Could a lot of transmission problems have been prevented by replacing the transmission fluid and filter every 30K miles? (sedans, minivan)

[Wolverine607]

Do you think dealerships who say and refuse to change your transmission fluid do that on purpose knowing trans will eventually break sooner so they can try and sell you a new car?

[Ziggy100]

Originally Posted by M3 Mitch

Yeah, probably. It's also important to use the correct ATF (you didn't say, but I'm assuming you are talking about an automatic. For example, Chrysler automatics are quite sensitive to "stupid lube" outfits putting in "multi-vehicle" fluids, they need what it says in the owner's manual, no more and no less.

It's also important to not over-fill (or under-fill) with a slushbox, Toyotas are very sensitive to overfilling, never mind how I know that.

As has been posted before, the thing to do is follow the recommendations in the owner's manual. Unless it's a GM and the owner's manual was apparently written by the marketing department, "Oh no you don't have to mess with it for 100K miles!" - give me a break. I was born at night but not last night.

I personally don't change ATF at 30K mile intervals because we live out in the country, put a lot of easy highway miles on our cars.

What kind of car, what kind of shop are you spending $100 for an ATF change?

Best answer of all is get a stickshift car, manual transmissions have been perfected since the 40's, if you work the clutch right and shift skillfully, and avoid "Fast and Furious" type "launches", they are damn near indestructable. Just check the level, make sure it does not leak down, and particularly if you use a premium group 5 synthetic like Redline, Amsoil, etc. odds are your transmission will last several hundred thousand miles no problemo.

Most transmissions these days require 100k mile fluid changes if any at all. It’s not just a GM thing.
That being said, back when I had to change my fluid every 30k miles, I had frequent transmission failures. So I wouldn’t agree that frequent changes saves a transmission.
Beware of any clown trying to sell a “back flush”. You’re better off neglecting a transmission completely than letting those idiots change the fluid for you.

[Ziggy100]

Originally Posted by Wolverine607

Do you think dealerships who say and refuse to change your transmission fluid do that on purpose knowing trans will eventually break sooner so they can try and sell you a new car?

And who’s going to buy a new car from the same dealership that sold them a car with a transmission failure?
New cars don’t need 30k mile transmission fluid changes because it’s not 1970 anymore.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by BPt111

80-85k mileage I will add bit more fuild to transmission

Don’t add fluid unless you know it’s low. Mileage has nothing to do with fluid level.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by Wolverine607

Do you think dealerships who say and refuse to change your transmission fluid do that on purpose knowing trans will eventually break sooner so they can try and sell you a new car?

Most just don’t want to mess with it, because they usually have other customers lined up with more ‘urgent’ needs.

[southernnaturelover]

Originally Posted by Ziggy100

And who’s going to buy a new car from the same dealership that sold them a car with a transmission failure?
New cars don’t need 30k mile transmission fluid changes because it’s not 1970 anymore.

The transmission failure doesn’t usually happen to the first owner, it happens to the 2nd or 3rd owner. That’s why dealers give those lifetime powertrain warranties, they know most new car buyers won’t keep the vehicle that long.

[JaxRhapsody]

Originally Posted by SAAN

No amount of Fluid changes can save a poor designed transmission. Look at all the Nissan CVT failures in the Pathfinder and Qx60's or the Ford Focus DCT's.

Or the Ford 4R70/4R75... jmod is the answer to these. So mad I can't drive my cvpi.

[Rivertowntalk]

We recently experienced the same with Toyota. Our RAV4 says the transmission fluid never needs to be changed. It developed a shudder. We changed it and the shudder went away. The old fluid was very dark. Another thing you can do is install a transmission cooler on your radiator and route your fluid line through it. This is cheap insurance because these add on coolers can be purchased for $25-$50 on Amazon.

[easy62]

Originally Posted by Rivertowntalk

We recently experienced the same with Toyota. Our RAV4 says the transmission fluid never needs to be changed. It developed a shudder. We changed it and the shudder went away. The old fluid was very dark. Another thing you can do is install a transmission cooler on your radiator and route your fluid line through it. This is cheap insurance because these add on coolers can be purchased for $25-$50 on Amazon.

That’s kinda of extreme for a passenger car, oil and transmission coolers are for larger SUVs and pickups that tow heavy trailers. People get to carried away on things that you don’t really need.

[kwong7]

To address the OP, it depends on the transmission...some are more robust than others. I've known far too many 98-02 Honda Accord with premature automatic transmission issues even those who followed their scheduled maintenance. I'd say it's best to join a model specific car forum so you have a large population of owners who can aggregate which components can be a likely issue.

A lot of car nerds would change the transmission fluid after 10K miles and clean the magnetic drain plug to remove any metal shavings that may have developed by virtue of breaking in a new car. As far as lifetime fluids, that's usually a marketing gimmick used to sell the car. Most drivers will not keep the car beyond 8yrs/100K miles so things like coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid (if it's hydraulic) often get labeled as "lifetime fluids."