ok, well ive just recently heard a rumor that if your car hasnt had regular auto tranny fluid changes that its a bad idea to change it now...i also heard that if the fluid has a "burnt" smell to it then dont change it, but if it doesnt-its ok. could somebody please elaborate?

my car has 95,XXX miles on it, ive owned it since 93,XXX, and i have no idea what the fluid change schedule was or if it ever got one whatsoever.

so, should i go ahead and just change the fluid/filter/tranny pan gasket and say screw it? or should i just leave well enough alone and "if it aint broke dont fix it"?

The reason they say not to is because overtime the gears wears, cluctch packs etc all wear.

The theroy is, the fragments of metal are holding the parts together, in the wear spots. So by adding new fluid and flushing out the fluid that was holding the parts, you have just greatly increased clearnaces in the clutch packs, and gears etc.

Anyways with 95,000 if your going to do it, do it soon.

I wouldnt wait till past 100k.




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

check you owners manual....... I think it says the first scheduled trans fluid change is at 100k miles, but I could be wrong (dont have mine in front of me)




SPD RCR Z - '02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT - '04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI - '78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap

YES change it if the transmission is healthy, if the trans is already slipping and the fluid is burnt/lots of clutch material then dont bother because it wont be long before the trans bites the dust.

I change mine (Mobil 1 synthetic ATF) every 22,000kms and it costs about 125 per change.



_______________________
** Flat Broke Racing Inc.**

TwistedMotorsports wrote:YES change it if the transmission is healthy, if the trans is already slipping and the fluid is burnt/lots of clutch material then dont bother because it wont be long before the trans bites the dust.

I change mine (Mobil 1 synthetic ATF) every 22,000kms and it costs about 125 per change.

ok as far as i know its fine, nice/firm and a smooth shifts. i just want to change the fluid so i know its been changed and so the tranny will last longer and not give me trouble down the line. idk about the fluid tho, i gotta dig out the manual to figure out how to check the fluid as there is no dipstick. i remember hearing something about a bolt u take out and if it doesnt drain out..fill it til it does or something like that. ok... do you think i should just have a tranny shop flush it? ive heard they actually undo the tranny cooler lines and flush it from there, getting almost every possible drop (besides the convertor) out of the tranny...being sure not to mix old with new to much.

id like to run sythetic in mine, but since it has almost 100k im thinking thats not going down. i'll get the right sh!t from gm. i tried royal purple in my 5spd and that crap was seriously junk... dumped in gm syncromesh and it shifted like a dream.

i think im going to try and track down the previous owners and maybe get some sort of a fluid change schedule from them.

if your going to change it you have to pull the pan off anyways. theres no drain plug on them. so since you have the pan off you midaswell replace the filter to. there not that expensive and are easy to get.

yeah, im acctually planning on changing the fluid/filter/pan gasket and the pan itself (my pan has some road rash on it from one of the dumb previous owners)

z yaaaa wrote:yeah, im acctually planning on changing the fluid/filter/pan gasket and the pan itself (my pan has some road rash on it from one of the dumb previous owners)

dont bother going to a shop and getting a flush, imo its not only not worth it, but doing the flush like that can kill a transmission with highermilage. Just take the pan/filter off and put a new filter and gasket. As for the synthetic, dont be scared to run it just because it has 100,000 on the clock. it wont hurt a thing.



_______________________
** Flat Broke Racing Inc.**

ummm.... what if you just rolled 174000 to the dot and i have no clue when it was done, if ever?? ive had it since 155XXX, doesnt slip or anything no noises

01 Sunfire 2200 4Sp auto btw

TwistedMotorsports wrote:

z yaaaa wrote:yeah, im acctually planning on changing the fluid/filter/pan gasket and the pan itself (my pan has some road rash on it from one of the dumb previous owners)

dont bother going to a shop and getting a flush, imo its not only not worth it, but doing the flush like that can kill a transmission with highermilage. Just take the pan/filter off and put a new filter and gasket. As for the synthetic, dont be scared to run it just because it has 100,000 on the clock. it wont hurt a thing.

u sure about synthetic? i was always told that putting it in the engine of that high of mileage would almost certainly kill some bearings and such. i guess i figured the same held true for a transmission. please elaborate.

Chris D wrote:ummm.... what if you just rolled 174000 to the dot and i have no clue when it was done, if ever?? ive had it since 155XXX, doesnt slip or anything no noises

yikes man... that i wouldnt know myself... hopefully u can though. u might try calling your local transmission shop and seeing what they think.

Chris D wrote:01 Sunfire 2200 4Sp auto btw

change it, but i dont reccomend using synthetic the first time, drop some regular dex3 in it and run it for 25,000kms then switch over to snythetic if you want.


_______________________
** Flat Broke Racing Inc.**

Chris D wrote:ummm.... what if you just rolled 174000 to the dot and i have no clue when it was done, if ever?? ive had it since 155XXX, doesnt slip or anything no noises

no leave it alone


- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

i'm kinda in the same dilemma. i have 192,000 kms (about 120,000 miles) on my 97 sunfire 3 speed trans and i want to get a transmission flush done. it shifts fine, no delayed shifting or anything like and all the gears work. there is, however, one very annoying problem: whenever it shifts to 3rd it makes a humming sound, but usually only at higher speeds (80 km/h+). if it shifts to 3rd at slower speeds the humming is virtually gone or greatly subdued.

i've been told to try and maybe change the fluid and filter and put some of the lukas additive to make it go away. but i'm really having second thoughts. the fluid is still pink, perhaps a little brownish, it really stinks, and the level seems ok. i don't know if someone ever changed the trans fluid in this car, i'm betting no, but still, i'm at a junction of whether to spend the $70 or so to get the flush done and then have the transmission go on me.

Well...I changed my 2.4L 4spd auto the first time at 87,000 miles. I plan to change it again in the spring at about 135,000 miles.

I'd say change it, you shouldn't have any problems.

I never understood why some people will tell you that the older your car is the less you need to take care of it. Essentially that is what they are telling you. It makes no sense at all to me.

Change you fluid now and theh every 50k miles at least.

I'm not here to spread rumors, but here I go. Synthetic trans fluid in a transmission not made for it is a bad thing. I don't know much about the 4T40E, but I know the 4T60, 4T60E, and the 4T65E (HD and non-HD) do not particularly like synthetic ATF. This may sound ridiculous, but the fluid is too slippery. I think it causes more TCC slip, but I could be way wrong here.


"The Blue Bullet"

Logan wrote:I'm not here to spread rumors, but here I go. Synthetic trans fluid in a transmission not made for it is a bad thing. I don't know much about the 4T40E, but I know the 4T60, 4T60E, and the 4T65E (HD and non-HD) do not particularly like synthetic ATF. This may sound ridiculous, but the fluid is too slippery. I think it causes more TCC slip, but I could be way wrong here.

wrong, if your getting TCC slip you have other problems. synthetic oil in a transmission thats got lots of miles and isnt in great shape can mean death. but then again you can tell what shape the trans is in when you drop the pan, if it looks pretty horrible just throw the cheapest @!#$ you can find in it.


_______________________
** Flat Broke Racing Inc.**

hey
i work at a service place and i own a 98 with the 3 spd
personally at higher millage i wouldn't do a flush just drop the pan and change the gasket and filter
if you own the car since new and keep up with the standard services fushing the fluid would be just fine
at our shop the service intervals that we have for mostly every gm is 50k miles or 80k km
i do my pan and gasket every 50k km's for what it is worth

about synthetic its truly up to you i run just regular dex3 and no problems