Trans oil change ?

Don't know about other transmission but if you do a double drain and fill with filter external filter change after first drain, Transyd and Allison considers that has accomplished a permanent change. No further change is needed.

Thomasnile I think if you Check your manual it says to change brake fluids every couple of years or so because of water getting in to it as you said.

BeerCan I know a guy that has a 99 350 and has put 3 trannys in....he never changes trans fluid, still doesn't ....oh well. At 300,000 miles I guess it doesn't owe you anything.

A few years ago a lady in town asked me if I would look at her transmission (98) because it wasn't acting right. I asked when was the last time she chained the fluid in it. She looked at me kinda funny and said .....never... lol I drained the tranny and about a quart of black gue came out...lol needless to say... out went the old and in went the new...transmission that is.

I have a 1999 F350 with over 300,000 and the trans fluid has been changed once (89k). Guess I forgot to do it :B Honestly the truck is a beast and I am afraid to change anything but the engine oil.

The book says 100,000 but because most of the miles on my excursion are towing the TT, I changed the trans oil and filter at about 70,000 and again at about 140,000. 160,000 something and all is well so far.

bmanning wrote:
Funny this thread popped up; my 2007 XC90 V8 has an Aisin 6-speed that Volvo SWEARS never needs to be exchanged.

I drive in stop+go weather in 110F+ temps in Phoenix daily- lots of heat, lots of shifting- and this concept makes me crazy. (Admittedly it doesn't get used for towing or hauling heavy)

Service Advisor went so far as to say I could hurt things by exchanging the fluid.

I hope this isn't a hijack but since this is a trans fluid thread I'd love some expert opinions on "lifetime" auto trans oil.

OP, hats off to being so diligent on servicing your trans; *some* 4R100s don't see that mileage without a rebuild and I think there's at least a good chance that yours has lasted as long as it has without needing a rebuild due to your frequent servicing.

Even if the owners' manual says so, I cannot imagine leaving any fluid/lubricant in a vehicle permanently. I even get the brake system on my Ram flushed/refilled every three years. Brake fluid attracts moisture and something turns the fluid from clear to dark brown with time. And ABS modules are sooooooooooo expensive!

I had trucks in the 1960's and if they lasted for 100k miles it was noteworthy. Now I keep trucks for 170K miles and expect them to last for 200k or more as a common occurence. There are Toyota clubs for people with more than 200K and there are people with trucks with the original engine and transmission with 500k miles on the odometer. Engine alloys and designs and lubricants have improved a lot over the last half century.

I treat towing as "severe duty" and adjust my truck's service intervals accordingly. The Allison transmission gets new TES 295 fluid and external filter every 4 years unless indicated sooner by the prognostics. If I was using TES 389 I would be changing based on the prognostics or at least every 2 years. I use the Allison recommended TES 295 ATF as it would be foolish to use anything else and hope that it did not cause problems with the seals and lead to an expensive repair.

Allison approves 9 different ATF in this class and the easiest to find are the Castrol TranSynd, Exxon Mobile Delvac Synthetic, and Shell Spirax S6 ATF 295. I pay the premium for this class of ATF to go the extra 2 years before changing the fluid. It is good for 150K miles so I hit the 4-year mark before the mileage figure with this truck.

With my gas powered vehicles the usual fluid change and internal filter change is every 100k miles and that has worked fine for me for decades. Every person I have heard of with trans problems has never changed the fluid for as long as they owned the vehicle and would have a lot more than 100k miles at the time the trans started showing problems.

30,000 for mine. I think I have the last year of the torque converter drain plug makes service very easy.

2oldman, sometimes I think (probably shouldn't) guys just know that stuff. Plus all my semi trucks do take "oil" in them, 50wt syn. .

Sundance07, true enough !

BenK...lol

Funny this thread popped up; my 2007 XC90 V8 has an Aisin 6-speed that Volvo SWEARS never needs to be exchanged.

I drive in stop+go weather in 110F+ temps in Phoenix daily- lots of heat, lots of shifting- and this concept makes me crazy. (Admittedly it doesn't get used for towing or hauling heavy)

Service Advisor went so far as to say I could hurt things by exchanging the fluid.

I hope this isn't a hijack but since this is a trans fluid thread I'd love some expert opinions on "lifetime" auto trans oil.

OP, hats off to being so diligent on servicing your trans; *some* 4R100s don't see that mileage without a rebuild and I think there's at least a good chance that yours has lasted as long as it has without needing a rebuild due to your frequent servicing.