dudley@07726

149k miles. Ever experience any major problems in that time?

Nedstand

Personally, I'm skeptical about the "reports" of trans failure after a trans fluid change. How come we don't hear similar stories about engine failure after an oil change? My gut instinct is that those rare reports are situations where the trans was already acting funny, and someone thought a trans fluid change might "solve" the problem... and then the trans failed, which was (most likely) going to happen with the oil fluid anyway. Fresh trans fluid isn't going to solve an existing problem, but should be viewed as standard maintenance, like any other fluid service.

I can share this, with our 2005 BMW X5 which is supposed to include full maintenance for 4 years, the dealer we used would only change fluids including coolant, brake fluid, power steering fluid, etc. if customer specifically requests it. Motor oil is the only change they did on their own, and when I asked about trans fluid, the SA said they will not do it even if I offered to pay for it.

Also noteworthy, our 1999 MB E320 originally came with "lifetime trans fluid" but a few years later, I was told that MB put out a service bulletin to dealers that trans fluid should be changed, IIRC, every 60K miles. MB of Beverly Hills SA told me they inspect the trans fluid at every major service interval, and if it has turned red -> brown, they would recommend a trans fluid change

My $0.02.

Calimus

Not a single major issue. The only minor issue I've had was the CEL for the O2 sensors, which I would clear on my own, however, I haven't had a single CEL about them since the recall that updated the sensitivity of the O2's about 4 weeks ago.

So aside from the recall work, no real issues at all. The car has run like a top.

Calimus

This is where I'm inclined to agree with you. This is my first automatic though, so I'm not super versed on them and thus, like many shade-tree mechanics, as far as I'm concerned, Auto-tran's were dropped off by Aliens to confuse the hell out of us Earth folks.

What you said makes perfect sense to me. Normally I have no issue making a gamble, however, the trans is a large enough expense that I would prefer not to gamble. For now the trans works as it should, and I'm still compiling info on these trans's. I certainly appreciate the added info though.

dudley@07726

Great to hear. Thanks.

4Driver4

Me too, but I think you missed a couple of potential causes for post-change issue. I bet half the complaints are due to failure to refill to the correct level...
...and the other half used the wrong fluid.

Nedstand

You speak truth! On the X5, just figuring out which trans fluid to use required crawling underneath and looking at the label on the trans. Some were made by ZF, and some by GM, and they used different trans fluids. And then there is the transfer case oil, as well as front and rear diff oil, which the dealer never mentioned changing to me. I learned about all this on XOutpost, a BMW forum.

Just a few more reasons I lease the A6 (and a Q7) now.

blackfxgt

I travel mostly on hwy about 700 miles a week. I think thats why my tranny is holding up in my C6 at 230k.
I believe the trans works less and the fluid doesnt break down as in city and traffic jam driving daily. If my C7
will last as long as my C6 that will be great only time will tell.

zarmstrong92

It looks like I have been late to my own party. I want to follow the maintenance schedule as strictly as possible, so if it says to change the fluid at 75k, then that is what I will do.

A little background on my car. I get a slight shudder/vibration when accelerating from a stop up until about 10 mph. The shudder varies in severity depending on a number of factors (how hard I accelerate, accelerating on a hill, etc).

I have already replaced the trans mount and added in one of the ECS tuning trans mount inserts, which did help, but didn't completely eliminate the shudder by any means.

For those who are skeptical, the service manuals for a trans fluid change is broken in to two different services. First is draining, then filling with 5.5-7 liters of fluid (2.0t). Next is checking fluid level which is done by opening the drain plug when the trans fluid reaches 35 degrees celsius and looking for a "strong initial flow.... wait until a 'little' (whatever that means) ATF is coming out, then tighten drain plug. All of this has to be done between 35c and 45c, but at idle the trans fluid temp creeps up very slowly so it is not a rushed process.

I will hopefully be doing this this weekend, but am currently waiting for a CVT drain plug adapter (needed for filling the trans) to come in from China. I am hoping that this gets rid of/reduces the shudders, and occasional jerky shift in the lower gears. Other than that, I don't know what else to try in regards to the shudder.

Oh and by the way, I ended up ordering the trans filter..... Only cost me $45 so why not considering I spent just over $150 on the OEM fluid alone.

jujuC6

+1