The only automatic that I have ever had to replace was the one in the wifes car. We did not get it until 104,000 miles and it had never been serviced. I think it made it to 140,000 before it died even with my serviceing it and such. The damage was already done. The few automatics I have owned from new have always lasted as long as the engine with no problems but I have always served then at 30,000 mile intervals unless the OEM recomendation was sooner then that! I had one automatic I built that I used for raceing then in a daily driver and it got it's ATF changed not less then every other oil change and that was a domestic 4 speed that was behind a Corvette motor.Then it the motor and trans went into a 4X4 that was used off road for all kinds of off roading all the time. Later it became the wifes daily river! Between the air locker up front and in the rear you could literaly light all four tires up! SO this was not treated nicely!When I sold the engine and transmission I sold them to a transmission shop. They told me they had never seen a transmission so clean and with such little wear inside. I told them I used cheap Dex-III and drained the pan every 3000-6000 miles. They put it back together with out doing anything to it even though it had 2 years of raceing and 3 years of regular use. The owner of the shop put it in his son's 4X4. The engine went into a Resto-mod car.
When I worked at GM most of the guys at GM Flint Truck and Bus where lucky to get about 70K-80K between transmissions replacements and none of them ever changed the fluid since GM had it listed as a 100K item.
One lady I knew had 400,000 on an AWD GMC Safari Van. THe engine had 400,000 miles on it the transfer case had 300,000 and this was her 4th transimmison. She never got more then 100K out of any of the transmissions. So I started asking her what her maintence was like.... Her Dad used Amsoil with the bypass filter and did 25,000 mile oci's, all the gear lubes where amsoil and where changed every 25,000 miles with the oil. The transfer case was on the same schedule after the first one failed out of warranty. She said her Dad never did anything but top up the ATF since he had always been told that if you changed the ATF fluid the transmission would fail soon after wards! So I asked her if that made any sense since all the parts that where serviced on a regular basis useing AMsoil where lasting. So I told her to have her Dad drop the pan on that transmission at 10K and put Amsoil in then to do it every 50K with Amsoil and it would last longer then any of the other transmissions.This gal never needed another transmission. She drove all HWY miles and drove something like 100 miles each way to and from work. I ran into her when ever I had to Vistit Willow Run GM SPO warhouse for quality control issue's.
When I worked at GM most of the guys at GM Flint Truck and Bus where lucky to get about 70K-80K between transmissions replacements and none of them ever changed the fluid since GM had it listed as a 100K item.
One lady I knew had 400,000 on an AWD GMC Safari Van. THe engine had 400,000 miles on it the transfer case had 300,000 and this was her 4th transimmison. She never got more then 100K out of any of the transmissions. So I started asking her what her maintence was like.... Her Dad used Amsoil with the bypass filter and did 25,000 mile oci's, all the gear lubes where amsoil and where changed every 25,000 miles with the oil. The transfer case was on the same schedule after the first one failed out of warranty. She said her Dad never did anything but top up the ATF since he had always been told that if you changed the ATF fluid the transmission would fail soon after wards! So I asked her if that made any sense since all the parts that where serviced on a regular basis useing AMsoil where lasting. So I told her to have her Dad drop the pan on that transmission at 10K and put Amsoil in then to do it every 50K with Amsoil and it would last longer then any of the other transmissions.This gal never needed another transmission. She drove all HWY miles and drove something like 100 miles each way to and from work. I ran into her when ever I had to Vistit Willow Run GM SPO warhouse for quality control issue's.
