killain

Is there very much risk to changing the Auto. Transmission fluid & filter ? Everyone says "Change It" but others say there is some risk to doing this, Car only has 10K miles on it ?

ztheusa

I just changed mine.....2004 19,000 miles......so far nothing bad.

MWWarlord

The older trans flush machines used a lot of pressure. They tended to jar loose sludge that had settled and naturally plugged leaks. This would make people think that it caused leaks. This is not an issue with the newer machines. I say go for it.

Stingroo

Change it. No fluid maintains its viscosity and effectiveness after TWO DECADES.

Vader_C5

I changed mine at 92k miles A4, no issues to speak of. Use a high quality syn fluid that meets the book specs.

killain

Should I use a chevy dealership, or my local ( Very well established Trans shop ) ? ? ?

Beast

Doesn’t matter where. Change that transmission fluid and put 10,000 miles on it this summer. Drive that thing. The engine is not even broke in yet.

yellow2007

This thread brings back nightmares I had with my C7 transmission fluid.............................

Vader_C5

I personally had mine changed at the Chevy dealer, but any trusted shop will be fine. I would also change all of your other fluids - differential, steering, coolant, brake, etc. especially if they are all original.

pjdbm

I did it myself at 60k, glad i did it.
Make sure the person who does it knows the procedure well.

jim993

Change fluid and filter.

My car has had fluid and filter changed five times. Never an issue.

MAKE SURE you follow the Factory Service Manual procedure.

eric22

And it was/is an issue especially with badly neglected transmissions, as the flush could knock loose cooked-on crud. And lots of people neglect maintenance on their car in general, including the tranny.

And, when someone reads or hears about one person who claims one should NEVER flush ANY transmission (even though that has been the industry standard for decades, now) because it "ruined his," he will believe story of woe, and ignore the millions that aren't damaged.

c5arlen

Pray tell your nightmares?
To be thorouth, one must hear from those who have Never changed that fluid!!.. I've never NEVER changed that "oil" on a car.... Ever! .. and never any kinda problem!

killain

Thanks all, I have changed the Coolant, Differential fluid and the engine Oil and filter. But I think doing the Brake fluid and the Transmission is next on the list. Most people seldom know very much, or why they need to keep the engine oil clean. I said to my one neighbor who discounted the changing of fluids, he said "They just tell you that to scare you !" I told my nephew the same thing years ago, "But when your engine is running. . . no two metal parts ever touch each other !" He like my nephew look at me like I was crazy, but an engine would wear out in like a month if it lasted that long, but everything in a gasoline or diesel engine has a very fine film of oil on it, which keeps it from wearing out. Many years ago I was working in the evenings with a friend who owned his shop and I would help him, and we had a 70's Ford 351 that kept burning oil no matter what we did, so Chris said were going to pull the heads, and sure as we got the right bank head off, it was staring us right in the face, who ever had rebuild the engine (Not us) but they had failed to do a cylinder hone and there was no cross-hatching on the cylinder walls, so there wasn't any way for the oil, slight as it is, to lubricate the rings, and in short order they were wearing away the face of both the rings and the cylinder walls. The customer came and looked at the damage and decided to have Chris's shop to rebuild the engine, but that one small overlooked process ruined the engine. Leaving old oil in a crankcase too long just hasens the wear on the internal parts one by one.

namvet6869

My 2000 has 92000 on it and have no idea if trans has ever been changed. Works great but hard shift between 1 and 2. Thinking of changing it. My question is did you flush it of just change oil in pan and filter?

Elektro

I just changed my fluid and filter.. 1998, 49000 miles. Obviously original, it was well overdue.

Even if you don't care about your gears and clutches think about your wiring, seals, etc. I seen too many old Toyota HSD where the winding insulation chewed up and ruined because the "lifetime" fluid turns corrosive over the years. And that does not have friction material going in it!

I also changed the filter seal and gasket. That seal was hard job getting off! Otherwise pretty simple.

Supercharged111

Some folks get a flush in hopes it'll fix their ailing transmission and then it dies so they blame the flush. I've flushed a number of my own transmissions and never had a problem. One of my trucks wouldn't clean up even after multiple filter changes. As soon as I did a full flush I had nice, clean fluid throughout. Later that year when I broke the transmission case and tore it down it was still nice and clean. Consider me a pro-flush vote.

jim993

Supercharged11 is exactly correct.

killain

Well, if your transmission is getting ready to drop dead, ain't no flush in the world going to help, But I've never been afraid of doing a flush so long as it's (Like everything) is done by a professional shop. They would know what works and what doesn't. I just dropped my car off at the shop this morning in Nj for some other work, but all they do is Corvettes. . . Unless asked for. But I ask about a drain and new fluid and filter when we speak again.

Thank you !

MWWarlord

You made the correct decision. You definitely want to swap the brake fluid too. No matter what, over time the brake fluid will absorb water. Even if it is clean, I would swap it out every 5 years or so.