I’ve already bought the correct tramsmission fluid myself. Would you still not trust Jiffy Lube?
Hi CalmnCool:
Even in that case I would not trust Jiffy Lube. Their corporate business model of using less skilled help and then dealing with the fallout is not one that I’d want to support. And that doesn’t include the up-selling pressure the help is under.
But it does beg the question on why you’re still interested in having Jiffy Lube do the work.
Can you help us understand why?
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Inquiring minds want to know. 
With their record of draining the motor oil instead of the trans fluid, and then filling the transmission–thus resulting in a destroyed engine and a damaged transmission–NO, I would not trust them to do it correctly.
My first choice would be a specialized independent trans shop. If you only have chain-run trans shops in your area, then a trusted independent mechanic should be okay.
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So lifetime fluids doesn’t mean they last the lifetime of the vehicle. I always wondered about that
Same here, i totally agree. Are the people working at Jiffy Lube certified mechanics?
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Why did the trans go out right after someone talked her into changing the fluid? What caused it to go out after the ATF change?
I hope that you were kidding with that question.
The people working at the quick lube places receive cursory instruction in how to change fluids. The brief training is what leads to a fairly high incidence of screw-ups.
They are not mechanics, by any stretch of the imagination.
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You will have to check their credentials. I was ASE certified when I was working at a Grease Monkey shop in the 1980’s, that was a very busy vehicle lube center.
Right back at you, slick.
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Everything that happens, happens after something else , right? I eat some jelly beans, later my windshield cracks. Did the jelly bean cause the window to crack? In other words, the most likely explanation is a coincidence, trans was soon to fail anyway. If the failure was actually related to changing the fluid, I’ll grant that’s a theoretical possibility, the job might have been performed incorrectly. Another is the change-out disturbed debris somewhere post-filter, and clogged up something in the trans. But that would have likely occurred without the fluid change. The odds are definitely in the favor for car owners who keep up with the routine maintenance.
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Well, similarly, someone might be treated by a nurse who had not yet been able to find employment as an MD. However, that situation is very rare–as is yours.
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I’ve posted about this before so I will just copy and paste it here…
You have clutch packs (and bands) in the transmission that are made up of friction plates & steel plates, as the friction material wears off it mixes with the fluid and makes the fluid gritty (rough) and can still keep the transmission shifting, now if the friction is worn out enough then it can rely on that dirty/gritty fluid to help it shift and not slip (to a point) and if you remove that old dirty gritty fluid out and put fresh clean fluid, now you have nothing to help the friction and steel plates to hold together and now you are stuck with a transmission that wont pull under it’s on power…
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Yeah i was kidding. It was a rhetorical question and a point I’m making as to why it’s not a good idea to use those places
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Sometimes I go back and forth whether changing the transmission fluid can be even considered routine maintenance for that reason you mentioned. The “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality pops up with me sometimes and I go back and forth whether I should have the ATF fluid changed
Watch this guy.
He knows what he’s talking about.
Tester
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It is always best to do maintenance, but transmissions if not done properly can have negative affects…
Follow manufacturers recommendations and avoid pointless, wasteful fluid changes.
There are now mower engines that claim to have “lifetime” oil in them. I asked my small engine guy what he thought and he was like “You know that any engine needs an oil change.” Basically they are not designed to be changed and say to only add oil. You have to tip them over or suck the oil out to do an oil change on them as there isn’t a drain plug.
With mowers, one of two things happens when you change the oil on a really neglected one. That tar that was inside the engine was the only thing holding it together. Once you change the oil the rod will come through the side after 5 minutes of normal running. The other option is that it somehow comes back to life and seems to work well for a good long period of time with some TLC.
I suspect something similar is going on with the transmissions that fail after a service. As mentioned, worn friction material in the old fluid might be the only thing keeping it running.
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Pat Goss says flush but others have said a simple drain and refill was preferable and less damaging
Those others aren’t real mechanics,
They’re computer chair mechanics.
Tester
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