GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey guys. I have 80K on my 05' right now and I am pretty sure the tranny fluid is original. I keep getting mixed results when asking other car guys about whether to change it or not. I have gotten everything from don't touch it to you will need to change it every 300-500 miles a few weeks after and even your tranny is screwed.So should I drain it and change the filter or not?~Tim

If you are doing a drain and fill you will leave the fluid in the TC.In order to get that, there are a few methods, a flush(some claim does more harm than good) or change the fluid again in another 2-3k.I prefer the drain fill, then drain and fill in another 3-5k method. Who ever is telling you to "don't touch it" is a idiot!

Agreed! Thats bad advice. NOT chaning your Trans fluid is the wost thing you can do! Keith im assuming the drain & refill is simply this: draining then refill.....waiting another 3-5K and doing it once again??? That way all the old fliud is exchanged with the new fluid inside torque converter? Also, when you perform the fiirst drain & refill arent you mixing some old ATF with new?

Keith is absolutely giving the right info about how to do a drain & fill. Being as the Vibe has an A/T drain plug (thank you Japan), there is really no reason not to do periodic drain & fills; if you can change your own oil, you can change your A/T fluid.As for residual fluid in the system after a drain & fill, there will always be residual fluid in the system no matter what sort of A/T service you do (just like w/an oil change). Residual fluid is not bad...it's not a contaminant...and it doesn't hurt anything in small amounts. BTW: My '05 is approaching 50K miles soon, so I'm going to do drain & fills when I do my next two oil changes; that should be at ~52K & 58K miles.

by waiting 3-5k insures that all the new fluid has mixed with what little is left in the TC. Doing another drain and fill will remove most of the mixed fluid giving you almost a complete fluid change.Yes there will always be a a little bit of old left. Not so much so that it's much of a concern.Some don't bother doing the second drain and fill, while others do. In the end it's your car and your money, do what you think you should do.I do a drain fill, wait then drain and fill again, gives me piece of mind that I have done all that I can do to make my car run right and last a long time.I personally have changed all my fluids to amsoilI buy it by the gallon because the same fluid is used in the powersteering fluidhttp://www.amsoil.com/mygarage...IBE+8

Thats great....cheaper & easier than a oil change. I did a flush at 70K cost me 160 bucks. I would be happy to just do a drain & refill even 2X....Dont even have to change a filter LOL.

Doing a "flush" is a bunch of crap IMO. I've see how much fluid comes out doing a flush vs dropping the pan and it is not a significant difference. You will leave some fluid in the torque converter. When you drop the pan, you will get about 90-95% of the fluid out. Yes, you need to change the fluid. Changing the filter isn't always necessary either. It depends on the condition of the filter. You can remove the filter and wash it.

^^^which is why a drain and fill is really the only thing needed. The metal screen filter is pointless

Yep, simply changing the oil a few times is a better and less intrusive way to change the oil. Really, change it 3 times and statistically you'll have replaced 90 + % of the oil.I first changed mine around 50,000 and now I drop the drain plug every other engine oil change just to keep fresh oil flowing and heading off problems. I know it is probably a tad excessive but really, oil is cheap compared to a tranny rebuild! Some say the Toyota ATF is expensive but my local auto parts house stocks it and it is only five something a quart. Cheap insurance!!Stay away from flush machines. The oil exchange machine is ok if they are running Toyota oil in it but really, just change it on a regular basis and you'll be fine.Dave

Thanks guys! I will be picking up some fluid later next week. Just to be sure I found this DIY guide for a Corolla with the 1ZZFE and the auto trans. It looks like its the same for the Vibes. Can anyone confirm? http://www.toyotanation.com/fo...25325If so should I just get new oil and the clean the filter instead of replacing it?If I can save some money without hurting anything that would be great as I have virtually no cash right now since my new college is draining my funds quite quickly...Thanks again! And sorry I haven't been online as much. Life happens and its killing me..

I didn't even drop the pan. I just did a drain and fill.Again it's your money and your car.I can't help confirm the part numbers, i'm sure with your computer savy you can find it easily on the net some place.

Quote, originally posted by houseofbugs »Thanks guys! I will be picking up some fluid later next week. Just to be sure I found this DIY guide for a Corolla with the 1ZZFE and the auto trans. It looks like its the same for the Vibes. Can anyone confirm? http://www.toyotanation.com/fo...25325If so should I just get new oil and the clean the filter instead of replacing it?If I can save some money without hurting anything that would be great as I have virtually no cash right now since my new college is draining my funds quite quickly...Thanks again! And sorry I haven't been online as much. Life happens and its killing me..It is the same tranny. The 1zz has an 18 bolt pan, the 2zz has a 19 bolt pan. I have dropped the pan on mine and seen the results, a drain and fill should be sufficient. Plus, dropping the pan gets to be really messy. I wouldn't drop the pan in my garage.

Thats not a bad idea....always keeps fresh fluid in there.

that corolla procedure would be the "proper" way to do it. My car has 190k miles & i just changed the fluid when I first bought it. The stuff that came out was still clear & didn't look contaminated and i didn't notice any metal shavings come out.I used Super-Tech T-IV compatible fluid which cost like 2 dollars a qt. I had a hell of a time finding any fluid that mentioned T-IV on the bottle. I haven't had any problems so far, and been bout 10k miles. Getting the fluid level correct after filling is important also. If your car slips or shifts abruptly your fluid is too low and u'll need to add more. There is also a procedure for getting the air purged from the tranny when you re-fill. You shift it into R, D, 2, 1 and back up whil it is parked a few times and then check the level again..add if needed and shift the gears around again.

Quote, originally posted by shaeet »Getting the fluid level correct after filling is important also. If your car slips or shifts abruptly your fluid is too low and u'll need to add more. There is also a procedure for getting the air purged from the tranny when you re-fill. You shift it into R, D, 2, 1 and back up whil it is parked a few times and then check the level again..add if needed and shift the gears around again.It is extremely important to get the fluid level right. Once you get the fluid back in, you should shift through all the gears, including reverse, to make sure they are all working properly. It is best to do this with the wheels off the ground. If you have a lift, that would be best, but good sturdy jack stands work fine also.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I did this on Wednesday and it went well. I did end up dropping the pan to change the filter. I took out about 4.5 quarts of fluid and put back in the same amount.There is definitely a smoother shift between gears now. I will just do a drain and fill in about 20,000 miles. Actually in 20,000 miles I will have 100,000 total and should probably take a look at my timing chain.