impala06ss

I changed my transaxle fluid today, it was black and thick kinda like syrup. Anybody else's fluid thick like that? 112k miles, first change, no flush, took 7 quarts. I know it should have been done earlier but most my miles are highway. On the plus side though, there was very little stuck to the flat magnet glued into the pan.

LS1>girlfriend

iTrader: (19)

That's way too long for trans fluid and that's why it looked like that. I would change the fluid in 5,000 miles just to try to get some more of the nasty fluid out.

RKO

I am impressed. 112k on fluid means the transmission hasnt required any major servicing. I'd keep cruizing around and when I hit 150k miles, then I'd change it again. I've seen transmission fluid black as tar come out of an old 4t60 and that thing out lasted the motor in the car at 170k with out any servicing... granted it was a 3.1 car.

LS1 Racing

iTrader: (15)

I've had 3x as many transmissions than you've had fluid changes.

And with all of the transmission problems reported on this site, it's amazing that you'd let your car go that long on the original fluid, and yet not have any problems with it.

It just goes to show that our trans problems are unrelated to how well we care for or how badly we abuse our cars.

Brangeta

I'm surprised your transmission would even work if it was black. Wouldn't you have an incredibly hot reading on the DIC menu item that says the transmission temperature?

impala06ss

Not abuse, neglect. Dextron VI is expensive and the manual does say change at 100k, I'm just 12k over. I also change my oil when the DIC says so (usually every 10k) but I do use synthetics.

I do plan on changing the fluid soon. Probably not as early as 5k but probably not as long as 50k either. I put 5k on about every 2 months, I live a long way from work.

BTW, the fluid was black but it didn't smell burnt, it had a strong petroleum type smell (I know it's synthetic).

vroom_vroom

iTrader: (5)

when the tranny fluid starts to smell like burnt toast you better save, fast