Oh. I don’t know. I’m sure that transman knows all about Dex VI. And he didn’t qualify his comments with, e.g. “…unless you’re using X transmission fluid…”
Of course, I don’t trust GM as far as I can throw it either.
What about Manual transmissions. Do they need a fluid change, every 30 K miles?
Anyone know a good chevy mechanic in Houston?
My Toyota’s all have a manual transmission service interval of 60,000 miles. I have manual transmissions in my '88 Supra with 256,000 miles on it and one clutch replacement, and my '92 Celica with 360,000 miles on it with it’s 3rd clutch. All original manual transmissions, all with regular lube changes, all with no shifting issues.
My wife’s Suzuki Sidekick 4WD had a service interval of 30,000 miles on the transmission, transfer case, and both differentials.
Thanks, BK.
Mr. Cigroller,
It is worth pointing out that most of the GM vehicles made since 2006 with Dexron VI are still under their current 5 year 100,000 mile warranty. If Mr. Transman does not work for a GM dealer then it is likely that he has seen few or none of these vehicle and therefore could not have a completely formed view of Dexron VI.
Fair enough, maybe. But I’ll happily take the word of a guy who spends much of his time taking apart & rebuilding transmissions. If nothing else I go by the “its cheap insurance” rule.
And I believe that “Mr.” transman is a GM certified trans tech.
You probably fall between the suggestions. I personally would use 50k if I owned an automatic transmission. However thankfully in my lifetime I have not owned a ticking time bomb when your vehicle is older.
I wonder how many transmissions have been killed by mistakes made by someone at the iffy lube type places while changing the fluid?
Too many!
I have been driving for almost 50 years. All my cars have been manuals, but if I were to buy an automatic, (next one might be automatic) I would rather take my chances of not changing it than have one of those places change it.
“I have not owned a ticking time bomb when your vehicle is older.”
Unfortunately manual transmissions aren’t entirely immune.
There are a lot of complaints on the web about bearings failing in the 5-speed manual in the 2003-5 Corolla/Matrix at 50-100K miles.
I recently changed the lube in my 2006 Matrix 5-sp at 21K miles and the old gear oil was pretty dark with a metallic sheen.
Looked worse than the oil from Hondas I did in the past at 30K.
I hope it holds up.
In summary, I just flushed my transmission fluid on my 2016 Fusion at 60000 miles, and it was black. Not brown, but black. Wished I would have changed it sooner! I didn’t really think that I was severe-duty, but was worse than the grandmas that the owner’s manual was written for.
I saw Transman’s response and knew this was an old old discussion. Yeah I had my Acura trans fluid changed at the dealer at 30K along with the transfer case and rear differential. I think the bill was somewhere around $300 but the car was somewhere north of $40,000. That’s my reasoning-take it or leave it.
A properly done transmission service which includes replacing the transmission fluid never hurts , only helps. Given the expense of transmission failure, common sense says to error on the side of caution and replace sooner rather than later. The manufacturer’s definition of “Severe-duty” might include “most of the driving is less than 15 miles trips”. Which applies to many, many drivers, driving back and forth to work, soccer moms and the like.
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The Subaru definition is even more extreme. As I interpret it, if you do any driving near the ocean, in the mountains, in a city, in the country, or in the winter, or short trips, you qualify. I can’t imagine anyone not qualifying.
I’m splitting the difference, which is difficult in some cases. For example, to change CVT fluid under severe is at 25k, otherwise never. I’ll compromise at 50k.
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The car makers have come up with pretty good algorithms for judging motor oil changes.
Why not add some code and do the same for other fluids?
How much testing have they done? Motor oil is changed at least 6 times more often than trans fluid, and they might consider it of insufficient value to spend the money. Many (most?) new car buyers don’t keep their cars long enough to damage the transmission by not changing the ATF.
+1
And, more relevantly as pertains to the manufacturers, transmissions are not likely to fail during the period of the Powertrain Warranty–even if they aren’t serviced. If the mfr doesn’t have to carry the financial burden of trans replacement, and if the first owner dumps his/her car in 3-4 years without servicing the transmission, then the vehicle’s first owner is also not on the hook for this major repair.
The only people who have to worry about this issue are first owners who believe the “lifetime fluid” nonsense and keep their cars for the long-term, and–of course–the hapless second and third owners of cars whose trans was never serviced.
This is really a zombie thread, but FWIW (and I started the thread originally) I changed the ATF on my 2010 Ford Fusion at about 100K and it was still pink-ish, not as bad as some others. And I plan to change it again this summer which will be around 135K-140K depending on when I do it. It seems cheap insurance.
I was helping a friend of mine to swap transmission on his 2003 Toyota Echo, at 225K miles, with a junk-yard unit.
He never replaced ATF there, saying “see, it is pink-ish on a dip-stick”, but it was his final driving gear and differential what broke on him, apparently transmission assembly would let the fluid in differential section, but it even has its own drain plug, so once there it would not mix.
When we were removing his old/failed transmission, I removed the plug to make sure all the fluid is out and it was completely black.
Considering how much ATF costs versus the transmission and trouble of swap, it is indeed a cheap insurance.
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