Flush Transmission or Not?

[tc1446]

Recently bought a '14 Kia Soul, 2.0L, and it now has nearly 30K miles on it. I know it was one owner, and judging by the low milage and extremely nice condtion outside and inside, I want to believe it was well taken care of. Nevertheless, I doubt the auto xmsn has ever been changed. Like a lot of cars, there is no way to check the level or see what it looks like. Kia dealer said they pull the hose and drain the entire xmsn, not just the lesser amount in the pan. I am inclined to have this done just to me feel good. Would apprec views.

 

[supton]

30k seems early. I would not sweat it. It won't hurt, but if it was lightly driven on the highway, then all is fine. If the transmission is not known for problems, I might wait for 50k. If you want to have it done for peace of mind, go for it--you can then ignore it for another 30-50k or whatever interval you'd like.

 

[caprice_2nv]

I agree with the above. Personally my own vehicles I would do at 30k but when I was the service advisor in a garage I wouldn't recommend it sooner than 50k miles for normal customers.

Some of our customers did no maintenance at all, others would do things like transmission fluid if we recommended it at 50k or higher...an example of extra maintenance not hurting...we had a guy with a 2000 Buick century who did his transmission and coolant every 30k miles max and oil changes at 3k. His car had well over 200k and had the original intake gaskets and water pump on the 3.1 (known issues on them) no piston slap (common on the 3.1) and just no issues in general besides bulbs and brakes and other minor things.

 

[Warstud]

Originally Posted by supton
30k seems early.

I disagree...if it hasn't been done yet I would do it and then maybe every 50k there after.

 

[double vanos]

Well it's a 5 year old car. If you can afford it do it; you'll have scribed a line the transmissions life from which you can start setting up its service intervals from here on out.

 

[Charlie2015]

You should have three plugs on the transmission. There is a fill plug up top near where the air filter box is. There is a fluid level check on the (front) radiator side of the transmission. And there should be a drain plug underneath (possible covered by a skid plate).

 

[The_Cams]

Should have a check bolt (likely plastic) on the side of the tranny to open and see the fluid color as the fluid slowly trickles out.

Probably have SP-IV in there. 5 year old fluid. Wouldn't hurt to change it. I prefer DIY drain & fills to wipe the magnetic drain plug, but to each their own. I'm running Maxlife ATF as a sub for SP-IV in a Hyundai and it runs great. SP-IV is a bit too pricey for my taste, and I have no warranty.

 

[burla]

Do you know what fluid they use? I had less then 30k miles on my fluid aft4...

The large container came from the transmision, the small container was a sample poured from the transfer case. I'm glad I chnaged it..

 

[Dinoburner]

Asking the question gives the answer, change the fluid and be done with it. I`m no fan of long times for any fluids but this is about how you feel.

 

[dave1251]

It's a good time to change now and then change every 50-70K miles.

 

[zorobabel]

Originally Posted by tc1446
Recently bought a '14 Kia Soul, 2.0L, and it now has nearly 30K miles on it. I know it was one owner, and judging by the low milage and extremely nice condtion outside and inside, I want to believe it was well taken care of. Nevertheless, I doubt the auto xmsn has ever been changed. Like a lot of cars, there is no way to check the level or see what it looks like. Kia dealer said they pull the hose and drain the entire xmsn, not just the lesser amount in the pan. I am inclined to have this done just to me feel good. Would apprec views.

Do it. "They" say most of the contaminants in a transmission are generated at the begining and the end of it's life.

 

[Leo99]

I doubt you'll own the vehicle long enough to reap the benefits of changing the ATF but if it makes you feel good, do it.

 

[demarpaint]

For me 25-30K miles is when I service an automatic transmission. In a new vehicle I do the first one a lot earlier though. I don't like the term "flush" I prefer a line off fluid exchange, which you can DIY with no special tools or equipment.

 

[tc1446]

Many thanks for the feedback. I'm convinced it should be done and will schedule it with Kia service dept one day soon. I'll let them do it as I'm no longer physically able to do these things.
I do buy my own oil and Kia filters and have a local Snappy Lube do the change. Been going to them for several years and know and trust the manager.

 

[Donald]

I would wait closer to 50K to 60K

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted by demarpaint
For me 25-30K miles is when I service an automatic transmission. In a new vehicle I do the first one a lot earlier though. I don't like the term "flush" I prefer a line off fluid exchange, which you can DIY with no special tools or equipment.

I'm with demarpaint. The first fluid change is most important. It will come out nasty. Not so much with the next fluid changes.

 

[atikovi]

Much of the wear of a mechanical part occurs when it's new during break-in in the first few thousand miles, at least that's how it was 30 or 40 years ago when you did the first oil change at 1,000 miles and transmission service at 6K. To make cars appear as maintenance free as possible, car makers dropped or extended the service intervals. The results being that many modern transmissions started failing at 60-80K miles. I'd change the fluid now if you're keeping the car long term.

 

[Gebo]

I'd change it with a great synthetic ATF now.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by Kestas
Originally Posted by demarpaint
For me 25-30K miles is when I service an automatic transmission. In a new vehicle I do the first one a lot earlier though. I don't like the term "flush" I prefer a line off fluid exchange, which you can DIY with no special tools or equipment.

I'm with demarpaint. The first fluid change is most important. It will come out nasty. Not so much with the next fluid changes.


Same here, although in my case of Mazda 3 and Grand Caravan, the OEM ATF didn't look too bad when I first changed it at around 20k miles.

 

[Bullwinkle007]

Personally, I do mine every 15k, oil is cheap AF, in comparison to repairs, I run Redline D4, meets Honda ZF1 spec,