Mister Transmission

Transmission School
Maintenance

Transmission fluid should be changed periodically.
Your owner's manual should give you the recommended intervals which could be anywhere from 24,000 klms to 160,000 klms. Most transmission experts recommend changing the fluid and filter every 40,000 klms.

Few transmissions have drain plugs to drain the old fluid. In order to get the fluid out, the technician removes the transmission oil pan. This is quite a messy job and generally not recommended for the casual do-it-yourselfer. Even if the transmission has a drain plug, the only way to also change the transmission filter is to remove the pan. When the pan is down, the technician can check for metal shavings and other debris which are indicators of impending transmission problems.

In most cases during these transmission services, only about half the oil is able to be removed from the unit. This is because much of the oil is in the torque converter and cooler lines and cannot be drained without major disassembly. The fluid change intervals are based on the fact that some old fluid remains in the system.

• What is a Transmission

  Breaks down in the simplest terms what the purpose of a transmission is.

• Spotting Problems Before They Get Worse

  Shows what to look for to prevent a minor problem from becoming major.

• Maintenance

  Talks about preventative maintenance that everyone should know about.

• Transmission Repairs

  Describes the types of repairs that are typically performed on transmissions from minor adjustments to complete overhauls.

• Transmission Cut-Away

  Diagram showing the internal working parts of a typical automatic.