Tranny Talk

Didn’t want to derail the other thread any more than it already was so I’ll ask again here. What do you guys do for service? What intervals? Costs involved with it? Be honest, how long does your average transmission last? I’ll start first. I’ve had quite a few trucks in my somewhat short lifetime at 38 years old. All the trucks I have had were bought used with anywhere from 40-80k miles on them. By no means saying they are the best but all have been GM products. All of them have pulled heavy stuff all over the countryside and we put on lots of miles pulling a 20 foot boat and a 24 foot ice castle. I’m not proud of it but I can say I’ve never got a transmission service on any truck I own and I usually drive them until they have give or take 200k on them. The truck I have now, a 2500HD Chevy I got with 35k on it was the first one I ever had a transmission issue with. It completely fried just shy of 200k miles. I searched around and found a retired local guy that has been rebuilding the tings for ages and it cost me $2800 to get it taken out, everything rebuilt and new what needed it and put back in. To me it almost seems like paying insurance premiums. Is it really worth putting money into something that isn’t broke or just save up for when it does happen? Maybe I just have good luck? I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks and does?

fins wrote:

Didn’t want to derail the other thread any more than it already was so I’ll ask again here. What do you guys do for service? What intervals? Costs involved with it? Be honest, how long does your average transmission last? I’ll start first. I’ve had quite a few trucks in my somewhat short lifetime at 38 years old. All the trucks I have had were bought used with anywhere from 40-80k miles on them. By no means saying they are the best but all have been GM products. All of them have pulled heavy stuff all over the countryside and we put on lots of miles pulling a 20 foot boat and a 24 foot ice castle. I’m not proud of it but I can say I’ve never got a transmission service on any truck I own and I usually drive them until they have give or take 200k on them. The truck I have now, a 2500HD Chevy I got with 35k on it was the first one I ever had a transmission issue with. It completely fried just shy of 200k miles. I searched around and found a retired local guy that has been rebuilding the tings for ages and it cost me $2800 to get it taken out, everything rebuilt and new what needed it and put back in. To me it almost seems like paying insurance premiums. Is it really worth putting money into something that isn’t broke or just save up for when it does happen? Maybe I just have good luck? I’d like to hear what everyone else thinks and does?

I’m going back and forth on this right now with my 2015 Silverado. Have a 2000 Silverado that I changed the transmission fluid at 60,000 and no problems. 200,000 right now.

The 15 has 130,000 and friends are saying just leave it, truck transmissions are made to not be changed and you don’t want to disturb the metals.

Mechanic of course says to do it and offers tranny and differential drain as a package, or tranny flush and filter replacement. The lifters are supposed to go out before I would need to worry about the transmission? I did the tune to turn the cylinder deactivation off.

Talk to your dealer, all GM products come with a 800,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty because nothing ever fails on them.

Probably had 12 +/- PU’s in my life mostly Fords and Rams only had one Chevy.
I’ve only had to replace 1 tranny and that was in the Chevy.

Every 60,000 miles for me (per the owner’s manual). New fluid and new filter.

Transmission fluid breaks down with use and time just like engine oil.

I’ve only had to do it once so far on my 2018 RAM 2500, I don’t remember what it cost but wanna say it was 2-3 hundred bucks (had it done at a local diesel shop).

There is no such thing as forever oil, like any oil trans fluid will break down over time.
The detergent package is what keeps things clean and moving, trans fluid is about 97 percent detergent and 3 percent lubricant, at least thats what it used to be.
Change it at recommended intervals, and yes, I know many transmissions live a long time without being serviced, a lot of that depends on use and abuse.

That newer Ram trans isnt difficult to do, never had to remove the exhaust.

For last truck (2013 ram) mannual said change at 120k or 60k if “using your vehicle for police, taxi, fleet, or
frequent trailer towing.” Mechanic was adamant that it didn’t need to be changed at 60k but told me it was starting to look like it needed it around 90k and did it then. They continued to say it was fine until 165k when I traded it in. Never had a transmission issue.

Seems odd to me that most people are convinced the engine oil intervals are too long but then push transmission, differentials, and transfer case longer than recommended or just never do it.

I own Toyotas and never do anything with the transmissions. Didn’t even change fluid. 250k+ miles on my last two trucks before I sold them. Tacoma and tundra. It was one of the main reasons I went Toyota when I started buying trucks after college. I knew of too many rams, fords, chev and gmc that needed transmissions redone, many before they hit 100k.

Talking about trannies meant something completely different 10 years ago ……. Someone had to say it

Who derailed that thread ?

As stated, fluids get dirty and they break down. Clutch materials in the fluid build up over the miles. How hard your vehicle is used matters. If you have a church truck, you can easily go 100K, if you have a work truck, you might want to start thinking around 60K. I do not recommend any kind of “flush”.. this just knocks materials loose, that were in the nooks and crannys in the tranny and will mess with your valve body and cause more issues. Drain as much as possible and refill with fresh fluid, is the best service I think.

Reef W wrote:

Seems odd to me that most people are convinced the engine oil intervals are too long but then push transmission, differentials, and transfer case longer than recommended or just never do it.

Agree Reef. I change mine every 40-50k. Have I always done it well no, but for the last couple decades of my life I try to stay in that interval. It’s just fluid guys it breaks down and gets dirty.

As to the dropping my exhaust, mine is a 2019 Ram Classic and like I said they ran the exhaust pipe right under the drain plug and there was no way to use the plug without dropping it, my tech figured out a way to suction it out and fill it.

