They're making them sealed to prevent owners from putting MaxLife in them, LOL.
The stuff on the end of that bolt looks like my kid's haircutHere's my (aftermarket) magnetic transmission drain plug after 34,732 on the fluid. Car has ~179K on it, runs like a kitten; trans fluid has been changed 3 times; ~90K, ~144K and now. Transmission is a 4t65e behind a 3800 in an old Lesabre. Factory square magnet was also saturated. I added 4 magnets to the pan area; 2 glued to the pan and 2 more on the filter near the intake. In my mind, I just thoroughly convinced myself to do 30K transmission fluid changes forever, regardless of manufacturer claims otherwise. Thoughts? Criticisms?
Pretty much this. You want to get the fluid "cleaned up" in the first years of use and then move toward longer service intervals. I would never trust the initial fill for more than 10K without a test or pulling the pan/magnet for inspection.I would never, nor would I wait until 100k. 50-60K Max, if not before depending on the ease of doing drain and fills.
Unless I planned on getting rid of the car, then I wouldn't bother.
Nissan tried this with the leaf. Said the transition oil was good for 110,000 miles.For those who own sealed 100K mile transmissions with no change ATF - how many don't believe it and will change out ATF anyway ?
Knock on wood!I have 1 car like that (IS250). It is a pain to drain and refill and I don't drive that hard or much. The tranny was also designed for a truck with like 3.5 V6 and mine was a 2.5 V6 with only 200lb ft torque, so it is so weak it will likely never wear out the tranny.
I'm just leaving it alone. 15 years and 120k miles now, maybe another 10 years and 80k miles?