Posted: 2/24/2015 4:20:09 PM EDT
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How often should the fluid be changed?
Filter? |
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Different brands of cars have different mileages, some car makers have in the past claimed it never needed to be changed, I had one of those and at around 100,000 the tranny started acting badly, had the fluid and filter changed and it went back to acting normally. Friend of mine has a garage that specializes in transmissions, he told he he changes his own every 30,000 miles, and he would tell people that at absolute minimum every 50,000 miles. |
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never flush. drop pan, new filter, refill. Every 30K miles. I did it on my brothers 06 X5 at 60-70K miles the fluid came out looking like diesel motor oil and 1L burned off. BMW's say its a lifetime transmission. But what is lifetime? If its 100K then it makes sense. At least do the fluid if you're too lazy to replace the filter. |
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Depends on what you're doing with it, and what the tranny's reputation is.
You're not going to hurt anything other than your wallet by filter and fluid changes. Flushing it, especially done by the mongoloids at quick oil change places, may harm it. Thinking back I probably have averaged about 40K miles. I've gotten up to 218K miles out of a transmission doing that (Ford 5R55) which isn't exactly the strongest transmission in the universe. I also, to be fair, only got 130k or so out of a 700R4, and I changed the shit out of it after it started turning fluid brownish every 20k miles. |
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Quoted:
never flush. drop pan, new filter, refill. Every 30K miles. I did it on my brothers 06 X5 at 60-70K miles the fluid came out looking like diesel motor oil and 1L burned off. BMW's say its a lifetime transmission. But what is lifetime? If its 100K then it makes sense. At least do the fluid if you're too lazy to replace the filter. It's been pretty much decided on al the BMW forums that when something says "lifetime" 100K is "lifetime". 15K oil changes? LOL I do mine at 5k. |
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35,000 miles fluid AND filter. And, yes I am aware thatmany autos are recommending no changes anymore, however I disagree. FPNI, sort of. 2004 F150 215,000 miles and counting. Must have been a good day in the transmission fluid plant. 
I will say that Ferd's drive-by-wire throttle makes my truck so gutless that there's no strain on the drivetrain at any time. |
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I used to design transmission parts for Ford's, gm's, and some Toyota too, got some awards and a Patent along the way...
Change intervals are effected by several things, but by FAR, the biggest is HEAT. Overdrive and Towing at the same time is the biggest heat producer, followed by towing with OD off... Put a transmission temperature gauge in your vehicle if you're worried/concerned about it. Most peoe just don't care. Jst ask your wife. 
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| I have a full billet tranny other then the output shaft, deep pan that holds I think an 5-6 extra quarts and most of the year my tranny temp stays below 250 and I change my fluid every 30k. I take my tranny to the shop that built it and he does all the work and it costs me less then 150.00 The guy has been building tranny's for 45 years. |
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I am of the opinion that you should regularly service or not.
I change out the fluid in my 99 Silverado every 30-50k. It's at 193k now on the original tranny. My in-laws got 325k out of the original fluid, filter, and tranny before selling their Silverado. My Accord gets the fluid changed out every 30k due to their reputation. I do not believe in quickie lube flushes. Most people do not drive their vehicles long enough to matter. If you are servicing your tranny every 30k and changing your oil every 3k...then trading in or selling at 100k, you are wasting your money on both. If you actually put some serious mileage or wear on a vehicle, maybe it matters, maybe it doesn't. My opinion is the specific vehicle, driving habits, and luck have more to do with it....YMMV. |
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Every 50-75k depending on usage for me. IF YOU TOW ANYTHING, GET AN AUXILIARY COOLER, AND DON'T TOW IN OVERDRIVE WITH A 1/2 TON! Heat is the biggest killer of auto trans This is important too. And bypass the radiators internal trans cooler while you're at it. It is actually there as a pre-heater for cold weather as much as anything. If the radiator trans cooler gets a pinhole your trans pan will be full of pink milkshake. Pink mikshake debonds the friction material from the clutches... resulting in trans death. (The glue that holds the clutches together in an automatic is WATER BASED. Coolant in there causes problems. ) |