I own a 1997 Chevrolet 1500 that has just over 100,000 miles on it. I got an oil change a couple weeks ago, and they said I should probably change my transmission fluid. Right now, everything seems to be working okay, but the thought of my transmission giving out keeps bugging me. The problem is that I‘ve heard I should and that I shouldn‘t, but either way, I can‘t really afford a change right now.
yes you should get one but get one in the near future cuz if u get one today it will get old and filthy and it might affect hamster health
At 15 years old I don't recommend changing the fluid. As mentioned before, changing fluid in a working transmission that has not been serviced in a long time can make it fail. There are lots of theories why that should be, but I figure it is enough that we see it happen a lot. I don't care much why it happens. You are right to avoid advice from oil change places - they dispense a lot of bad advice.
Do it yourself. All you need is the correct amount of recommended transmission fluid, a filter and a gasket and a small tube of silicone to put over the transmission pan gasket area to help the gasket stick. Use just a little bit. Torque each bolt on the transmission pan to the correct torque a couple times over to be sure that it won't leak. Fill it, crank it and run through the gears with the brake on, then check it while running the engine and top it off. Be sure not to overfill it.
Ideally the transmission fluid should be changed at the intervals specified by the manufacturer but there are cases on older and/or higher mileage vehicles that never had their transmission fluid changed and the transmission worked well enough. But after changing the filter and fluid, the transmission develops all sorts of problems. Unfortunately there is no way of predicting this if it will happen to your vehicle or not. But if you can't really afford a change right now, this becomes a non-issue, doesn't it?
