tranny fluid flush??

[ashleymc_38]

I just got my first oil change on my 04 vibe at a local chevy dealership. Along with the oil change they give you one of those free 24 point (i think that is what they call it) inspections. Before they do the oil change, they come by to you with a sample of what all your fluids in your car look liked compared to what they are supposed to look like. Everything was good but my tranny fluid. They wanted me to pay 160 bucks for a tranny flush but i wasn't about to accept that until i looked into the problem farther. I asked how much further i could go with my tranny fluid looking the way it does and she said I should get it changed in the near future. My vibe has 49k on it and it is recommended that i get a tranny flush around 50k right? The fluid had a brown tint to it but it doesn't smell burnt. I had a huge argument with my father because he thinks that the dealership sold me a bad "car" which he likes to call my baby. The lady at the dealership said that the people before me probably, for lack of better words, beat the heck out of the car when they had it. I have an extended warrantly, thank heavens, so what seems to be the problem? Do i just need a tranny flush and everything will be okay or could it be something wrong with the tranny that needs to be fixed. My father says that with it only being an 04 and for the fluid to be brown is not good or is he wrong? What do i need to do? Advice would be wonderful....

[glassman]

no the vibes tranny fluid goes dark right away mine has over 100 thou kms on it and i flused and changed the oil and it went dark again within 5000k "DONT LET THEM USE ANYTHING BUT TYPE 4 DON'T LISTEN TO ANY STORIES OR THEM SAYING WE ADD AN ADDITIVE"

[ColonelPanic]

Reading that the previous owners may have been a bit rough on the car, I'd suggest to go get a tranny flush ASAP... Like what was mentioned, you need to make sure they use Toyota T-IV fluid, if they use Dexron (which is what every other GM car uses) you'll be in for some problems... The T-IV fluid is expensive when purchasing from GM as well, you're looking at upwards of 10 bucks a quart or more IIRC. May be cheaper to find a Toyota dealer to take it to...This particular fluid is strange - it does darken quickly so that may not be a good indicator of its health. If the previous owners were too hard on the car and the transmission overheated, the fluid is going to be toast and you may have some mechanical damage there as a result. But since I see you found it doesn't smell "burnt" that's a good sign.At any rate, I need to ask, do you have any rough shifting? If so, get it looked at NOW! I went through my automatic dying after 63,000 miles - it sucked! It was under warranty - and was a good thing since it was over four grand to replace it. I wasn't even hard on my car and the tranny still developed some severe problems - so that's why I worry about one that was driven hard as they're not really capable of surviving after having the crap ran out of them day in and day out. Definitely isn't a bulletproof, heavy duty gearbox we have.Who knows though, you may be ok. Good luck!

[fitness freak]

The instant oil change place I frequent tells me my 03 AWD needs a flush at 50,000 miles. I bought this car new. I never towed with it and have never beat the 'whatever' out of it. I looked in the owners manual and there is no indication that it needs a flush or filter change at this point. Sometimes its hard to find the truth.

[Psychobroker]

Quote, originally posted by fitness freak »The instant oil change place I frequent tells me my 03 AWD needs a flush at 50,000 miles. I bought this car new. I never towed with it and have never beat the 'whatever' out of it. I looked in the owners manual and there is no indication that it needs a flush or filter change at this point. Sometimes its hard to find the truth. For the same reason they tell you to change your oil every 3,000 milles - money.