i have a 2000 ford focus with 122K miles on it. a transmission flush was done at 77K. when i got an oil change last week, they recommended another one. i’ve read some opposing views of getting it done again, mainly that it can clog up the transmission and ruin the engine. what is your opinion?
I have yet seen a transmission fluid exchange damage a good transmission. I have seen transmission fluid exchanges performed to try and remedy an already existing transmission problem. And that doesn’t work too well.
If you had a fluid exchange at 77K miles, and the transmission lasted until 122K miles, doesn’t that tell you something?
Tester
Not servicing your transmission is more harmful than having it serviced properly at regular intervals. Your owner’s manual should prescribe the change intervals, but 20,000-30,000 is a good rule of thumb. Unless the fluid is contaminated, you should be able to simply have the fluid drained and refilled and the filter replaced. Having the fluid flushed simply drives up the cost.
What usually clogs stuff up is, trying to flush the system when the gunk is already there. It is far safer to change the oil and clean the filter.
Don’t expect either to fix an existing problem. Far too many people wait until they have a problem and then get disappointed when a fluid change or flush does not fix the damage by not having the fluid changed BEFORE the damage was done. People have a habit of blaming the problem on the fluid change when the reason they changed the fluid was because there was already a problem because it was not changed before the problem.
Fluid changes can not fix a problem. Not changing the fluid before there is a problem causes problems.
Has the transmission fluid ever been changed?
The o/p mentioned that it was done at 77,000.