I have a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu with 75,000 miles. I have never had any service on my Transmission. I noticed that there should have been preventative maintenance around 50,000 miles for the automatic transmission. I am not experiencing any transmission problems yet, however, during my oil change today the mechanics showed me my transmission fluid. It was about as black as the oil was. They told me that it was extremely dirty, and that I should have the transmission flushed.
They suggested: Change the transmission filter and have all new fluid put in via a transmission flush. I have read horror stories about transmission flushes that yield a broken transmission. This is usually due to deposits and junk in the transmission that get disloged and then stuck in another part of the transmission during the flushing.
Should I get the filter and fluid changed, or should I do this transmission flushing, or both? The quote was $250 for a new filter, fluid and flush.
Thanks
Chevrolet Malibu 2001 Transmission Flush or not?
It may be too late to do any good...if the fluid smells burnt or has little specs or flakes of metal, it could be the trans is on it's last legs anyway and not worth the effort. Trans flushing and filter change should be done as the fluid will get contaminated over time and absorb moisture. Any gunk that's loosened up should get picked out by the trans filter or a filter on the machine they use...check with them on that issue.Have them drop the pan first and they can tell how much friction plate material or metal material has worn off and let you know if it's a lot or minor amount to give you an idea of what shape the trans is in...have them show it to you. If you only do the fluid and filter change, there's still a lot of old fluid in the lines, trans cooler and torque converter that will just contaminate the new fluid and render it just as bad....waste of money. Transmissions need service just like any other system on the car to make them last longer, if done correctly and at the proper mileage. You've gone 25,000 miles past the maintenance point and hopefully, it has not done any serious damage to the trans or shortened it's life span. Read this article:
http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.h鈥?/a>
Chevrolet Malibu 2001 Transmission Flush or not?
If your fluid was dark as oil it was oil, sounds like a scam to me, but it is recomended every 60,000 miles. Check it your self physically put some fluid on a napkin, if there are actual pieces of metal on the paper change the trans fluid and filter asap. Yes let them flush it, that is the only way to get the old fluid out of the torque converter and replace it with new. They will charge you for an extra 5 or 6 quarts of oil because that's how much a torque converter holds. P.S. you should not need a new gasket, it should be a rubber reuseable one, ask to see the old one if they try to sell you one, I worked at a dealership and they will fix your car whether it needs it or not. A dealership will try to %26quot;socket%26quot; to you, pun intended!
I strongly recomend that you do. It is cheap insurance. By the way the tranny oil is hard to check on this vehicle as there is no dipstick on it. But I can tell you from experience that replacing the tranny on this car sucks, the entire underside of the front half of the car has to come off, its no fun and I can imagine not cheap at a shop. I dont charge people much to work on thier cars personally as I find it fun. Ask the mechanic to show you how they checked your transmission fluid, and what did they show it to you on?
I don't know who you took it to,but with my 30+ years of experience,I really doubt if your fluid was black at 75,000 miles if it was my car I wouldn't do a flush and I would just have the filter changed and new fluid.If the car was running fine it should still be fine.
That is a LOT of $$ for something you probably don't need. If the person trying to sell you this really knew anything about cars, he wouldn't be changing oil. I would call a Chevy dealer and ask them. If your trans isn't acting up, I wouldn't sweat it. Most people never get this done and are just fine.
