Let's talk Transmission Maintenance...

[autoque]

Originally Posted by ard

If you look at the links above you will see that many times the screen/filter is under the pan and you'll really want them to drop the pan, change the screen, new gasket, reattach the pan and new fluid- so a drain plug isn't essential.

It sounds so complicated. Not clear about the difference between the fluid change and the flush.

So what you recommend is telling the dealer to do the above?

And what JCL is saying is don't change the ATF at all?

I've had a transmission problem which led to a complete replacement a month or two ago, so I'm very careful when it comes to automatic transmissions and I want to extend the life and preserve the shift quality of this rather heavily abused part of a vehicle. My vehicle's AT is pretty much new at this moment, and 99% of the driving is in a stop'n go downtown city traffic, which must be a harsh driving condition for transmissions. Also 3.0 liter NA gas engine needs to be worked hard, which means staying at higher rpm ranges. But since I've already had the transmission failure, I've become so paranoid with the fear of transmission wear/tear, I'm babying the vehicle most of the time. But I'm thinking following a scheduled ATF fluid change may help prevent an early AT failure even if I drive like it's meant to be driven.