I'm no great shakes on auto tranny's, but have done my share of
mechanical work as an aircraft mechanic, and the principle in play there
was regularly scheduled periodic maintenance. You cannot pull over and
park on a cloud if something goes wrong. Part of that maintenance was
fluid changes in accordance with "the manual". or manufacturer's
recommendation. Over time, experience would dictate that some procedures
could be safely altered to extend the life of a component, but that was
not the routine. I suspect such might be  the case  with auto tranny's,
and not tinkering with them to much if they have not been serviced
properly in the past_ might_ be advisable. Changing fluids could very
well loosen accumulated crude in the transmission and create problems.
_On the other hand_, as a general practice, I would think it best if a
vehicle is new to you, and it's history unknown to you, that  just like
automatically changing fuel lines to avoid problems is advisable,
changing all system fluids including the ATF in the auto tranny would
also be advisable.

Just my inexperienced auto tranny $0.02!

John

John Rodgers
Clayartist and Moldmaker
88'GL VW Bus Driver
Chelsea, AL
Http://www.moldhaus.com

On 8/9/2010 9:23 AM, titantic01@AOL.COM wrote:
>
>
>   I have read a lot of posts on transmissions both manual and auto lately and I have a question about my automatic on my 1987 van.  The tranny was rebuilt about 10 yrs ago by my then mechanic from top to bottom and it is doing great. My question is: Should I change the fluid and filter or, leave it alone. the fluid still is red just like it came out of the bottle and it never needs topping up.
>
> My Dad always had the idea that "If it ain't broke, don't fix" However I also believe in preventative matience.
>
> Waiting for your great advice here.
>
> Chris S.
>
>