After-market trans fluid?
I bought a new 2007 Aveo 5 with an A/T. I had some trouble with 3 or 4 throttle bodies during the first 30K-40K miles that the dealer blamed on their sub-contractors. Since then it's been a pretty good old car and I've taken very good care of it. At about 86K miles I got my regular 3K to 5K mile oil change. The shop that did it said my trans fluid was getting a little dark and I might want to change it by or at my next oil change.
At ~89.3K miles, I recently had get a new idler pulley and serp belt, at a different shop, and I told them to go ahead and change air filters and change the oil, brake, and trans fluid. 1000 miles later my tranny started slipping and whining. Coincidence?
Dropped it at the shop that changed the fluid and they said I needed a new tranny. They had a get a new (rebuilt) tranny from GM. What bothers me is that, when I picked up the car, they said they would have been done a little sooner but the new tranny could ONLY use GM fluid and they had to find a dealer that carried it AND costs $21.16 per quart for 7 quarts ($148.12). So, $4K later my car is fixed.
What bothers me is: when they replaced the fluid 1000 miles earlier, the fluid cost was $45.00 ($6.43 per quart?); obviously not GM fluid. Did that contribute to me tranny going bad?
Don't know if I'm going to follow up on this but I know I'll feel a little better if I sound off.
At ~89.3K miles, I recently had get a new idler pulley and serp belt, at a different shop, and I told them to go ahead and change air filters and change the oil, brake, and trans fluid. 1000 miles later my tranny started slipping and whining. Coincidence?
Dropped it at the shop that changed the fluid and they said I needed a new tranny. They had a get a new (rebuilt) tranny from GM. What bothers me is that, when I picked up the car, they said they would have been done a little sooner but the new tranny could ONLY use GM fluid and they had to find a dealer that carried it AND costs $21.16 per quart for 7 quarts ($148.12). So, $4K later my car is fixed.
What bothers me is: when they replaced the fluid 1000 miles earlier, the fluid cost was $45.00 ($6.43 per quart?); obviously not GM fluid. Did that contribute to me tranny going bad?
Don't know if I'm going to follow up on this but I know I'll feel a little better if I sound off.
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Comments
Here are a couple examples...
https://www.kendallmotoroil.com/product/versatrans-atf
http://www.amalie.com/Universal-Synthetic-Automatic-Transmission-Fluids/Universal-Synthetic-Automatic-Transmission-Fluid
https://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-product/transmission-fluid/automatic/signature-series-multi-vehicle-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid/
With advertising like that it's not surprising that some shops, techs and consumers go ahead and use these fluids, when the reality is there is no way for a single fluid to cover all of the various specifications inside of just one manufacturer (such as Ford) let alone all the way across the board. The tough part about this is that these fluids can in fact be an excellent choice for specific vehicles, it's just not possible to know for certain which vehicles that really is.