I'm kind of an idiot when it comes to transmissions. I'm trying to figure out if I should change the fluid in my 4l60e or if I should leave it. From what I understand, if you let your tranny fluid go for too long without being changed, it is better not to change it because it will cause slipping in the tranny and do more harm than good. My car currently has 142,000 miles and I picked it up with 139,000 miles so I don't know its history. I checked my fluid and it was still red and not a brown color. It did have some black in it but the overall color was clearly red. Should I be ok to change the fluid or should I just leave it? Also if I should change it, what is the best fluid for the 4l60e?

 

Now what sense does that make? If that's the way it worked, nobody would ever change the fluid.

 

I don't know. Thats what I was told at my local tranny shop. They were saying something about carbon building up in a valve and once the fluid gets to a point where it's really worn out, it's bad to change the fluid cause it will cause slipping and then the customer will try to say it was their fault. They won't touch the fluid in a car if it's worn bad unless they are doing a rebuild. They said if it's that bad, all you can do is hope your tranny doesn't blow or have it rebuilt cause of the damage the old fluid does over time. New fluid would make it's life shorter at that point. He said no mechanic would touch a tranny with bad fluid in it unless it was a rebuild.

 

? i'd question whether he wants it to burn up, you need new fluid over time so that the friction reducers dont wear out and you dont smoke up anything. if you replace the fluid with the wrong type you'll burn somethin up as well.

The only thing i can think of is if the clutches and gears are already burnt up then the new friction reducers will work, and the clutches and what not will slip rather than function... but that's a long shot, I changed the fluid in both my 700r4 and th350 right after i got em, werent really taken care of and i treat em like an engine, give em a quick check and tune up. And I have no slippage issues

 

I actually have heard the thing of replacing the fluid doing more bad then good. I was going to get the tranny flushed in my previous car but it was "too late" and if i were to flush it out then it would actually destroy the transmission. I never really got a clear reason why it would ruin it but thats just what they said and i have heard it before. I have 59000 miles on my car and I think im going to do a flush soon.

Hope that helped some... its not always taht way but its a chance that may be risky.

 

hmm thats most interesting.... yea i dk enough about it i guess then, that's some weird stuff though

 

Well that settles it then, i'm never changing my tranny fluid.

 

All Fluids are ment to be changed.
Coolant
Oil
Transmission
Rear axle
Brake fluid
If you want half a-- advice just don't change anything and your car will be a piece of junk.

 

I apologize. I got it cleared up a little more. If the fluid is DARK BROWN to BLACK, don't change or service the fluid or you will cause more problems. If it is a lighter color, you can do a fluid change but not a full flush if it's old cause it can get some of the crap sitting in it stuck in the lines.

 

I have heard that when you change tranny fluid, it is good to sane out the fine grit that you find in the pan, and include that grit into the new fluid you pour in. This will remedy slipping.

To give you an idea when I did my shift kit install, I only used a tiny amount of the grit that was left in the pan, and had a few problems with my car not engaging into park, and then stalling, but I guess that grit got circulated around because it hasn't done it since.