Should i change dirty transmission fluid

If the valve body gets gunked up with damaged transmission material, you could lose the ability to shift between gears.

Changing your transmission fluid frequently is the best way to ensure maximum longevity of your transmission. This will cause wear and tear on the clutches and other parts of your transmission. Once the clutch packs lose their grip, the old fluid might be the only thing creating enough friction to get your clutches to engage and keep your transmission from slipping. October 27, am.

When should transmission fluid be changed? How do I know whether to flush or change the transmission fluid? Changing transmission oil for the first time on high mileage over k miles car can cause issues. There is a risk of encountering clutch slippage or getting the car stuck in one gear.

Transmission oil change is draining the old oil from the drain bolt and refilling with new oil. In Flush, a machine is used to push out all the remaining old oil before pouring in fresh oil. Go for the Flushing method only if you regularly change the transmission oil. On high mileage cars, it can damage the transmission. Siddharth has always been passionate about Cars and Bikes. He was the kind of kid that always had the latest Auto magazine in his school bag.

He had this dream- to become a professional racecar driver. Finally, in he found himself racing as a rookie driver in the Polo R Cup national racing championship. Over time he had to readjust the sail and get into automotive journalism to continue enjoying machines on wheels. September 11, September 4, Siddharth Sharma. Author Recent Posts. Siddharth Sharma. I'd say if you suspect the transmission is starting to wear maybe just drive it til it breaks because the fluid may speed things up either way it doesn't harm what's already broken.

I really wish I could of just driven it til the transmission blew but having babies in the car I could not do the waiting for a tow truck thing. I don't have a real solution for you because every car is different but this was my first hand experience with the transmission. Also never let the dealer perform a flush it's a violent way for fluid to get pressured through the system and you end up clogging the small capillaries inside the transmission leading to failure.

Drain and fill is a gentler way to do it, fluid drains out slowly than you fill it back up. But this won't get all the fluid out in one go. I'm going to do my drain and fill every 15k miles from now on to maintain the rebuilt transmission. I just purchased a car with over k miles on it and at the recommendation of the Honda Dealership, I had the transmission fluid changed. I had no problems with transmission prior to the service recommendation. Anyways, following the fluid change, my transmission failed days later.

This is not a myth, it's a fact. One factor that has not been mentioned ; the make of car. However my reference point are old. I changed oil in several American cars, mostly Old and Buick turbo 's from the 70's and 80's.

Often I needed a putty knife to get up to a quarter inch of sludge off the bottom; It is easy imagine some of this material fouling valve bodies, etc, causing trouble. When I changed oil in an '85 Nissan ZX , the pan was clean 75, miles , one paper towel cleaned it to a shine it was painted. So no possible dirt re-circulation problem. So I say older American cars are a problem area.

Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Any truth to the "myth" about changing transmission fluid in older vehicles? Ask Question. Asked 6 years, 5 months ago. Active 2 years, 9 months ago. Viewed 88k times. Improve this question. I have no idea what I'm doing 4, 12 12 gold badges 37 37 silver badges 66 66 bronze badges.

Ogre Psalm33 Ogre Psalm33 1 1 gold badge 2 2 silver badges 5 5 bronze badges. That said, it was a manual transmission I had a Cadillac DTS with miles. I bought the car at 20k miles in so I knew the tranny never was serviced.

My mechanic advised if you never serviced it, dont start now. In car developed a broken tranny line. I had the tranny fluid changed and incidentally sold the car right after. A week later they tell me the tranny blew. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. NOTE: I have anecdotal vs. Improve this answer. The so-called "Back Flush" is the real myth, just a marketing term invented for a certain machine used in the aftermarket auto service business.

Transmission pumps only run in one direction. There is no way to force the fluid backwards. These machines simply remove fluid from the ATF line running to the radiator and meter in fresh or filtered fluid in the same amount back in to replace it. I qualified my statement. I stand by it. An interesting note from the link kmarsh provided: " American Honda still strongly recommends that you avoid using them on any Honda vehicle. Barnes - Honda just wants you to come into their service bays to do the deed There may be a reason, but who knows.

They are just looking out for their bottom line. Show 1 more comment. The best I can offer you is some advice. If a filter exists, replace it only after several cycles.

The idea is to slowly and gently dissolve, suspend and remove any buildup, instead of shake it loose where it might clog the valve bodies. Hm that seems reasonable, but wouldn't the detergents and stuff from the new fluid being used up to clean the remaining old fluid instead of cleaning the transmission be a concern?

That is, do you know for certain that a transmission subject to regular partial fluid replacements is any different than a transmission subject to no replacements at all? How have you determined that yours are "perfect", esp.

My recommendations match Honda's ATF replacement regimen of partial replacement, driving, repeat 3x. I am certain that partial fluid replacements drain suspended contaminants and moisture and lower the overall concentrations when replaced with fresh fluid.

I am certain every ATF replenishment restores viscosity. By perfect I mean electronic diagnostics return trivial compensation levels for measured wear items. Finally, sorry, I'm not going to buy and tear down two equivalent mileage transmissions just to satisfy the last part of your last question.

Show 2 more comments. Captain Kenpachi Captain Kenpachi 8, 3 3 gold badges 23 23 silver badges 42 42 bronze badges. Just using any ATF won't do.