Altimabyrd

I bought my car in Jan 2002 and currently have 25K miles on it. I recently just took my car in for a minor maintenance and the service man suggest I do the entire transmission fluid flush? My car is not even 2 years old yet so I was wondering if he's right or just trying to take $200 from me. I don't have that much knowledge about this car stuff so any suggestion will be appreciated.

Robin

 

Coco

If you haven't done a transmission flush yet, do it as soon as possible. It should be done every 15-20K miles. I wouldn't pay the guy $200 though. Not even the dealer charges that much!

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Altimabyrd

Do I just go to any mechanic shop then? The Nissa dealer I go to said $199.99 to do it.

Coco

I think I paid $150 at my dealer. Anyway, try going to a quick lube place that does transmission flushes. They're generally cheaper.

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nucferr

I may be out to lunch but I ran my 94 Altima for 105K before doing ANYTHING to the auto trans fluid. Then all I did was drain the pan (ther is a drain plug just like your oil pan) and refill.

Sometimes, if you are a normal driver (not all stop and go-no towing) you can over kill the preventative maintenance and get some goober to goober up your car!

I do think the manual calls for a drain and refill every 30K. I have always been afraid of those machines that do the flush-How do you know all of the fluid from someones elses car is out of the machine?

 

KA24Tech

A flush is unnecessary, you only need to have the trans drained and refilled every 30k miles. A flush is a service departments way of upselling an expensive service and everyone gets a little "spiff" for them. Just tell them you want the regular fluid change.

Troy

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SHIFT_Happiness
1992 S13 240SX SE Fastback KA24DE 5 spd - Type X Aero & Seibon Carbon Hood & Hatch -soon GT28RS
1993 U13 Altima SE KA24DET 5 spd w/ Nismo LSD - A high hp FWD can be fun (GT30R Turbo inside)
1990 Z32 300ZX VG30DETT 5 spd - 600HP & Very Civilized (working on twin GT28RS turbos)
Still trying to import a 1988 R31 Skyline GTS-R w/ RB20DET-R - only 800 produced (legal under show/display regs)

lshadoff

Not so. When you drain the trans, the torque converter still holds about 1/3-1/2 of the fluid. The FSM says to run the engine and check the fluid after a refill. "If fluid is still dirty, repeat steps 2 through 5" (drain and refill).

A trans flush is done with the engine running, and all the fluid is replaced.

Some cars have a drain plug in the torque converter (e.g. Mercedes) so you can drain all the fluid in the trans. Those cars don't need a flush.

Lew