The 200,000 Mile Car – Mike’s WOW Tip # 4

It’s the end of August and this is Mike’s last WOW (words of wisdom) car care tip for extending the life of your car. For all you people on the 200,000 mile plan for you cars, Mike has been focusing on what to do to keep your odometer rolling the right way for years!
 
“Hi, folks, this is the last time you’ll have to “listen” to me for awhile here – next week somebody else here at Ken’s will take the wheel, so to speak! Last week we talked about the importance of fluids for your car – the first one being your oil, naturally. This week I’m going to talk about another fluid that’s important – but problematic simply because it doesn’t need to happen for such a long time – it’s your transmission fluid. As I’ve been saying, generally your car manual will tell you when you should replace it, but – and I hate to have to admit this, there are a few makes of cars where the manuals do get a little vague about transmission fluid and say something to the effect that you should check it at “intervals,” or that your transmission fluid is “lifetime.” To which I have to say, “What do you mean by ‘intervals,’ and how long is ‘lifetime?’” Basically, if you want a 200,000 mile ride, look at replacing your transmission fluid every 100,000 miles, and it doesn’t hurt to go a little early on that. Now, I’m also going to say that there’s some debate among us mechanics about whether to “flush” the transmission fluid – or remove the pan and clean it out. If you don’t understand that and don’t want to get into it – I don’t blame you, let us here at Ken’s worry about that. I will tell you though that you never want to do a flush without changing the filter first. Either way – you’ve got a long way to go before you have to worry about it. I’m just mentioning it now because that’s my specialty – taking care of your car so it gets you and your family where you need to go – for a long, long, time!