38 years old is almost half your life already

I have an ’02 Silverado 1500 HD with the 6.0 liter and the 4L60 transmission has around 330k on it, never touched the transmission. Still drives perfect. Once it was over 120k my mechanic recommended we not flush it. I did have to have the transfer case rebuilt around 220k, so there is no doubt this transmission did more than it’s fair share of hard work.

I don’t understand why you wouldn’t change the fluid at regular intervals. Transmissions are thousands of dollars to rebuild and a fluid change is a few hundred.

I change mine at the dealer recommended intervals. Never had a transmission issue.

I did a transmission flush on an old Chrysler LHS at 100k miles, and soon after the transmission went out. Talked to my cousin who is a mechanical engineer and huge car guy, and he said that often loosens shavings which can cause failure. So I haven’t done one on either of my Rams, just have it checked/topped off like other fluids and haven’t had any issues. 160k miles on first one before I sold it and 120k on my current.

I call them “wallet flushes”… the only flush we recommend is the coolant at stated intervals. Everything else is drain and fill.

BigWerm wrote:

I did a transmission flush on an old Chrysler LHS at 100k miles, and soon after the transmission went out. Talked to my cousin who is a mechanical engineer and huge car guy, and he said that often loosens shavings which can cause failure. So I haven’t done one on either of my Rams, just have it checked/topped off like other fluids and haven’t had any issues. 160k miles on first one before I sold it and 120k on my current.

It likely was going to have an issue soon regardless and the new detergents in the fluid likely took it out a little earlier. It’s not that you can’t go 100k or 150k without changing it, however after time it will take it’s toll. If we are really not concerned about internal wear then we can go 15-20k on oil changes then right?

I take the “slap the 5 year powertrain plan on it” approach and pray for it to fail so I get my money’s worth. Worked wonders on the last truck. The one I picked up a couple weeks back doesn’t know what it’s new owner is going to put her through.

big_g wrote:

I call them “wallet flushes”… the only flush we recommend is the coolant at stated intervals. Everything else is drain and fill.

Isn’t that 6 to one half dozen to the other? A transmission flush was a drain and fill I thought?

BigWerm wrote:

Isn’t that 6 to one half dozen to the other? A transmission flush was a drain and fill I thought?

No. A transmission flush they hook up a machine that pushes the old fluid out and sucks in new fluid. They dont even drop the pan to replace the filter. A drain and fill will drop the pain, get the much of the fluid out, replace the filter and top off. You CAN get all of the fluid out, but it requires some additional effort to get it all. I believe you get about half out by just training it.
Flushing is BAD news! It pushes any contaminants through the entire system and filter. If you dont replace the filter its a waste of time and money.

BigWerm…A flush uses cleaning chemicals and a machine to “flush” out the fluid and any debris. Some of the products/systems out there are BG or Wynns. A “drain and fill” is exactly that… drain the old fluid and fill with new. This may or may not include dropping the pan and replacing filters, that would be what we call a fluid & filter service.

I posted this awhile ago in the oil change interval thread

Funny how so many people don’t dare go to the factory recommendations for engine oil, whether it’s 7,500, 10,000, or 15,000 miles like it’s crazy talk, but let their transmission filter and fluid go 100,000-200,000+ miles for who knows what the hell reason

Like somehow that’s okay???

I’ll never understand it.

Attachments:

1. 

   Screenshot_20250502-111142.png
   

Highbeeze24 wrote:

I take the “slap the 5 year powertrain plan on it” approach and pray for it to fail so I get my money’s worth. Worked wonders on the last truck. The one I picked up a couple weeks back doesn’t know what it’s new owner is going to put her through.

If you don’t follow your service intervals there’s a good chance any claim would be declined.

If you didn’t change your engine oil for five years do you think they’ll happily replace your motor when it blows up?

isu22andy wrote:

Talking about trannies meant something completely different 10 years ago ……. Someone had to say it

Especially if you tell someone you “blew a tranny” over the weekend

1st thing the Warranty companies ask for is, proof of vehicle maintained per service schedule. Engine and Transmissions rarely fail because of mechanical issues… it’s usually caused by abuse and neglect.

Good one B-man!

I’m nominating that one for 2025 IDO joke of the year.

B-man wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Highbeeze24 wrote:</div>
I take the “slap the 5 year powertrain plan on it” approach and pray for it to fail so I get my money’s worth. Worked wonders on the last truck. The one I picked up a couple weeks back doesn’t know what it’s new owner is going to put her through.

If you don’t follow your service intervals there’s a good chance any claim would be declined.

I’m always sure to stay up to date on the service intervals but in between those services, I’m hoping something goes out to make that money worth while. My previous Silverado had $9,000 worth of warranty work done, twice the cost of the extended powertrain. These modern vehicles have so many features that any one of them going out is going to cost you 4 figures. A decade ago, I would have never even considered an extended warranty on a used vehicle. How times have changed.

big_g wrote:

Engine and Transmissions rarely fail because of mechanical issues… it’s usually caused by abuse and neglect.

Oh, so GM owners are just abusive and neglectful?

CaptainMusky wrote:

Oh, so GM owners are just abusive and neglectful?

no, usually it’s abuse and neglect… the other times it’s just a GM

CaptainMusky wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>big_g wrote:</div>
Engine and Transmissions rarely fail because of mechanical issues… it’s usually caused by abuse and neglect.

Oh, so GM owners are just abusive and neglectful?

There are bad parts made, don’t get me wrong, but they are the exception, not the norm.