2004 Malibu...Tranny fluid changing

My Malibu has 3o,ooo miles and dealer is pushing transmission flushing. With all the "check-up" add ons, it's a $100.00 job. Is this really necessary? Also I have been using synthetic enging oil; is there a synthetic oil for transmissions?

Thank you, FLA. Printer

 

If the vehicle is still under warranty, I would do it just in case. If the tranny were to fail within the warranty period, and they determine you have not done maintenance, they will make you pay for it.

If you have no warranty, I would not do it. I've had vehicles with over 160k miles on it and no tranny flushes done, and they ran great.

If you do choose to have it done, use what ever the manufacturer recommends.

You could also do it yourself if you feel adventurous!

 

IMO, leave a sleeping dog lie.
How do you know if the tech knows what he's doing.
They merely suck out the fliud with a pump and feed new fluid in.
There is no dip stick on these cars so how do they know not to overfill or under fill.......could cause problems in the future when it's out of warantee.

 

Cost of new transmission with voided warranty = $2500-3000

Cost of tranny flush and be covered with warranty = $100, Priceless

 

Ahhh, but look in the Maintenance Schedule of your owner's manual. Does it say:

"Transmission flush.....Every 30,000 miles"?

If not, what does it say regarding periodic maintenance and fluid changes for the tranny? The dealer can recommend until he's blue in the face, but he can't void your warranty for an optional procedure.

IMHO the main benefit of tranny flushes is to pay for the cable TV and cappucino in the dealer's waiting room.

I have never, ever had a tranny flush done on any of my vehicles and have never had a premature failure. Regular fluid & filter changes, in accordance with the manufacturer's stated intervals in the owner's manual, should be sufficient. Yes, they make synthetic tranny fluid, but it's a bit pricey and the properties of transmissions and fluids make it not as beneficial as the use of synthetic oil in the engine.

My $.02 worth.

 

My thanks to one and all for your information.

FLA. Printer

 

yeah maybe not a complete tranny flush is needed but do change tranny filter and refill tranny fluid as needed, this service is about right at 30K miles.

 

If you plan on keeping the car a long time I think you should go the whole nine yards with the first transmission service.... drop the pan, change the filter, clean the pan and magnet, and exchange the fluid. The first transmission service should clean out the break-in debris. The next service can be abbreviated by changing only the fluid.

 

At 30,000 I wouldn't worry about it. If you're slightly technically inclined you can handle it yourself. I'd wait till around 60,000 to do it then just remove the pan and let the fluid that comes out drain, change the filter and refill it.

On your car you'd probably be fine with a true flush but once you start racking up some more miles there will be debris floating in the torque converter that basically holds your tranny together. A flush is one of those things that can either make or break an iffy tranny and if it breaks it that's an expensive fix so I say it's not worth it.

By doing the method I described above the filter stays healthy and you change enough fluid to keep your tranny happy you just don't flush all of the debris out.

Yeah there's synthetic tranny fluids you can get. By doing my method it will take about 5 changes till you're actually running 100% synthetic tranny fluid and depending on your driving habits it's usually not worth it.

Synthetic fluid will help your tranny run cooler and will lubricate slightly better from the additives in it but unless you're towing with your malibu I'd say it's not worth the price.