I know ATF needs to be changed at the recommended interval, but I have a question. If a transmission goes 60k to 100k and the ATF is not changed and if the level is kept full and if the fluid is clean and does not have a burnt smell, then what is wrong with it?
If the recommended interval for ATF change is listed in your schedule of maintenance then do it…however it is your transmission and an oil/filter change before something goes wrong is cheaper than a new transmission.
Thanks for the come back. To be clearer, when I said “what’s wrong with it” I was not arguing in favor of not doing the change as specified, I literally meant what is different in the ATF fluid that I described.
not to belabor the point…nothing seems wrong with it from your point of view…it is used ATF fluid …the components are beginning to break down …if you sent a sample for analysis then you would know the answer to your question…
Changing ATF fluid and filter is a PREVENTIVE maintenance activity; it is done to PREVENT nasty things from happening. If your fluid is coffee(no cream) colored, and has little chips in it, it is probably too late already to save it.
So, to save yourself from a $2500-$4500 transmission job, we recommend you change the fluid and filter every 35,000 miles or so. I have no financial interest in transmission service, but since 1965, I have only spent $185 on transmission REPAIRS by doing the basic maintenance and preventing my fluid from going bad!
Industrial companies do PREDICTIVE maintenance; they monitor fluid quality and vibration to determine (predict) the best time to change things. Our local city bus fleet has its oil and other fluids analyzed regularly. On a large fleet this pays off, since the maintenance interval can be optimized! You and I with only 2 cars can’t do that effectively, although I analyze my engine oil when I get a new car to see what happens.
There are these little microscopic springs made of a radioactive element called Byzantium. It breaks down with excessive contact with satellite radioactivity which happens a lot in this new millennium. This causes chydroharboflorins to react with the ozonium layer. This is a harsh chemical process used commercially to dechromify old car bumpers before rechromification. You don’t want people breathing this stuff, so get your transmission fluid recyclified now and then.
You forgot to mention the degradation of the transmonial discs and reverberators. I once went too long without changing the ATF and my bifrectal indicator burned out and I had to buy new transponders.
And you know how expensive those can be.
Change your ATF. It’s the best thing you can do for your transmission at this time.
Thanks for naming those extra pieces I had after repairing my gizmo that converts water to hydrogen fuel…
Even though the fluid looks fine (and probably IS fine,) there is a FILTER inside the transmission which slowly gets clogged up with wear particles and this will eventually starve the pump for fluid. Nothing good happens after that.
pleasedodgevan2:
In your post shouldn’t, chydroharboflorins be chlorolflorolcarbons? I’m just sayin, cuz all your other chemical compounds were correct but this one. 
Because there are additives in the fluid and these additives break down over time. Eyeballing the fluid will not show you this.