Dark Brown Tranny Fluid

[JayHood]

I have a question concerning a 2003 Matrix XR. I just checked the transmission fluid, and it is a very dark brown, I only have 13,000 miles and the car is only a year old, I was told that at 15,000 miles that it would be pink in color. Is something wrong? Other than that the car is driving fine. Thanks in advance.

Jarret

[JayHood]

Also if you guys know, when should I flush my transmission fluid?

Thanks

[Nick]

sounds like you should now, go to your dealership

[takkie]

dark brown tranny fluid is definitely not a good thing to have.

change it asap. it should be clear pink color.

[1337trix]

just checked the service manual for the car... ATF should be replaced every 2 years.... but if yours is brown i'd get that checked out

[sandramatrix]

Hi there,
I'm having the same problem, 11,000 miles and dirty tranny fluid. I'm curious if you wne to the dealer and how they responded. I know someone that had a similar situation with a Honda Odessy - the dealer just kept changing the fluid but eventually there was a recall.

[Zrain]

Ok, most cars dont have these.. expensive ones do...


Tranys get HOT!!! why! BC moving and twisting mettal gets HOT!.
Hot mettal isnt as strong as cold mettal. so trany coolers are in order. clean systems like tranys dont have carbon biuld up. sooo fluids in these systems will change color BC of tempiture. Bad coolers or no coolers mean no cooling and hot fluid.

just remember ATF is a hydrolic fluid more so then it is a lubercant. you could pore watter into that system and it would work.. not vary well but it would.. just do this.. flush and change the fluid and check it evry so often and keep a white paper with blots. compare blots. if its a progresive change. then just live with it.. if its a fast change.. say 4- weeks to 2 months.. then ask your dealership to check it out. some car's they can pull trany temp codes out of the ECU (Scary what they can do these days).

[Slik1313]

Heres the deal:

The tranny fluid should be changed every 15K miles in the Matrix...Due to the nature of the mechanism itself. It runs hot...Im talkin hella hot. The cars should come with tranny coolers on them to get a bit more life out of the fluid...but they dont.

Ive ran mine substantially longer with no noticable degradation in shifting, but...that doesnt mean I should be...neglect will eventaully bite me in the butt!

[Zrain]

well there you gO! a real life example...

15k isnt bad for ATF. thats evry 5 oil changes. ATF is Cheep so dont cry about it.. but i bet some of u savy owners can get the dealership to throw it in for free..

[Nick]

i'd throw in a tranny cooler

[Hajoca]

Originally posted by Oldman
i'd throw in a tranny cooler

Well initially there was one, but in order to compete with the Sive's (civics) it was one of the long list of items that was scratched.... so $60 CDN is not too much to ask for!!

The inherent problem is that the gearing ratio in both Tranny and final drive at teh diff is too high and loads up the transmission that gets it hot!

[Blue636]

I hope you're checking the transmission fluid and not the PS fluid! Remember, the PS fluid will turn brown if it isn't already brown very quickly. Also note that your PS uses ATF Dexron III so DO NOT put regular PS fluid there!

Otherwise, if I am mistaken and it is your ATF, go ahead and consult your owner's manual on when the regular scheduled maintenance is. If you think that it's unusual, maybe the dealer can look into it and you can have it covered by warranty.

Good luck.