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Chevrolet Malibu 2001 Transmission Flush or not?—Asked by investbu…
I have a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu with 75,000 miles. I have never had any service on my Transmission. I noticed that there should have been preventative maintenance around 50,000 miles for the automatic transmission. I am not experiencing any transmission problems yet, however, during my oil change today the mechanics showed me my transmission fluid. It was about as black as the oil was. They told me that it was extremely dirty, and that I should have the transmission flushed.

They suggested: Change the transmission filter and have all new fluid put in via a transmission flush. I have read horror stories about transmission flushes that yield a broken transmission. This is usually due to deposits and junk in the transmission that get disloged and then stuck in another part of the transmission during the flushing.

Should I get the filter and fluid changed, or should I do this transmission flushing, or both? The quote was $250 for a new filter, fluid and flush.

Thanks

Best Answer—by paul h
It may be too late to do any good…if the fluid smells burnt or has little specs or flakes of metal, it could be the trans is on it’s last legs anyway and not worth the effort. Trans flushing and filter change should be done as the fluid will get contaminated over time and absorb moisture. Any gunk that’s loosened up should get picked out by the trans filter or a filter on the machine they use…check with them on that issue.Have them drop the pan first and they can tell how much friction plate material or metal material has worn off and let you know if it’s a lot or minor amount to give you an idea of what shape the trans is in…have them show it to you. If you only do the fluid and filter change, there’s still a lot of old fluid in the lines, trans cooler and torque converter that will just contaminate the new fluid and render it just as bad….waste of money. Transmissions need service just like any other system on the car to make them last longer, if done correctly and at the proper mileage. You’ve gone 25,000 miles past the maintenance point and hopefully, it has not done any serious damage to the trans or shortened it’s life span. Read this article:
http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.h…

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