Sealed-for-Life A/T: To Change or not to change? Some technical discussion
 

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STAR Magazine, Jan/Feb 2006

interesting. I just bought a new ford mustang with an automatic transmission. the manual says not to touch the tranny fluid at all unless the car is leaking tranny fluid or the car shifts wierd. I dont know why car makers didnt just stick to the conventional method with a dipstick.

Yes, certainly something to think about.

I think when they refer to "lifetime" they're referring to the lifetime of the car's warranty period ;)

we recommend to our customer to service them at least every 60K, i did one on friday, the fluid was nearly as black as diesel oil

Yeah, I am doing flushes on our cars on an annual basis. Doing otherwise is gonna lead to the purchase of a transmission which doesn't interest me ;)

on my 1998 722.6 I had a trans fluid change done at around 40K miles, I just did another fluid change at 85K and the fluid was fresh looking with no metal or particulate suspended in the fluid or on the bottom of the pan.

I installed the latest MB trans fluid for the 7 speed and the color is a wild looking purple color

My father's C230 had 235K miles on the factory trans fluid and was still shifting like new. Too bad the car was rearended...

i recommend a filter/oil change at 60,000 miles.
if city driven only then probably at 40,000.
i've had no issues after changing the oil.

george

Was this the case for the 40K & the 85K changes or just the latter?

jp

tvpierce

I had taken my car to an indy for the first trans fluid change at around 40K (rc-imports.com) miles. The owner said the fluid was black and dirty looking - he made no mention of particulates in the fluid or pan bottom. I didn't see the fluid myself.

I did the 85K mile change myself.

I drive quick on most roads, I try not to accelerate hard from a dead stop, and I always pause for about five seconds when shifting from Park, reverse or drive.

How much was it per liter?

Does anyone know the drain pan and torque converter drain and filter change refill capacity on a 2000 S430? I have been asked to consider changing the fluid in one and notice it does not have a dipstick and I don't see one listed at the dealer.

thanks

I have to look at my receipt from American Service Center in Virginia, but the new fluid is relatively cheap compared to the five speed electronic fluid.
I think the new seven speed fluid is between seven to nine dollars per quart. not sure if quart or liter container - I don't remember.


engatwork - do a search on this forum to find transmission dip stick tool info, capacity is in owners manual