Automatic Transmission Service Schedule

[Tom73]

What is the regular service schedule for an automatic transmission?  Have checked my owners manual and found the schedule for the transfer case (change transfer case fluid at 90k, if severe use then at 45k) but cannot find anything on the automatic transmission. Dealer is saying I am due for trans service at a cost of about $500. 
‘22 Sierra Limited, 6.2 with 10 speed and 4WD. 
 

Update:  found it for severe use, same as transfer case, every 45k. But still do not see any service requirement for normal use maintenance. 

Edited February 15, 2024 by Tom73

[Bikerjon]

4 hours ago, Tom73 said:

What is the regular service schedule for an automatic transmission?  Have checked my owners manual and found the schedule for the transfer case (change transfer case fluid at 90k, if severe use then at 45k) but cannot find anything on the automatic transmission. Dealer is saying I am due for trans service at a cost of about $500. 
‘22 Sierra Limited, 6.2 with 10 speed and 4WD. 
 

Update:  found it for severe use, same as transfer case, every 45k. But still do not see any service requirement for normal use maintenance. 

Yes I see the 45k severe service interval in my owners manual for the trans fluid but I would not exceed 50000 miles under any circumstances. Do you know how much a transmission costs? Trannys burn out all the time because of lack of maintenance.

[diyer2]

Changing trans fluid prolongs its life. You pay for that or pay for a new trans, your choice.

IMO minimum every 50k.

[Grumpy Bear]

I'm told I tend to over maintain my equipment. I do mine every 25K after the first one at 50K showed the fluid had been done for some time. Ask your dealer what the cost of a remanufactured transmission with installation cost. $500 will seem like folding money.

 

Having said that and if you are mechanically inclined, make the job as DIY as possible and save hundreds per service. 

[Tom73]

Thanks for the responses and I agree that regular service is a good idea. But, still wondering what is GMs recommendation for normal, not severe, use. 

[Grumpy Bear]

2 minutes ago, Tom73 said:

Thanks for the responses and I agree that regular service is a good idea. But, still wondering what is GMs recommendation for normal, not severe, use. 

 

They consider it a "sealed lifetime" fluid. Legally this amounts to, by definition 150K. Good luck with that. 

[TrailBossMike]

5 hours ago, Tom73 said:

Thanks for the responses and I agree that regular service is a good idea. But, still wondering what is GMs recommendation for normal, not severe, use. 

Fact of the matter is most vehicles on the road end up crashed, rusted out or sent to the scrap yard with the original transmission, transfer case and differential fluids still installed.  If you even service these fluids once in your vehicles lifetime, you're ahead of most vehicle owners.

If you plan on keeping your vehicle more than several years or more than 60k, change the fluids.  If not, you need to decide if it's worth it to you or not.

[Transient]

So, we're talking about the 10-speed, right?  Which trans do you have in your truck Grumpy Bear?  Isn't it the 6-speed?  Maybe we need to be much more specific about what we're talking about since all 3 trans offered in these trucks use different fluids.  Could they possibly have different service requirements?

[KARNUT]

There’s only one vehicle I changed the rear end fluid in ever, my avalanche. It had 167K. It was the first time for transmission fluid change also. I did the power steering too. The only time I ever did that. Only on this website have I read about people who were concerned with early fluid service. My wife’s 2011 Genesis is the first vehicle that the dealer recommended following the severe service schedule. I did because I had the extended warranty coverage. Even through the years with my work trucks I went extended never gave it a thought. Never had a reason to. They definitely fit the extreme service requirements. I only had one failure, nothing to do with maintenance. Even with most manufacturers saying vehicles should make 200K miles with routine maintenance only. Usually the dealer would stick the maintenance sticker in the window with the extreme maintenance mileage and month for the next service. I would ask they say it’s a precautionary measure. The regular maintenance should be fine. I never reached 200K miles before I got a different vehicle. That’s probably why I never had a problem. We had a couple around the family business that made it without a problem. That being said. I believe and follow the extreme maintenance schedule as a rule. Simply because of the complexity of today’s vehicles. Cheap insurance as they say. 

[repairman54]

Read what severe is, do you drive in town, hot weather, tow, etc ? There is no normal service. 

I change my trans fluid in my fleet every 30k miles. Multiple trans. taken over 250k miles and quite a few doing towing also. Fluid changes are cheap insurance if you're keeping it for the long haul. 

Severe schedule is your friend.

[KARNUT]

22 minutes ago, repairman54 said:

Read what severe is, do you drive in town, hot weather, tow, etc ? There is no normal service. 

I change my trans fluid in my fleet every 30k miles. Multiple trans. taken over 250k miles and quite a few doing towing also. Fluid changes are cheap insurance if you're keeping it for the long haul. 

Severe schedule is your friend.

It’s all a game for numbers. The manufacturers can make claims that are not really realistic. Such as our maintenance costs are lower. Same with cylinder deactivation. In a controlled environment cylinder deactivation will give you better gas mileage. When the chip shortage was here some trucks didn’t have cylinder deactivation. They gave a fifty dollar rebate. They claimed for the average user you may lose a half mile per gallon without it. They all do it. Most cases people trade their vehicles before any problems arise. In reality new vehicles are more vulnerable to maintenance than ever. There’s more going on. More gears in the transmission, smaller engines with turbos and cylinder deactivation for larger engines. If you plan on going past your warranty you better do your maintenance. 

[txab]

Use the severe schedule and be done with it

[garagerog]

Since we're older now, most of the miles we rack up on our vehicles now are in town, so for the auto transmission service schedule I go by the severe schedule and subtract about 10k or so. I can't think of anything harder on a transmission except one overheated by towing than "grocery getter" miles as the clutches stay very "busy" to say the least, maybe by a factor of 20? over a transmission that sees mainly highway miles and is in lockup mode.

[Grumpy Bear]

11 hours ago, Transient said:

So, we're talking about the 10-speed, right?  Which trans do you have in your truck Grumpy Bear?  Isn't it the 6-speed?  Maybe we need to be much more specific about what we're talking about since all 3 trans offered in these trucks use different fluids.  Could they possibly have different service requirements?

 

Yes, Pepper has the 6L80E. It is not sealed for life. 45K severe and 90K, maybe 95K I believe 'normal'. 

 

They do. But it isn't necessary. Read column two under the heading AMSOIL Signature Series Fuel Efficient ATF. 

g3110.pdf (amsoilcontent.com)   You will find one very good fluid is used for all three transmissions. 

 

Requirements is a tricky word. Environments would be more accurate. Yet the OEM specifies the same services and fluids, for them, meaning different environments, for all. Sans the separation between "Severe and Normal" which is identical for all of them on the severe schedule. 

 

GM has changed fluid specs a few times for the eight speeds. Why? The requirements didn't change nor did the environment. But the factory 'spec' original fluid was made from some very hygroscopic fluid. They are always reaching for the bottom of the barrel for factory and service fills.  

 

Examine the Dexron VI part numbers for the 4 and 6L transmissions. You will find (SDS) that this SPEC under different part numbers is made from several different base oils with a WIDE range of capabilities. They all last a different length of time but the manufacture list them all for the same "Requirement' and service life. 

 

In this one box alone (6L80/90) Red Line, under supervision, may call out 4 different fluids for depending on the environment the transmission is used in. And give four recommendations for service life.

 

Just some things to think about. 

[diyer2]

Just change your fluids more often and if you are keeping the vehicle for a long time upgrade the fluids you use.