I have a 1996 Nissan Altima. I just bought the car 2 days ago. its at about 139.000 miles. the trans fluid is a little darker than usual. my dad says there is a little trouble shifting gears but it is not real noticeable unless you focus on it. i heard it might damage my transmission and its the service itself is pretty pricey. should i do this or is there an alternative that is safer
Anyone can flush their own transmission. All you need is a bucket a wrench and plenty of transmission fluid. You can do it by removing the pan and changing the filter first or just flushing it. I would change the filter. First get a large bucket or plastic for drippage. take out all the bolt from the transmission pan and remove. Be careful it will be full since you cannot usually drain them. If it has a drain then drain it. Next take out the filter and put in the new one. Make sure the pan and mounting area are clean and reinstall pan. The bolts are not torqued very high. around 15 so just go around and tighten them up and then re-tighten them. Fill with trans fluid, now flush it. Take of one of the lines going from the transmission to the radiator. This is a cooling line. Put it in or point it to the bucket. So now start car and let oil run into bucket at the same time add oil into transmission. Do this until oil is clean. Re-attach line and fill to proper level. Do not let the car run out of oil, if you have to stop engine and fill then start again.
No you don't. Transmission Flush's are just a way for people to make money usually. they will scare you into buying one. Smell it and if its burnt then maybe, but that could also mean that your transmission is going bad. If it is having trouble shifting gears along with burnt smelling fluid your tranny may go out soon. Sounds like you might have got ripped off lol
Transmission flushes are never good and on older cars they are pure death for a transmission. It's better to have the fluid and filter changed.
