I think it was the new 2005 Ford 500 I read this about. It will have a new No Change Transmission Fluid in the transmission.
What do you think about that !?
========= Harryface =========
1991 Pontiac Bonneville LE 3800 V6 ( C ), Black/Slate Grey _~_~_~283,783 miles_~_~_~_~_~_~_U.S.A._~_~_~_~_~_
~~~The Former Fleet ~~~
89 Cavalier Z 24 convertible 78 Holiday 88 coupe 68 LeSabre convertible 73 Impala sedan
Marketing gimmick to a point. GM has been using semi-synthetic ATF for a few years now. That, combined with electronic controls, means the odds are the tranny will last longer than most owners would want to keep the vehicle. Trailer towing or letting teenagers borrow it & all bets are off (grin).
Me, I change it (and filter) every 50,000 miles just to be safe. I use Mobil1 ATF as well. Probably overkill.
To me, xmission life is mainly influenced by two factors:
Keep those 2 under control & some day the scrap yard will likely sell your working tranny to someone who didn't.
Of course, some AT's are poorly designed & are trouble no matter what. GM seems to pretty much have its transmission act together these days.
Regards, Al.
Al wrote;
Marketing gimmick to a point. GM has been using semi-synthetic ATF for a few years now. That, combined with electronic controls, means the odds are the tranny will last longer than most owners would want to keep the vehicle.
what is "semi-synthetic"? a blend? DEXRON is a 100% paraffin based product
Looks like they're going one better than GM's "no check" trannies on newer cars. No dipstick for the transmission fluid, because being a "closed system" they presume that you'll *never* have to check the fluid level... or if you do, you'll just happen to have a lift handy.
I don't think it is a marketing gimmick, most European cars started getting the no-change automatic transmissions fluids in the late 90s. For them it Seemed to work fairly well allthough not perfect.
Yeah, a blend. Like "semi-syn" motor oil, more dino than synthetic. Even the synthetic part is probably just Group III hydro-cracked product, not Group IV PAO's, etc.
Got this from a friend involved in supplying the stuff to GM a couple of years back.
Regards, Al.
Or they may hope it is so much trouble to check, you will visit Mr Goodwrench instead (grin).
Seriously, the concept of a 'sealed' transmission is probably the way of the future. Annoying as it is, I think we need to get used to the idea.
Regards, Al.
Mm, more like expecting cars to only last the duration of the warranty is the way of the future. :P
But honestly, if AAMCO can still make a good profit off of servicing transmissions, and if transmission fluid can still burn and break down, then I'd like to be able to check that and fix problems early when a little fluid change is all it might need, instead of waiting for the tranny to die and shrug my shoulders as I empty my wallet, saying "It's a sealed system, I couldn't have known." Yeah, you can just baby your transmission, but sometimes in city driving, that's not possible.
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