time for tranny fluid change? how to tell?

[slugmike]

hey guys,

at my last two oil changes, the guys told me i needed a tranny fluid change. how can i tell if i really do? my X sport has 43k miles on it, I bought it used so i'm not exactly sure of its service history....

what are the signs that the tranny fluid needs to be changed?

 

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy. From what I have heard, it should be changed if its color is much different from the red it is when it's new, or if it's burnt. But unless you did something bad you know of, you probably can't go by this. Other people are more qualified to say this or not, but I think 43k would be a good time to do a flush/fill/filter service. Drop the pan bla bla bla. Not overdue with your miles, but a good thing to do.

 

[Glacier991]

2nd that advice.

 

[IAmTodd]

Pan drop with filter change should do fine. Or you can be like me and run 82k miles w/o a change(only 20k of those I did)

 

[cybercreeper]

Here's a site that helps if you plan on doing it ur self...

Dead Link Removed

 

[TheJMan]

Before I inherited my Explorer, we went 60K miles without changing any of the fluid or the filter, which was a bad move. On a road trip, the transmission overheated and when we got back started to slip and had to be rebuilt. It's been only 25K miles since then and I just changed the fluid in the pan, the gasket, and the filter, and it definitely was a wise move, as the fluid was very light, and starting to turn brown.

 

[aldive]

I am a firm believer in changing fluids and using full synthetic fluids.

If I were you, I would do a pan drop and filter change. immediately followed by a complete flush The flush is simple, a 15 minute job that you can DIY.

Good luck.

 

[slag]

all automatic transmission fluid smells burnt. always.. its a byproduct of using it around friction plates. If its doing its job, it will smell burnt.

Personally, I dont like to use synthetic fluids in my transmission unless its made for it. There's a certain amount of friction thats necessary for your clutches to operate properly and synthetic fluid is too slippery for it.

 

[aldive]

Personally, I dont like to use synthetic fluids in my transmission unless its made for it. There's a certain amount of friction thats necessary for your clutches to operate properly and synthetic fluid is too slippery for it.

Is this your personal opinion? If so, fine and dandy, however, if you are posting a fact, please let us know where this info originated. I have never heard such an asertion.

Thanks....

 

[F14CRAZY]

2nd that advice.

Yay! I'm a genius! I actually know what I'm talking about!