I took my car (70K km) for a change of transmission oil, mechanic asked me to leave the car for 2-3 hours, I returned to the shop after two hours and asked if it was done. He said done, paid $300.00 asked for invoice he said to come back after two weeks.
Now I have a feeling he didn't do a thing…is there any way to check if he actually changed oil?
Thanks
most cars dont have gearbox dipsticks anymore….
only way to REALLY tell is to either drain it, or undo the filling hole and check through there to check colour/condition of oil.
Which car?
If it's a Nissan with CVT avoid the embarrassment and don't reply.
Looks like the mechanic also took your shift key.
Holden Cruze 2014
Oh jesus.,….just run it til it does. It won't be long.
In my experience they have another 20ish-k km left if it just had it's 70k service.
I go on reputation…i had my car's auto fluid filters changed and I asked for a recommenedation from my normal mechanic… i would have preferred to have him do it but he said a specialist would be better.
I had a chat to the guy who did it… he seemed like a straight up guy with a business that's been there for decades.
So with that, I didnt bother to check whether he actually 'did it'… why would I?
would i like to believe he stooged me for a few hours and $200 and change?: I really doubt it.
dont take your car to someone who gives you doubts.
As already said, most cars don't have transmission fluid dipsticks. Did you read the post?
he said to come back after two weeks
This is a good sign. You can't fully drain a transmission and refill, only do about 50% at a time. Usual procedure is change half, run it through for a little while, then change half a second time which means most of the fluid is now relatively new and clean.
There won't be any other way to check since there isn't usually a transmission dipstick, but the info you've given points to a properly done job so far.
lol… Ok, champ. Don't give up your day job to become a mechanic.
Does this method change the top half, bottom half, front half or back half of the oil?
You know, no matter how hard I try I can only get the first half
@ Switchblade88. Please you are kidding. Never in my long life have I ever heard of that.
A proper mechanic would have a machine to flush out the old fluid and fill with new.
Also most auto boxes require the correct oil.
I ain’t no professional mechanic but It wouldn’t surprise me if that was the factory procedure for some French cars…
/s
It is for a lot of Euro cars. You hook up what I can only describe as kidney dialysis machine, suck out the old and replace with the new. The dipstick tube is often the drain tube and the old oil gets sucked out via the dipstick tube and there is no drain plug in the sump.
Well that was a fail on my part. The joke was that some French cars might require the switchblade88 version of a trans oil change.
@mapax: Nah, French cars don't last long enough to get transmission oil changes, it's usually time to replace the whole transmission by the time it gets to that point.
No this is common for home mechanics. If you flush a transmission you can use about 15 litres of fluid. A typical auto transmission holds between 7 to 9 litres. So you will be paying a lot more for this not only in the excess fluid which is not cheap especially if you have to use the manufacturer’s fluid, can be $20 a litre, but also for the specialist equipment. And you can end up dislodging gunk that can block channels. By just draining the fluid, you change about 3 litres then drive for a while and repeat. Usually you repeat it twice so most fluid is replaced. The other alternative which is what I did was to get them to drop the pan which means removing the cover, changing the fluid which is around 3 or 4 litres or about 40% of the total capacity and change the filter and gasket. They can then drive it a bit, you don’t need two weeks to mix the fluids, a few km would do and undo the bolt , drain and refill.
If the mechanic did change the filter then there should have been an item on the invoice for a transmission filter kit. I would ask them if they did change it. Otherwise it sounds like they just undid the bolt on the bottom of the pan and drained some fluid.
Thank you! However since the filter is buried inside the transmission it likely wouldn't have been changed - that requires essentially a full teardown and rebuild which isn't cost effective.
@BandB
A proper mechanic would have a machine to flush out the old fluid and fill with new
Nope. A transmission specialist might, but a regular mechanic won't do anything more than a drain/fill/drain/fill. You can't empty the entire system without a full disassembly - it's not like your engine oil sump.
Guess you best tell my mechanic as he has a machine and he is not a transmission specialist. As for your other claim You can't empty the entire system without a full disassembly. Sorry but you are wrong again. Some mechanics will disconnect the lines to the transmission cooler and flush the system.
The filter as you call it, actually it's more a strainer than a filter is a 3 minute job after removing the pan by removing two screws. At least it is in my vehicle.
BTW. My mechanic also has a machine to flush the cooling system. Does that make him a radiator specialist or is he just a good mechanic?
We had a cheats way in the 70's. Take off the cooler pipe coming from the pump side of the auto & use an adapter to put it in your drain bin; it has to be clear. Turn on the motor, do not rev it & keep your hand on the key to get ready to turn off the motor as soon as you see no more oil in the tub. Did I mention you have to be quick? Before serious damage can be had. Luckily, I have a certificate to fix autos :p
You can pay a 2nd mechanic to drain, check the oil and refill.
But then you have to pay a 3rd mechanic to make sure the 2nd mechanic did their job, and so on.
Old trans oil dark and burnt looking. New oil bright and clean looking.
What ^ said. Should be clear and bright red/pink colour.
Most cars these days don't have transmission dip sticks, some do.
Keep your invoice handy, if transmission issues should arise as a result of a dodgy transmission service (or lack thereof) then that piece of paper may be your saving grace if legal action should be required….however I very much doubt that will ever happen.
There is this thin stick like thing you can pull from your car which will reveal the fluid. I only get it changed when it looks bad.
If your oil was already clean then you pretty much just wasted your money.