My 2002 Grand Am has 40,000 miles on it & it's in pretty good shape.  The car has a sealed transmission in it.  According to the owners manual, it has lifetime fluid with no need to change it or worry about the filter.  Anybody have thoughts or suggestions on this ?  I'm an old timer and feel after 18 years or so it might be time to change the trans fluid.  How long is the original fluid good for ?  Is ok to just go to an oil change place and get the fluid changed ?  Lots of stuff on google about it but,  what's the real truth ?  I don't want to change it and create any problems here.  Comments welcome.

Changing the oil and transmission filter on this transmission is a royal pain in the butt, as the attached video will tell you. For a job like this, I am willing to pay someone else to get dirty.

I would agree that after 18 years that the transmission has probably absorbed it's share of moisture via condensation and needs changing. Changing it is not a problem as long as you take it to shop that knows what they are doing.

 

 

 

What Frosty says is true enough! That said, no this is not a sealed transmission! It has a pan, but the pain is the same pain that any of the transmissions built after late “70s” had! GM was to cheap to put in a drain plug! So you need a really big spill pan when you drop the pan. Basically you take the bolts loose in a manner that drops one corner of the pan to act like a pour spout! My advice is if you change the transmission fluid yourself or if you go to a good shop, drill the pan and put in a drain plug for the next time!

And yes at 40,000 the fluid is pretty much on the ragged edge! If anyone tells you different, they don’t have a clue as to how the transmission fluid additive package works! GM sets this standard to CYTA! Nothing else! They what to keep you out of the drivetrain, period! Will till the warranty is up after that they don’t care!

I would recommend you do a drain fill, don’t change the filter yet, run 50 - 100 miles change it again! Run it another 50 miles, drain it change the filter and fill with new fluid again. Oil changes in a transmission only get about 2/3 of the fluid out. So each time you put in new fluid it get contaminated with the remaining old fluid, which immediately degrades the new fluid. It takes about three flush changes to get a good oil change.

I would also recommend you use Dextron IV as the new fluid!