GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I had my oil changed today at Jiffy Lube.The mechanic was really putting the squeeze on me to get my transmission fluid changed. He showed me the dipstick and the fluid looked a light tan color compared to the red colored fluid he showed me from his nozzle.He kept saying I was going to burn up the automatic transmission.They changed the fluid in my car about a year and a half ago and the car just hit 50,000 miles this week.I told him I would wait. Is he scamming me?

Pop the hood and pull the dipstick and check it yourself. If it is brown then yes it needs changed and should be every 30,000 miles. The filter is a screen type and does not need to be changed. I work at a tranny shop and see the confusion on this every day.

First things first. NEVER TRUST ANY QUICK LUBE!that saidif it's tan, it's burnt, unless he was showing you new engine oil. Trans fluid should be dark red.

I've seen many a Dateline-type story about these places having "dirty" fluids at the ready to show you, claiming it's from your car. I would check it myself first.

tranny fluid after a few thousand will look well darker than the pink stuff and stink brunt. I drained and filled mine at like 35k a couple times instead of paying that crazy amount for a full flush and after reading horror stories about flushes. IMO do your own drain and fill, its just like doing a engine oil change. I did my drain and fill at each 3k oil change 3 times in a row. Then it was comign out lighter than dark.

I for one will never give Jiffy Lube my business for several reasons.Here is another good reason: http://www.kvue.com/news/top/s....html

I'll give it a look in the morning.I'd prefer to do my own oil changes, but I don't have a garage to do it in. When I first bought the car new the oil filter was stuck on so hard I could not get it loose. Since then, I've taken it to Jiffy Lube.I've always changed my own oil on all my other cars.What would cause the trans oil to burn? Is there a drain plug I remove or do I have to remove an oil pan?

Don't trust those morons... T-IV fluid gets pretty dark under normal conditions anyway. You may not even have a problem and they just want some money.Even if it did need changing, don't let them do it, I doubt they have the right fluid. They probably have some sort of "universal" fluid and they add some kind of mixture to it to make it "compatible" instead of using genuine T-IV. One of the guys on a Hyundai board I'm on just got suckered into a change at jiffy, they put Dexron iii in it - totally wrong fluid, the proper fluid (that won't destroy the trans) can only be bought from the dealers ... Dexron will eat away at the clutches in Hyundai transmissions. Good stuff! Anyway, there is a drain plug on the trans pan underneath, you could do a simple drain/fill if you have a way to. Or just bite the bullet and have the dealer (or any shop that has a clue) take care of it if you really do need a change.

So, all I have to do is remove one drain plug to drain the ATF, re-install the drain plug with a new seal and then pour in the correct amount of genuine Pontiac Vibe ATF and I'm done? If it's that easy, I can find a place to do it myself.Does this same fluid flow through the transmission and differential?How much ATF fluid do I need to buy?The only other car I've owned with an automatic was a 1963 Corvair. The transmission and differential were bolted together, but used different fluids. ATF for the powerglide transmission and gear oil for the differential.

Quote, originally posted by Vibetastic »So, all I have to do is remove one drain plug to drain the ATF, re-install the drain plug with a new seal and then pour in the correct amount of genuine Pontiac Vibe ATF and I'm done? If it's that easy, I can find a place to do it myself.Does this same fluid flow through the transmission and differential?How much ATF fluid do I need to buy?The only other car I've owned with an automatic was a 1963 Corvair. The transmission and differential were bolted together, but used different fluids. ATF for the powerglide transmission and gear oil for the differential.it's as easy as that. when i did mine i didn't even change the bolt washer.I bought 1gallon of fluid and I have some left over.do you have awd? if you do then No the differential's use different fluid.I have used amsoil in the past and never had a problem.here is a link to their site to help you pick what fluids would work and how much you needhttp://www.amsoil.com/scripts/...indexjust follow the left hand side by entering the year make and model car and it will pull up all your info for the car then just buy the correct amount of fluids you want. You don't need to buy it from amsoil but you can simply use their web page as a reference.

I finally went out and checked the ATF. It looks sort of a clear-tan with a hint of red.I also noticed that the label on the dipstick stated that the ATF doesn't need to be changed under "normal operating conditions".I didn't see where you are supposed to add ATF. Is it supposed to be poured down the dipstick tube?

Yes, add the fluid down the dipstick tube.Still uneasy about the fluid being tan, did you get any pictures of that? What type of fluid was used last time it was changed?

I manage a quick lube in pittsburgh. I do know there are some shady ones out there but this is not the case for all of them. Things I would recommend if you choose to use a quick lube. In many states it is illegal to sell a service based on the condition of the fluid. The only service rec I use is from the manufacturer. Going in to a quick lube you should know what is due on your car and what is not. Most quick lubes have a viewing area or you can stand in front of the bays. I prefer to have a customer on the floor so they know what I am doing and they can see for themselves that we are doing the job. Ask questions. If the doctors says your sick you say with what or why. Same thing with your car. Ask questions and make sure they know how to sercvice your veichle properly. A flush runs around 130 where I work. This includes up to 15qts of fluid. Always check the top limit of fluid allowed. $89 can become $150 real easy. Also if a shop does not have the fluid, they will normally allow you to bring your own and use it.

God I thought that the new DEX Tranny fluid was good for 100,000 miles. At least that is what I was told when I changed mine out.

Had a story a bit like this in a Pennzoil dealer here in Montreal. He told me to change my tranny oil because it was going brown...What he didn't know is that I had it flushed 8000 miles before in another Pennzoil dealer then the oil turned out to be good... idiot...He also forgot to screw my oil cap which made a big mess in the engine bay and broke my cabin filter door when changing it.When I got back there, next day after about 400 mi of travelling, the manager paid for full engine cleanup, did again a synth oil change, repaired filter door and gave me free tickets for my next 2 synth oil change