 1/4" thread o let onto it for a drain.Here are a couple of pics;
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb185/BlueOvalFitter/PICT0081.jpg
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb185/BlueOvalFitter/PICT0080.jpg

 

[Pluto5]

I understand that the fluid is still satisfactory even though light brown. You are probably wasting your money changing fluid every 20-30K miles for normal service since transmission fluid does not wear out like motor oil.

 

[unDummy]

If there was a good full flow filter, ATF could be used longer.
If there were a bypass filter, ATF could be used longer..
If it were full synthetic, heat caused issues would be reduced and the fluid could go longer.
If there were a bigger ATF cooler, a synthetic probably wouldn't be needed and the cooler fluid go last longer.

There isn't a transmission that I've flushed that didn't feel different after the flush even when replacing OE for OE. So, even changing the ATF at 20-30k miles isn't a waste.

The UOA's show that there is wear and fluid degradation in 30k or less miles. Maintenance is not a waste of money if the vehicle is worth keeping for a long time.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

Changing atf at 20-30k is definitely not a waste of time or money. Many don't change their atf often enough, thus causing more expensive repairs then thus would've otherwise been had they followed protocals.

ATF DOES most certaintly wear out.

 

[VW_TDI_PD]

Pluto, im sorry, but you are misinformed, plain ATF with 65k is most certainly in need of a change. Seriously, you would be totally naive to not change it. A new transmission is thousands of dollars, which sucks especially if its a good running nice car, and a trans lube change is TONS cheaper.

Regarding the "if it looks bad dont change it" theory, Ive always heard people saying "well, its dirty because all the clutches are worn down, and the only thing keeping it shifting decent is all the clutch material in the oil"

 

[oilboy123]

Originally Posted By: Pluto5
I had my 03 Impala with 65,000 easy miles at the dealer yesterday for a safety recall.

They gave me several service recommendations including:

Transmission flush, $200!

The reason they gave was that the fluid was brown rather than pink.

To me, it looks pinkish brown and smells like trans fluid should.
The trans shifts fine.

The owners manual does not recommend this service so I haven't done it.

Your thoughts appreciated!


Don't be penny wise and pound foolish........If tranny fluid starts turning brown then you are past the point of the fluid being in good shape. It really needs to be changed. Put a Magnifine filter on it as well.

 

[pbm]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
I thought the label "Canadian" meant "An Educated North American living in the northern part of the continent who is respected world wide when visiting abroad!"

If not then I'm living in the wrong country!

I know that in Florida a Canadian is known as a poor tipper.

 

[onion]

Some folks who appear to know what they're talking about have made the case on this forum that ATF appearance doesn't NECESSARILY mean anything. And they may be right... but without getting an oil sample, how would you know?

Whereas replacing the ATF and filter costs only a little more than an oil sample, and you'll KNOW that you have good ATF in there.

IMO, oil and filters are cheap and easy to change. Transmissions (and engines) are neither. It's a no-brainer.

 

[Jeepinjason]

I have 38k on my jeep that's 4 years old. Within the next month or two I plan on servicing the trans even though it's said to be good for 60k minimum. It uses ATF 4.

My questioning is do I just drop the pan myself and get new filters. Or do I spend a bit more and get a flush at a trans shop like aamco or at dealer? What you guys think? If keep up with dropping the pan every 30-40k would I ever really need to do a flush?

 

[unDummy]

Dropping the pan and installing new filters is all you need to do. It might be a good time to install a pan drain plug. The ATF filters last a long time and ATF+4 is an excellent fluid. Doing a drain/refill once a year will keep most transmissions happy forever, and is less of a hassle then pulling the pan.
You should research your transmission model. If it has any known weaknesses, it might be a good time for some upgrades. Aftermarket deeper sump pans are an easy upgrade and can address some of those issues.

 

[lasmacgod]

I did the math a while back, and transmissions are cheaper per mile to maintain than engines. The problem is that the engine is a relatively low cost paid out frequently, whereas the transmission is a relatively high cost paid out less frequently. So, people see the $200 price tag on a flush and filter and flip out, not realizing that the engine has cost them about $300 total for the same thing.

Of course, I just took the wife's '05 Explorer in to the dealer for a tranny flush at 60k miles (bought it with 50k). The manual states to flush the fluid every 30k miles. The service manager tells me that the fluid does not need to be flushed until 150k, and was virtually refusing to do the work. [censored]??? Apparently Ford changed their minds and changed up their maintenance intervals. He punched the VIN into the computer and printed the schedule and showed me.

I still made him do a flush and filter . . .

 

[Falcon_LS]

Originally Posted By: lasmacgod
Of course, I just took the wife's '05 Explorer in to the dealer for a tranny flush at 60k miles (bought it with 50k). The manual states to flush the fluid every 30k miles. The service manager tells me that the fluid does not need to be flushed until 150k, and was virtually refusing to do the work. [censored]??? Apparently Ford changed their minds and changed up their maintenance intervals. He punched the VIN into the computer and printed the schedule and showed me.

I still made him do a flush and filter . . .


Good call! Ford dealers are anal about changing ATF every 35,000 km (22,000 miles) here, which is a bit sooner than the recommended 40,000 km (25,000 miles). But better safe than sorry.

 

[rshunter]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
Again it's one of those things that nobody ever does because they don't think about it.

And then there are those of us who obsess over Amsoil or Redline for the next flush.

I save myself the trouble of obsessing over Amsoil or Redline. I just use Deutsche Pentosin...

 

[Donald]

Do a cooler line flush yourself with Amsoil and it will be cheaper than a shop flush with whatever they use and will be good a whole lot longer.

 

[StevieC]

I didn't do a flush when switching over to Amsoil because it's a PITA to get to my cooler lines.

I just emptied the pan using the drain plug, and refilled with Amsoil and drove that for 35K KM then dumped it and added more Amsoil.

I also don't wait until my fluid is overused & brown...