How regiments are you with your truck’s maintenance schedule? Is it something you even think about? Trucks are expensive, so a dedicated maintenance schedule is a must to ensure your truck is around for a long time. Sure, most of us think about oil changes, but there is much more to a thorough maintenance regimen, Take for instance your truck’s transmission fluid. How long has it been lubricating your rig’s transmission?

I reached out to Amsoil to get their take on transmission maintenance, and they recommend that you follow your truck manufacturer’s recommendations about how often to change the automatic transmission fluid. They state that requirements can vary depending on the year, make, and model. Also, maintenance needs can vary if your driving habits are a daily driver, or you tow heavy quite often.

Draining the fluid by dropping the pan has good and bad points. Good: It allows you to change most of the fluid and the filter. Bad: It does not get all of the old fluid out of the system and is a messy job

Regardless of how you use your truck, the transmission fluid should be changed per your truck manufacturer’s recommendation. But should you drop the pan and replace the fluid and filter or is a transmission flush a better option?

Dropping the transmission pan and changing the fluid allows you to drain all of the old fluid out of the pan, swap out the filter, and add new fluids back into the system. This is a usual maintenance service that has a downside. While it gets a majority of the old fluid out, it does leave behind some old fluid (the torque converter, fluid cooler, and transmission-cooler lines will not drain with this method) that will immediately mix with the new fluid.

Flushing the system has its good and bad points. Good: It replaces all of the fluid and is much cleaner than dropping the pan. Bad: It does not allow for a new transmission fluid filter.

To get all of the old fluid out of the transmission, you need to perform a system flush rather than a simple change. A transmission flush disposes of all existing fluid in the pan as well as the cooler, cooler lines, and torque converter. However, there is a downside to a flush.

A fluid flush is accomplished when new fluid is introduced to the transmission via a machine that circulates new fluid into the entire system. While this does remove all the old fluid and replace it with new, it does not allow for a new filter to be installed. This means that your new fluid will be run through a dirty filter. However, before a flush, some shops will recommend a filter change with the flush which will add to the cost.

Finding an Amsoil dealer or care center to help with your oil and transmission fluid needs is easy.

Regardless of which process you choose, using a quality fluid should be a priority. There are many variations of transmission fluid on the market, and if you are planning to handle a fluid change on your own, Amsoil’s website makes getting the right fluid easy. If you are thinking that a flush might be the better option, you can also find an Amsoil dealer and/or vehicle care center near you that can handle a complete fluid flush.