I have been following the VW maintenance schedule carefully, I’d like this car to last to 150k at least. But reading this forum, I realize I should have changed the fluid in the transmission, even though VW says it’s not needed.
But that is in the past, what should I do now? One option is do nothing and hope the tranny holds out. Another is to drain and refill with fluid now. But could this not disturb things enough so the tranny will die?
And if I should drain and refill, I know there are 2 different ways to do this. Does it matter which?
VW Passat V6, auto, 2003, 98k miles
Ignore those old wives’ tales about belated trans fluid changes being the cause of transmission failure!
Those transmissions would have failed anyway, as a result of lack of maintenance for too many years.
Take the car to an independent transmisssion shop–NOT to AAMCO, Lee Myles, Cottman, Mr. Transmission, or any other chain. Have the trans pan dropped and cleaned of debris, have the trans filter changed, and have new fluid put in.
While this can’t guarantee that your sadly ignored transmission will last for another 50k miles, at least it gives the trans a better chance of survival.
Just start changing the auto transmission fluid every 30,000 miles. The transmission hasn’t failed yet, so don’t worry about it.