Tranny Fluid

I am pickier than most when it comes to what ATF gets put in my cars. I'm that annoying guy that will go to jiffy lube and say that I want my tranny flushed and then bee-line it to the back seat where I have a case of ATF for them to flush it with. I don't trust ANY place to choose my fluid for me.

Anywho, my fluid was looking like muddy water so it needed a change. I pop open the manual and read that the fluid needed to meet the Esso LT 71141 spec. Obviously the next step is to google the hell out of it. Turns out this is a BMW/Audi ATF spec and there are only a few off-the-shelf ATFs that meet this spec:

http://www.taligentx.com/passat/info/fluids/

Quaker State/Pennzoil Multi-vehicle ATF
and
Valvoline MERCON V

I went with the MERCON V and so far so good.

I hope this info. is useful to someone other than myself. Just thought you would all like to know.

JustAGuy

Royal Purple doesn't meet those specs?

I saw a thread on it and the jury was still out on that one. I believe someone got on the horn with them and asked them directly and they wouldn't say that it absolutely does fit the spec.

BTW - I brought 9 qts to the oil change place and that was more than enough to flush this tranny.

JustAGuy

Redline?

Same here, justaguy, however the fluid I use (or will use tomorrow when I get it flushed) is the GM T-IV ATF, part #88900925. Just because it's the reccomended stuff, although it's on the expensive side ($15 a qt.) It's really high quality stuff.

Also from what I understand the ATF rarely actually needs to be flushed, because it is high quality it can last a long time, I'd say between 60k-90k miles between changes.

Service techs at 2 different Chevy dealerships told me that would be fine, but then they said that's actually more than it needs, they say it last's the car's lifetime, but if you exchange it every so often it's ok too. Also the Aveo automatic can hold up to 7.4 qts so if you want it flushed well then get 8 quarts...

P.S. Traditionally there are 2 ways to do transmission fluid flushes, take the oil pan off and swap the fluid, or use a machine that connects to the transmission fluid piping to work like a kidney, sucking out the bad fluid while pumping back in the good fluid. The latter is better because you can flush more fluid that way.

The oil pan method isn't as effective because nearly 4 qts of fluid is stuck inside the torque convertor, and the engine can't operate if the oil pan is off. The other method is better because it uses the engine's own fluid pump to suck in the good stuff, and since it's pumping, it's also taking the fluid out of the torque convertor so more good fluid goes in.

Hey guys! I'm a little new to this site, but I have a little advice concerning ATF for the Aveo. The automatics are made by Aisin AW, which is a subsidiary of and supplier to Toyota. I deliver auto parts for a living for a Chevy dealer, so I get the ATF T-IV for cost, but a guy that I deliver to told me that that stuff is the same exact fluid that Toyota uses and that he could get it for 1/3 the cost. Also, Mobil puts out Type 3309, which in my opinion, is a superior fluid.

hey with this transmission flush, what about the cleanliness of the filter itself?

The filter lasts at least 100k miles from what I understand...

I dunno, but I figure if I am going to go through all the trouble to change out my fluid, I would probably go ahead and replace the filter with it. Will it do any good? Maybe, maybe not, but it does add a little piece of mind.
I am kind of OCD with my car anyways. If I have to replace one tire, I replace all 4. If I get an oil filter change, I usually change my air filter with it. If one headlight goes out, both get replaced. Yeah, I am THAT GUY.
I wash weekly, wax every two, and resolve my carpets with every wash. I don't eat in the car (I do drink in it though) I don't smoke in the car, nor do I let anyone else.

I just never saw the numbers in only going half way :)

Changing the filter while you have pan off is a good idea... 2birds, 1 stone kind of deal.

With the headlights, I like to change both as well... toss the used good one in the glovebox as a spare... There are also some people that believe that if you mix a new headlight with an old headlight that the lifespan of the new headlight is reduced, voltage and current draw differences or something they claim... I'd chock this up to superstition.

As far as the tires, it depends how much tread is left on them... If it have over 50% tread left and one goes flat, I'll just get the one... less and I'll replace all 4 corners.

Changing your air filter every time you get an oil change is a bit ridiculous, though. Air filters are usually good from 15-30k miles depending on the conditions you drive in (can be more often if you frequent particularly dusty roads). So unless you're in rather "extreme" conditions, at best you're changing it 5* as often as you should need to... or at worst 10*... a pretty big waste of money.

