I’m original owner of an ’03 coupe and approaching 95K miles. I’ve been wondering about changing the automatic transmission fluid. It was last changed at dealer at about 58K miles, but that was 7 years ago! What would be the safest course of action at this point?

 

Drain and fill with OEM quality only.

 

True and to expand that thought. We really recommend a drain and fill with high mileage G's as opposed to a full flush. It's believed that the transmission collects tiny shavings of metal over time that actually fill in the gaps of worn metal components and help maintain friction there. There are lots of stories on the internet, not just here, of higher mileage cars getting a full flush and the transmissions start to slip when they had previously had no issues.

Drain and fill is the way to go. Our transmissions hold about 10 3/4 qts. and if you drain what's in the pan (like an oil change) you'll drain out a little less than 4 qts. Measure what you remove (I use a gallon jug marked off in 1 qt. intervals) and replace that amount. As urban said use only Matic J (older OEM) or Matic S for replacement and you should be good to go. To obtain a flush-like experience, do this, drive a couple of hundred miles, do it again, drive and do it a third time. By then you've got almost all new fluid and didn't flush those important shavings.

 

Leave it alone!

Never try to fix anything that isn't broke

Telcoman

 

Never change your engine oil either ^.