I always thought that manual transmissions should never have their fluid changed can anyone concur?
I have a 2000 f150 v6 4.2l with 173443.00miles

 

I always thought they should have their fluid changed. All fluids eventually need to be changed.

 

thanks for the support , i ask because i was just recently told to not change the fluid in my wifes car cause it can damage it but that is a pontiac too. so then after 173000m a change is probably in order eh.

 

If the new fluid is the fluid recommended by the manufacturer then it cannot hurt the trans. Anyone that says it will hurt it just doesn't know what they are talking about. You can tell them I said so. :-)

 

g

 

All the fluids eventually breakdown... or accumulate debris... then they no longer lubricate as they should. In turn, creates more heat which makes parts wear prematurely.... +1 ^Mark

 

In my 1981 Ford F100 with a 302 carbed engine I have a Single Rail Four-Speed Overdrive Transmission. Code RUG T170FS I have the very expensive Factory manual that calls for 4.5 Pints of ESP-M2C83-C Lubricant. I called a transmission shop and asked them why my manual trans uses an Automatic Trans Fluid, and would I get better wear if I replaced it with the super slippery new silicon product? They replied that I should use the same ESP-M2C83-C fluid the manual called for because the trans needs a certain amount of non-slippery fluid so it doesn't slip out of gear and when gears mesh, they will hold. That makes sense to me. But it also makes sense that after years the fluid will get dirty and break down. which would be like sending sandpaper through the gears. So I am changing my fluid out with what my manual calls for. It will just be clean now and not have dirt and abrasive particles in it to wear down the gears and make it slip. Sound good to our old timers?

 

Sounds good to me. ATF does not have the properties that your trans needs to survive.

 

Quite honestly, what do you think? And who could be so stupid as to think that a transmission is a perpetual motion machine that was made 173000 miles ago and
will last the lifetime of your Pontiac without a transmission fluid / filter change? Did
they have chemicals that didn't break down back then, but they lost the formula?
Really, it only makes sense to find out what the manufacturers recommendation was
back then, and what fluids have been upgraded and are even better than what was used
back then. It will be hard, because no one seems to know anything anymore. But I know one thing for sure. I took ships from Seattle up the inside passage to Alaska 83 times as the Engineer. And my life depended on the ship crossing the Gulf of Alaska which eats ships that loose their mechanical drives. And I change out fluids, including 200 gallons of lube oil on main engines fanatically. Because I don't want my laziness to kill us all!
Your Pontiac might just cost you an new transmission or even a new car because the transmission is such an expensive part. If it is an automatic it would total the car as automatic transmissions cost more than the car is worth. And if it is an automatic it needs fluid changes, and filter changes, and coolers for the fluid to not get burned, because if the fluid gets burned your transmission has lost ALL protection! So pull out the transmission fluid dip stick and smell the fluid if you have one. If it smells really burned that change it right away!!!

 

WELL after reading your post I now realize how meaningless my job is, now that I've read all the replies and thought about them I understand how stupid my question is, " what an idiot".
So...... sorry for wasting everyones time, next time I guess I'll do a little more research before I come to the forum and ask stupid questions.
thanks everyone

 

Some ppl just don't know... not a stupid question, just that dude was a bit rough about explaining. If you've never worked on a car, or don't often, how can you expect to just "know"??? Feel free in the future to post more questions and ignore the rude members

 

Sorry if I was rough in my explanation. Was referring to whomever gave you the bad info.
But I can be a bit snarky with out knowing it. I don't know a lot also. So I have no business acting like I am the great puba of truck repair knowledge. I didn't mean to phrase it like I thought it was a stupid questions. There are no stupid questions..that are asked. The only stupid questions are the ones we don't ask. Cause then we go on with out the proper knowledge. I think the asker was dead on to ask.

 

Glad for this post! WTG! figured it wasn't meant to be so harsh