Hi,


i have a 96 Bonneville which i bought about 3 months ago. The car just turned over 100k on the odometer and i was wondering if the transmission fluid should be changed soon. I have no idea when or if the transmission fluid has ever been changed in it. Do you think its a good idea to get it changed? i have heard that it can do damage when changing the fluid on a high mileage tranny. The owners manual only reccomends changing it if your towing something or driving in dusty conditions, and otherwise it says it never has to be changed. What is your advise with this?? thanks for your help....

The person that wrote that manual works in the GM Transmission Remanufacturing Center and wants to retain his job as long as possible.
Seriously though, have you ever checked the level and condition of the transmission fluid when the car was hot(ie. at operating temperature)? What color is the transmission fluid? If it is still reddish in color than I would just follow the instructions in the tech info section of this forum and change the transmission filter and oil(Dexron III). If it smells kind of funky and looks really dark then I'm not sure if changing the oil at this point would make much of a difference. The fact that you're not telling us of any transmission woes sounds like a good thing to me and changing the oil will extend the life of your transmission.

I would recommend a change of filter and fluid every 70k miles. True if your fluid is dark then you might be too late. But if its still red then surely you should change it to be sure.

Any information on getting the entire system flushed at the dealer?
I talked with the Service Mgr. about this, and for the money, it sounds like a good thing to do, as ALL the fluid gets changed.
He mentioned that there'* a screen instead of a filter.
Really?
I'd like to know if I'm getting correct information on this.

Bus, the flush did mine WONDERS. Well worth the 80 smackers I spent. I have the scantool to prove the benefit. Do it.

What'* involved in doing a complete flush? Can I do it myself?

A little more OT and I'll schedule the appointment. Thanks, guys.

jr'3800, Do you know what transmission is in the 92 SE? Just did a tune up last week new plugs, wires, ect. Noticed that the surge I talked about from another post went away. Yesterday when I was driving around I noticed it again while going thru 45-50mph. It just did it once. So on a whim I picked a straight road and drove between 45-50 for about 8 miles with no surge under various loads. Maybe I will take your and wilwrens advice and get a tranny flush. I will be meeting up with Bonne94SSE this morning. Might have him take a look at it.

jr's3800, Had the pleasure of meeting up with bonnie94sse yesterday in Syracuse. Nice car he has.Also got a birds eye view of his recently painted engine. Very nice indeed. I check the tranny fluid when I got there and the color was a reddish-brown but not very dark. I think I will take it in next week for a flush. Guess it wouldn't hurt. It didn't do it today on the drive back home. Kind of got the car up on step cruising down the interstate. Lets say over 70 but under 100. Purred like a kitten.

$80 bucks..I may have to flush mine if that'* the approximate cost. I doubt it'* dark..but I want to be safe rather than sorry. I don't have a second tranny cooler yet so I want to keep that puppy in the best condition as possible.

Thanks aviator for the compliments I was able to show off my engine at the meet too. I think people liked it.