sirblinks

iTrader: (2)

How often do you guys change this? My buddys trucks transmission was all jacked, and the guy was saying how he never changed his filter, and that's what caused it. He said i should change it every 6 months...yeah, being the noob i am, i havent changed it since i got the car!

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Definately not every 6 months. I would say every 60-100k miles. I know that's a wide range, but it all really depends on how hard you drive your car, the climate, and the surroundings.

sirblinks

iTrader: (2)

how bout just chaning the oil in the filter?

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

You you mean changing the transmission fluid? You're supposed to do a drain and flush every 15-20k miles. Or every 2-3 oil changes.

sirblinks

iTrader: (2)

yeah transmission fluid..OH ****! i haven't been doing that...son of a....

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Don't worry you're not the only one. Transmission drain and refill is just something that most people never think of doing, or they don't even know they have to do it. It's best to do it every 15-20k miles if you want the transmission to live a VERY long time without problems. I'm talking like 300k+ miles. The trans will run just fine for a while without changing the fluid. Heck, there are some people that have gone about 100k miles without ever changing the fluid. It's definately not a good thing to be neglecting. A transmission repair can easily run up in the thousands of dollars. Trust me, I know because I've been working a lot with transmissions lately.

sirblinks

iTrader: (2)

haah nice, yeah the guy at the shop said he'll flush it out and change the filter for 30 bucks...better safe than sorry. thanks for the info...been a big help!

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

that sounds EXTREMELY cheap... parts alone we're talking $35 (fluid, filter, gasket)

usually what we call a "pan service" on a standard car that does not require special trans fluid runs around $90 parts and labor - it is a pain in the *** and super messy to do...

as for those that say every 15-20k miles do a drain and fill, well, that's great when there is a drain plug on the trans... many new cars do not have a drain plug, or if they do, they don't even have a dipstick to refill - they take special procedures to even check the level... look at your owners manual - it will give you what the manufacturer suggests as service interval...

some manufacturers recommend a full fluid flush every 30k miles, some wait till 100k miles, some are 60k... just look - different fluids have different lifespans...

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

For $30 I doubt he's doing the filter. Unless it's a friend of yours. He might tell you he did the filter on the transmission, but there's no way to tell unless you take the pan off and check it yourself.

chuckb

I thought we don't have a trans filter, just a screen that doesn't really need to be messed with.

btw- I drain/refill mine every other oil change.