Ping: Gary Glaenzer

check the tires for flat spots and make sure park engages properly is about all he can check

Thanks Gary that's kind of what we thought but needed the opinion of someone with expertise in this area.

Hi Gary and everyone,

Im new to the group and have been lurking for about 6 months or so. I used to own a 97 blazer but unfortunatly I didnt have much knowlege of automatic transmissions. I read in another post from someone "whining" about chev transmissions. I am guilty of not changing the fluids enough I first changed the tranny oil at 45k miles and we started towing a lightweight travel trailer (3800 dry wght) at about 115k miles. I wanted to change the oil after the mechanic who installed my tranny cooler told me that via the oil it was showing signs of severe wear. this is on Friday afternoon, jiffy lube didnt want to touch it and I knew it would take a while to get an appt at AAMCO or my dealer. That Sunday we towed out camper and just before our destination the blazer started to overheat and kept slipping gears. Eventually it cooled down and 15 minutes later when we were unhooking, dh noticed tranny oil everywhere. None to be seen on the dipstick YIKES. next day Chevy dealer told us that tranny was shot and couldnt guarantee when it will sieze up totally. We had 118k miles on that tranny. So we traded her in for a 2003 Chev 1500 Z71. My question is now that I have LEARNED the importance of changing the tranny oil, how often should it be done and why not follow gm's recommendations. I want to take better care of my truck than I did with the blazer. The dealership did tell me to invest in a case of fuel injector cleaner and every 5th tank to give it a bottle.

Thanks for your help and patience on reading my long post. Just wanted to reiterate the importance of taking care of your fluids.

regards, Lisa

Lisa,

Welcome.

I'd recommend you copy what you just typed and make a new post. Otherwise, yours may not be seen, since it's in a previously started thread. Some folks just check out the new topics and if it isn't interesting, or if they've already seen the older ones, they won't check them again.

Lisa,

I use the following intervals:

ATF+filter--> Every 10-15k if just highway driving and light hauling, every

Engine Oil+Filter --> Every 3k religiously. Ignore your oil life meter ; my buddy's new Caddy just went off for the first time @

Diff fluid --> Every 15k.

Coolant--> You have Dex, change it every 5 years religiously or you'll be sorry.

Regards,

Doc

Well I'd love to, but you have a fudged e-mail address so I have no idea where to send it!

Doc

Sorry to interrupt, folks- but Doc, please drop me a line if you don't mind. I need your info re the electrical tranny temp gauge.