My mechanic doesn’t want to change my transmission oil he says it’s best to leave it alone because he believes it may cause a problem. What do I do? Should I go to a transmission expert. Do I drive the car forever with dirty oil, til it breaks down? I have 1993 940 Volvo, about 150,000 miles.
How old is your mechanic? This theory went out the window many years ago. I can’t see how fresh, clean automatic transmission fluid (I’m assuming it’s an automatic) can harm anything.
The fluid should be changed by draining and refilling, with a new filter if there is one. This may involve removing the transmission pan for cleaning and filter replacement.
I do not recommend a transmission flush for this vehicle.
Change, yes. Flush, no.
Change the fluid.
Agree; if it’s an automatic, change the fluid and filter; it’s long overdue! Make sure the fluid meets that specified in the owner’s manual; a good shop will know!
At 150K miles, the tranny is ready for a rebuild. You mechanic knows this and he doesn’t want to take the blame should the transmission fail the week after he changes the oil in it…When the transmission fails in a 93 Volvo, it totals the car…
Change the fluid if you wish, I would have a TRANSMISSION SHOP perform this service…
Just out of curiosity - why are you wanting to change the fluid? And have you been getting it changed regularly all along? (every 30K or so)
The reason I ask is related to Caddyman’s comment - a lot of people ignore their transmissions until they start showing signs of problems. Then they decide to change the fluid - while this can sometimes help some things a little - it is most often too little too late. That’s one reason people won’t want to work on it. They know that the transmission is likely to go soon no matter what they do. But they also know that there’s a good chance that the customer is going to come back and blame them.
So have you neglected what should be 30k miles fluid changes until a problem developed and now you’re looking for a way out?
If the transmission is fine now, then change the fluid.
If the transmission has been neglected and is suffering some hiccups at 150k miles then all you’re doing is closing the barn door after the horses done escaped.
Something tells me that this is the latter case, as usual.
Your mechanic is looking at how much money he can make changing your automatic transmission FLUID compared to how much grief you will give him when a problem with your transmission comes up shortly after he performs his work. He has decided it is not worth any risk to put his hands on your transmission.
That is often said. Many people have seen cars that just had the transmission fluid changed fail and need a new transmission. So they put two and two together and get five.
The real reason is they were starting to have problems with the transmission, maybe because they had never changed the fluid, and decided to try changing the fluid after it was already too late.
Change that fluid every 30-60,000 miles and and you should have a long lasting transmission. Note, CHANGE does not equal flush. Insist on a change and have the pan removed and the filter and pan cleaned.