Hi to all, just gettin my baby ready for the long winter nap and I was hopin someone could help with a question, You guys always are so helpfull and ive only had my 96 LT1 for two summers and shes got 18000 miles on her should I change the antifreeze and or automatic transmission fluids? How long do they last ? do you change them reguarly or does it go by miles on the car? If so any rec on types of fluids? Thanks for the help You guys are the best Guy :seeya :chevy

 

Low miles, but long years!

You have DexCool AF in the 96, and it is due by schedule to be changed. In my experience, it is way overdue. This should be a full flush, and the dealer has the correct machine to do this successfully. Do not use sealing pellets. Personally if no warranty was involved I would replace with green, but you will be fine with orange if there are no air leaks, the pressure properly maintained, and it is replaced every two years. Not sure what pressure cap is used in a 96 (or where located), but it should be replaced at this point with one that has a positive spring pressure vacuum release poppet.

I flush auto trans fluid every 25K. You only have 18, but again it's old. I would inspect the fluid and if it looks dark or smells burnt I would flush using a T-Tech machine. If it has never been done, you should really do this. A full flush and filter change is more important than the exact fluid, however if you tend to run hard or hot consider a synthetic replacement like Mobil 1 or similar.

Have your changed the oil in the diffy? Even with your low miles, if the factory oil is in there you would do well to change it to get the metal parts out from break in.

Same with PS fluid, I flush every year. You can try Valvoline, RedLine or GM winter PS fluid. Do not use ATF in your power steering.

For engine oil your car requires a synthetic (or an oil that meets GM 4718M, of which all are synthetic at this point). A good filter would be an AC, Mobil 1, Purolator pure one, K&N or many others excluding Fram and the cardboard end caps.

That's all I can think of at the momemt, I'm sure other will fill in and argue.

Good Luck,

Pete

 

i say get the transmission fluid changed, some people have had bad experiences with flushing an auto but considering that you only have 18K then your soft parts wouldnt be bad yet so it shouldnt be a problem. Most people change transmission fluid every 30k miles, by the book.

Of course, you should change your oil whenever you hit 5000mi (for synthetic).

Power steering, if you want, it shouldnt be bad. Likewise for diff. fluid, its supposed to last 100k. Brake fluid would be more important.

Is this a daily driver? If so you can change the antifreeze now, otherwise i say wait until spring. Antifreeze usually needs changing at 30K.

Other than the routine checks like oil level, coolant level and such there really isnt anything else i can think of. But i would check the timing/plugs.

 

If you have time over the winter and a place to do it ...Change every drop of every type of fluid in the car.
Transmission
Crankcase
Brake Fluid
Clutch
Differential
Anti Freeze
Grease Fittings
Fuel filters
Air Filter
Its called preventive maintenance, it will save you big bucks in the long run. I do mine once a year, if it needs it or not. Flush out all they systems.

 

Really? What kind of potential problems should one expect with a trans oil change?