I checked the transmission fluid lately, and noticed it look darker than normal. Last time I checked it, a month ago or so, it looked a darker red but not this bad. The left one is with the engine cold, the right is with it hot.
The last time I changed it was after I bought the car, and it's been a year and a half and probably 30k miles ago. Then, I took it to a trans shop, they dropped the pan, changed the filter and the fluid. I've been told by backyard mechanics that "fluid discoloration" is normal and I shouldn't worry about it, but both my mechanic uncle and a local trans shop said I should replace it ASAP. I agree. Even another drain and fill would probably save this transmission. There's no black fluid yet so the clutches aren't destroyed yet, and no slipping either.
So, at about 30k since the filter was replaced, how should I do this? It's cold and the weather's crappy around here, so the easiest thing would be just to pull the drain plug and drain and fill. Or I could pull the pan and replace the filter, which takes a little longer.
Also, which fluid should I use? T-IV doesn't seem to be too expensive. I would rather use full synthetic and I don't know if T-IV is synth or not. I could also use Valvoline ATF full synthetic, or Mobil 1 full synthetic.