05 Impala transmission?

culfan wrote:
> My 2003 Grand Prix 3.8L has 40k on it and the tranny fluid is still pink and
> clean. Never has been changed out...
>
> "John Horner" wrote in message
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>
>
>>BTW, don't believe GM's claims for extraordinary transmission fluid change
>>intervals. Our smelled quite bad and was turning brown by 30,000 miles,
>>well before the manual says to change it.
>
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>

We had made a highway speed trip through the Rocky Mountains into
Colorado when our acquired the burnt smell, so perhaps those demanding
driving conditions had something to do with it. Also, the 3.4 L powered
minivan is quite a lot harder on the drivetrain than is a Grand Prix all
other things being equal. More weight, higher revs required to get
power from the engine, more wind resistance and often much higher
passenger + cargo loads. Minivan service for passenger car drivetrains
is really pretty hard on the components.

Personally I feel that spending $15 once every 18 months or so to
replace the ATF plus around $10 for a transmission filter is a bargain
basement bit of maintenance to do. Heck, it costs almost $50 to fill
the fuel tank on our Silhoette. One of the reasons I enjoy doing my own
routine maintenance is that I can maintain the vehicle more agressively
than by-the-book while still having out of pocket expenses much lower
than those who pay to have the work done.

My experience is that automatic transmission failures are more common on
modern vehicles than are engine failures, and the cost of replacement is
very high. But hey, do whatever you want!

John