Amsoil ATF interval

[gs300tx]

Hey guys,
I have a 95 Lexus Gs300 with, 189k. Transmission fluid was changed via T-Tec at around 165k. Mostly hwy/city driving, no towing. I know amsoil recommends changing fluid at 50k for "severe" service.

But what would be a decent interval using Amsoil (Synthetic universal) oil.

Thanks!

 

[Pablo]

I would say 50-100K miles. On one side we have lifetime fill AT's, and the other we have BITOG. I'm thinking at 50K, your ATF will still be in pretty good shape.

 

[TeeGee79]

GS,
Amsoil makes a darn good ATF. I own a transmission shop and I actually advise for those that really want the best service out of their transmissions 35K change interval with Amsoil ATF.

You have to understand that fill for life oils are OEM's competing for bragging rights about their cars not needing service. The magnets in the pan don't lie and we get Bimmers for example coming in at 100K and are completely shot and need of rebuild. "But, the fluid was fill-for-life!" What happened? BMW doesn't care, they want to sell you another car. They got you to 100K!

At times, Amsoil even pushes the envelope IMHO. Oil analysis has proven it for me.

I actually service my own vehicles at 25K with Amsoil ATF and usually I could re-bottle the fluid, it looks so good!. My tow vehicle will show normal wear and I am glad that I change it a bit more frequently.

Good luck with that car.

 

[ScottG]

I was just wondering about the interval myself. My Mazda 5 had brown fluid at 28,000miles, well actually before that, but I was maybe in denial and unfamiliar with Mazda transmissions. Plus the dealership never mentioned anything during the previous two services.

I know read on these forums and others that the Mazda transmissions in 3's and 5's are hard on fluid for whatever reason (or their Mazda M-V spec doesn't hold up)? People have all these before after shots of brown and pink/red fluid.

My transmission holds a touch over 8 qts, and I probably used 10 qts during a cooler line change as I wanted to make sure as much old stuff came out as possible.

In reality I might change it out after 2 years and have an oil analysis done to see how things are going.

I'm hoping my decision to go with Amsoil ATF was a good one. For the Mazda M-V spec, I was limited to Mazda, Amsoil, and Mobil 1 when it came to availblity. Red Line D4 was not an option as it was too hard find.

My car falls into severe service, so if I got 30,000 miles and the fluid looks good, I'll be impressed.

 

[bmwtechguy]

Only 25k-35k miles on Amsoil ATF seems like extreme overkill, but like you say some units are harder on fluid than others. The units with a comfort or slow-acting lockup converter seem to be the worst for fluid degradation. Add to that the inadequate factory cooling and filtration, I could see one changing ATF more frequently. My 91 Chevy 700R4 has 175k miles on the same ATF, and it looks and smells perfect still. Still shifts well. Has upgraded cooling and filtration however.

BTW, I hope you save that barely used fluid for one of your beaters! Seems it would be a shame to toss it out.

 

[ScottG]

I'm personally hoping for way more than 30,000 miles, but I guess time will tell. I'll just keep an eye on how the transmission is functioning and how the fluid works. See if I can make it 50,000 if I still have the car.

"comfort or slow-acting lockup converter" is a little beyond me, but I'll take your word on it.

 

[Gary Allan]

My tcc engages like a bear trap. Others are applied with the "consumers DEMAND velvety smooth shifts" school of thought.

In your case I'd probably just go for a time based interval.

I'll probably be at around 50k when due to the lower mileage I do in a year.

 

[NYSteve]

Would you guys also recommend 50k miles for other syn ATFs such as D4 or M1 with external cooler and some kind of filtration (magnefine or spin-on)?

 

[bmwtechguy]

Minimum 50k miles with cooler and inline filtration. If fluid still looks new or very good, I would change the inline filter and go another 50k with either of those fluids.

I just had a customer come in with 119k miles on the original MerconV fluid in a 2003 Expedition. She complained of shudder during lock-up. We flushed with Maxlife ATF after pan clean/filter change. Also retorqued all valve body bolts to 105 in/lb. She said it feels like a new transmission again.

Her husband's 2002 2500 Chevy truck is next, I think. 155k on original ATF, but at least it has the aux cooler due to towing package. He said it still works fine, but I told him to service it soon. He tends to wait until something fails to do anything except oil changes. He was losing coolant and having to add. One day after several years of this, he went to start it up one day and it made a really loud noise. Mechanic had to replace a bent connecting rod due to the coolant that had leaked into that cylinder overnight. That one cost him $1900.