1. Home
  2. General Motors Forum
  3. 02 Impala - trans flush; advice?

02 Impala - trans flush; advice?

I brought my 02 Impala LS, 39700 miles, in today for a coolant flush. The service advisor called later a recommended a trans flush as well. I declined for now - wanted to ask you all first.

The owner's manual basically says that the fluid never needs changing (at least not for a really long time, like 150K). When I mentioned that to him, he said no, and that every 30-40K miles was recommended, and that the first service should be a complete flush. After that, just dropping the pan and doing the filter and replacing whatever fluid drains out is enough.

I've heard bad things about the flushing causing more trouble than it's worth. What is really needed? The fluid on the stick looks and smells fine, and I'm not experiencing any problems - I'm afraid of messing with something that works.

Reply to
gad
Loading thread data ...

Reply to
Shep

The service advisor works for a profit making company and he probably gets a bonus at some point also. Only cars I ever had tranny problems with are the ones that I had serviced.

If the fluid is good, if you don't do a lot of heavy hauling, go by the manufacturer's recommendation, not a service advisor that want to pick your pocket. My next piece of advice is never go to a dealer for maintenance unless it is some unusual situation. They tend to be much higher priced for the same service as a good local shop.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

If you plan on keeping the car for a while I would get it flushed. You said the trans oil looks and smells ok? Well when it doesn't its to late you've already done damage to you transmission. So yes get it changed before it looks and smells bad. I also would take it to a transmission shop to have it flushed. They usually have better machines to flush it out with considering thats what they will use to flush there own rebuilt trans after 20000 miles or so to keep the warranty on them.

Reply to
scrapir

I would do it, or at least drain and fill it. The recommended time is way too long. It usually means buy a new transmission at that time because it is shot. If you drain and fill every 10K to 15K your transmission will last a long time. Flushed not even needed.

Reply to
RT

What does it cost to drain and fill? Following your schedule, I'd have had some of mine changed 13 times. I did it zero times and got 200k out of them and they were still good when the car was junked or sold. I'm far ahead, IMO.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I have a friend who doesn't follow my suggestion to regularly change his transmission fluid. His '85 Pontiac trans failed at 140kms and his '96 Taurus trans failed at 135kms. The rebuilt trans cost C$1,500+ each. You won't believe this, but he is a mechanical engineer. >:)

Reply to
Spam Hater

drain and fill of the trans should not cost much more than an oil change. Expecially if your car has a drain plug for the transmission it is a piece of cake. I do it myself and spend 6 bucks on fluids and once in a while I change the filter as well (10 bucks or so). Very easy job.

Reply to
RT

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.