Oh, sure it is, I am a bit extreme with my car. As I said, I am "That Guy."
but I get a discount on my parts, and only pay like 7 bucks for replacement air filters. So all in all, not a big loss. I may at times let it slide for 2 oil changes during the winter or rainy season, but in the summer, especially since I make regular trips from here in Seattle, to San Fran, and with all the fires we have had down there, and the dry dust, I find that when I do change my air filter, I won't say it is in bad shape, but it isn't in as good a shape as I would like.
There is a madness to my methods, I know. But madness isn't always that bad.

what color is our fluid suppose to be? i know most are red

i think at 80000 miles mine is a little darker than it should be!! time for a change!

I've had to change my ATF twice already. I changed it for the first time at 30,000 miles because it was reddish gray and I could see gray residue on the rag after wiping the dipstick. I had to change it again at 34,000 because it changed color again. Both times I let the plug out, it looked more like dirty motor oil than transmission fluid.

I asked at work about getting my trans flushed, but every tech I talked to told me not to do it on their machine because most of GM's vehicles use Dexron III or Dexron VI. Those two fluids are compatible, but if I tried doing it on my vehicle, the residual Dexron would contaminate my transaxle and cause it to fail.

From reading this discussion, it looks like the T-IV will go quite a while between changes, but the way it oxidizes and changes color, I wouldn't trust it. It costs me about $33 dollars for 3 quarts of T-IV for a simple drain and fill, but if that saves me thousands of dollars over the course of the life of the vehicle from not having to change out the transaxle, I'll change the stuff along with my oil.

Any of you guys have any advice on the flush? I'm still trying to figure out how to change the filter myself so I don't have to pay the service department to do it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by g0ast

Same here, justaguy, however the fluid I use (or will use tomorrow when I get it flushed) is the GM T-IV ATF, part #88900925. Just because it's the reccomended stuff, although it's on the expensive side ($15 a qt.) It's really high quality stuff.

Also from what I understand the ATF rarely actually needs to be flushed, because it is high quality it can last a long time, I'd say between 60k-90k miles between changes.

Service techs at 2 different Chevy dealerships told me that would be fine, but then they said that's actually more than it needs, they say it last's the car's lifetime, but if you exchange it every so often it's ok too. Also the Aveo automatic can hold up to 7.4 qts so if you want it flushed well then get 8 quarts...

P.S. Traditionally there are 2 ways to do transmission fluid flushes, take the oil pan off and swap the fluid, or use a machine that connects to the transmission fluid piping to work like a kidney, sucking out the bad fluid while pumping back in the good fluid. The latter is better because you can flush more fluid that way.

The oil pan method isn't as effective because nearly 4 qts of fluid is stuck inside the torque convertor, and the engine can't operate if the oil pan is off. The other method is better because it uses the engine's own fluid pump to suck in the good stuff, and since it's pumping, it's also taking the fluid out of the torque convertor so more good fluid goes in.

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I'm probably beating a dead horse here, but Toyota ATF Type T-IV is a lot cheaper than the GM 88900925, and it's just as good. I don't know how stupd GM thinks we are, but even at my cost (work for a Chevy dealership), I'm getting the Toyota stuff for more than half what I would pay at work. The Toyota stuff should run around $5.00 a quart.

I just happened to check the transmission fluid dipstick. The color of the transmission fluid was BROWN (resembling somewhat used ENGINE OIL). This car is a 2007 with only 20,000 miles on it purchased just 1 year ago. I am quite concerned about it. I have always heard as a general rule that transmission fluid should be a LIGHT CHERRY RED in color. If it is BROWN, then maybe something is burning the fluid, or tranny trouble is looming. I'm having the fluid changed. The transmission still shifts absolutely fine at present. However, just the fact that it turned brown at such a low mileage strikes me as a VERY NEGATIVE indication for the future. Has anyone had to replace the entire transmission due to failure, and, if so, at what odometer mileage did your transmission fail?

I replaced my tranny fluid at 25,000km for the same reason. But I pulled a trailer across the country so that's what I'm blaming the dirty fluid on. I checked it at my last service (45,000km) and it was still bright red.
It's a leased car so if the tranny fails while I have it, it'll be warranty anyways. I just can't believe this is supposed to be a "lifetime fluid" if it can't make it to 30,000km on some vehicles.