Tranny Fluid

[genefitz]

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.

[AVE0SAM]

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

[NYChevoo]

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

[jimmyaveo1980]

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.

[jimmyaveo1980]

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.

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.

[pocomoke]

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?

[07_aveo]

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.