Six months ago I noticed the color of my 2001 SSEi'* tranny fluid was dull grey (didn't smell burnt) with only 37k miles on it! So, I had the system flushed and filled with fresh.

Checked it again last weekend and noticed that the fluid is starting to grey again! Only 39k miles now. The car runs great! Shifts fine and gets great gas mileage. I do NOT drive the car hard at all either...

What causes this to happen and is this something to really be concerned about? Please help. Any advice is appreciated...

The Josh

jeeze. I had my transmission flushed 20,000 miles ago and the fluid is still pretty red in color. Maybe the transmission fluid line going into the radiator is leaking inside the radiator.. check your radiator fluid, does it look funny too?

Do you check the fluid when the car is running? Or not?

I checked the fluid the other day with the engine off and cold. I was only checking the color; I checked the level a few weeks ago and it was fine.

The coolant appears fine; it too is the bright red GM coolant...

Any thoughts?

Could be excessive clutch wear, change the fluid and filter. Take the filter apart and look for a build up of clutch materail (grey or slate). bronze would indicate bushing wear and steel would be tranny damage.

Check it with the engine running, and run it through all the gears. My fluid changes from a engine oil colour, to a pink. I have no clue why.. but it just does.


-justin