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+--- Thread: How often should transmission fluid be changed? (/showthread.php?tid=124843)
How often should transmission fluid be changed? - Numo - 10-07-2011
I was at the dealership today for an oil change, and the service guy said Honda recommends changing the automatic transmission fluid every 30,000 miles. This seems awfully short to me, but I really don't know how often it should be done. What do you do?
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - macphanatic - 10-07-2011
Take a look at your owner's manual. On my Honda, I have a maintenance minder that tells which services are due based upon monitoring of driving conditions. Not unusual to see transmission fluid due around 30k. I don't remember if Honda's use standard ATF. I know that their 4wd/AWL transfer case uses a Honda specific fluid. The use of any other fluid will cause drive-ability issues and even damage. All the more reason to look at the owners manual.
Also, unless your dealer does a full flush, only about 2/3rds gets drained and replaced. This is common with most automatic transmissions as the fluid doesn't drain out from the torque converter. This is one of the reasons behind more frequent changes.
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - cbelt3 - 10-07-2011
Did you RTHM (read the honda Manual) ? Typically it's 60k miles. 30K miles is probably 'inspect'.
If the guy is lying to you, avoid 'em in the future. A lot of these little shops will do that.. bamboozle you into 'extras' . Air filter changes and window wiper changes are a popular 'upsell'. I remember on goon tried to convince me that my air filter was 'dirty and worn out'. I had just put a new one in that morning.
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - Rolando - 10-07-2011
Have you checked your owners manual?
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - freeradical - 10-07-2011
Do what the owners manual tells you to. Generally a manual will give you different service intervals depending upon the conditions you drive your car.
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - Grateful11 - 10-07-2011
I know this sounds crazy but our '91 Explorer has something around 235K miles on it and it's never have the
transmission fluid changed, it's been checked, it's not burnt and it smells like fresh tranny fluid. I asked
a guy that rebuilds transmissions and his thinking was it depended on your type driving, the conditions, if
you tow a lot, etc. He said every 75K but our Explorer is driven about 500 miles a year for taking recyclables,
the our dog to the Vet, getting gas for the lawn mower and that's about it, the rest of the time it sits snug
it's enclosed garage, it's like part of the family, we bought it new right after Jesse was born. We've let sit
as long as 6 months and it fires right up. It's only decent Ford I've ever owned and I've owned a bunch of them.
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - mrbigstuff - 10-07-2011
Don't always trust the owner's manual!!!
I am well aware of a few cars that have never changed the trans fluid and are still shifting fine (mine with 220k) while the manual says the fluid should be changed every 70k or something. The owners that followed the manual have a huge percentage of fried transmissions.
My recommendation is to find a GOOD online forum for your model vehicle and read it extensively.
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - MGS_forgot_password - 10-07-2011
Go by the owner's manual. And get the fluid changed, don't get a flush.
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - Rolando - 10-07-2011
Grateful11 wrote:
I know this sounds crazy but our '91 Explorer has something around 235K miles on it and it's never have the transmission fluid changed, it's been checked, it's not burnt and it smells like fresh tranny fluid. I asked
a guy that rebuilds transmissions and his thinking was it depended on your type driving, the conditions, if
you tow a lot, etc. He said every 75K but our Explorer is driven about 500 miles a year for taking recyclables, the our dog to the Vet, getting gas for the lawn mower and that's about it, the rest of the time it sits snug it's enclosed garage, it's like part of the family, we bought it new right after Jesse was born. We've let sit as long as 6 months and it fires right up. It's only decent Ford I've ever owned and I've owned a bunch of them.
You must be lying! EVERYBODY knows American cars commit suicide at the end of warranty plus 5 miles! Especially Fords! All my Fords have done well, even my Mid 80s Mustang that I beat the shit out of for 10 years!
Re: How often should transmission fluid be changed? - Will Collier - 10-07-2011
They're trying to rip you off. It's extremely unlikely that you'd need a transmission fluid change at 30K. 65K or 70K maybe, but no way at 30K.
Honda dealerships (really any dealership, but Honda is particularly bad) will rip you off of your last cent recommending unnecessary maintenance. I took my wife's Accord in a couple of days ago to get a recall job done, and the crook service writer (Ed Voyles in Marietta, GA, don't go there) tried to upsell me on $500 worth of completely superfluous "service," including $118 (yes, really) for a new air filter. That car is meticulously maintained (the wife is as German as you can get for somebody whose family has been in the US for hundreds of years--Pennsylvania Dutch) and didn't need any of the stuff he was pushing, even if it had been reasonably priced. Which it wasn't.
I bet the jackass gets plenty of nice commissions with that kind of fraud. Didn't get anything but a chewing-out from me.
Never go to a dealership service department for any work you have to pay for. Warranty and recalls only.