Changing Your Transmission Fluid

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Changing your transmission Fluid is something that should be done as often as your vehicle manufacturer recommends, if not more often. Check your owner’s manual for the frequency that your transmission fluid should be changed and take note of both the normal and severe service tables.

The severe service table will often recommend more frequent fluid and belt changes due to extreme operating circumstances such as high temperatures, hauling heavy loads or high speeds. It’s possible that you should be following the severe service suggestions for their vehicles even if it doesn’t seem like it.

Your transmission fluid is definitely a fluid that should be changed more frequently if you use your vehicle for towing or hauling or in high temperatures. If your transmission fluid overheats it will lose most of its ability to properly lubricate the bearings, gears and friction surfaces in your transmission.

Luckily, changing your transmission fluid is an easy DIY job!

Changing your transmission fluid is almost as easy as changing your engine oil. Just drain, refill and check the fluid level!

Draining your transmission fluid first takes locating the drain plug. If your vehicle is equipped with a drain plug, it will be at the bottom of the transmission pan. Many vehicles do not have drain plugs so you have to remove the transmission pan to remove the old fluid.

Next, you have to refill your transmission. We always recommend using the factory recommended transmission fluid to refill the transmission. Your owner’s manual should include an estimation of how much fluid you will need. Once you’ve got the right fluid you need to locate the filling location. Your transmission may have a fill plug, you may be able to fill it through the dipstick tube, or there may be a fill plug and standpipe in the transmission pan.

Checking the fluid level is the most important part of any changing any fluid. Checking your transmission fluid level is the most difficult fluid level to check on your vehicle since it varies significantly with the fluid temperature. Also, most automatic transmission fluid levels need to be checked with the engine idling and in neutral. If you’re lucky enough to have a transmission dipstick you can check the fluid level easily once everything is warmed up. Other transmissions will have a fill hole or standpipe that you allow fluid to run out of until the transmission reaches a specified temperature.

In this video, we changing the transmission fluid on a 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe. This car has a fill hole that you pump the new transmission fluid in through. The fluid level is correct when the engine is idling and the transmission fluid is between 122 and 140 degrees and it just trickles out of the fill hole. To check the transmission fluid level on your specific vehicle, check your owner’s manual or an authorized repair manual.

If you find a low fluid level in your transmission before you change the fluid then add BlueDevil Transmission Sealer along with your new fluid to seal any leaks in your transmission.

You can find BlueDevil Transmission Sealer at any of our partnering local auto parts stores like: