Solomon’s Garage owner, Dave Neer, is often caught fixing vehicles He is the Logan County Chronicle’s “Ask the Mechanic” expert. (NIKKI BURKHAMER | THE CHRONICLE)
For those of us who may not know much about fixing a car, having the expertise of a skilled, licensed mechanic is helpful. Look for the knowledgeable answers from Dave Neer in each edition of the Logan County Chronicle.
This week, Dave Neer, our “Ask the Mechanic” expert, answers a question that is commonly heard from many of his Solomon’s Garage clients.
Those customers have asked, “I know I need to change my engine oil every 5,000 miles, but when do I need to change my transmission fluid?”
Dave’s answer: For decades, changing the fluid in your automatic transmission every 30,000 miles was standard practice. Activities like heavy towing, mountainous driving, stop-and-go traffic, hot climate and other factors would generate excess heat in your transmission and necessitate changing the fluid more often.
Over the last two decades, more car manufacturers have been switching to superior synthetic transmission fluids and touting longer and longer service intervals. They do this to try to convince the customer that their vehicle has a "lower cost of ownership" than their competitor.
Some car manufacturers are even claiming their transmissions are filled with "lifetime" fluid, implying that the fluid never has to be changed! This is outrageous because in these cases, the car manufacturers are not even the ones designing and manufacturing their own transmissions.
They are purchasing a transmission that suits their needs from another company, installing it in their vehicles, and then claiming that the fluid doesn't have to be changed.
Dave and Katie Neer stand in front of Solomon’s Garage, their family business, located at 122 S. Detroit St., West Liberty. (NIKKI BURKHAMER | THE CHRONICLE).
To further complicate things, gone are the days when you simply choose between an automatic or a manual transmission. Nowadays, we have SMGs (Sequential Manual Gearbox), DCTs (Dual-Clutch Transmission), CVTs (Continuously Variable Transmission), DSGs (Direct-Shift Gearbox), to name a few other types of transmissions that we see in our shop on a regular basis.
Each manufacturer has their own set of specifications, or "special fluid," that has to be used in their transmission. At our shop, we stock enough of the different transmission fluids to meet well over 400 manufacturer specifications! So, the answer to your question is, it depends on your vehicle. We need to know the specifics of your particular transmission, which we get when we decode your VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) at our shop.
The fact is that no matter what type of transmission your car has, the fluid is the lifeblood and it breaks down over time.
When the fluid wears out, the internal parts of the transmission are no longer protected, and then they start to wear out. It's critical that the fluid be changed regularly for optimum shifting and for the longest service life of your transmission.
With transmission replacements costing thousands of dollars, you're always going to be better off maintaining the one you have. The best rule of thumb I can give is that most transmissions should have their first fluid change within 60,000 miles and every 30,000 to 60,000 miles after that.
Editor’s note: Dave pointed out a small discrepancy in the last issue’s answer.
To further support his integrity and attention to expertise, he noted a misspelling that had a big impact on one of the answers to his last installment of this forum. One letter made the difference, and you will see what I mean as you read his response.
From Dave:
In the last "Ask the Mechanic," I answered a question for Joshua Lee and explained how his charcoal canister will capture and store fuel vapors through the process of "adsorption" (particles are gathered on the surface). The auto spell checker changed the word to "absorption" (the particles are drawn within, like a sponge), and I didn't catch the mistake until the paper had already gone to print. My apologies. It should have said "adsorption".
From Nikki:
I’m not even sure that I knew adsorption was even a thing, but now we’ve all learned something new!
We thank Dave for his expertise and his helpful answers. Call Solomon’s Garage today for all of your vehicle service needs at (937) 887-0029.
Look for your opportunity to ask Dave a question on our Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/logancountychronicle, or e-mail us at: [email protected].
