tranny maint???

[95concord]

Hey guys, I've had this concord for about 5 years now and I'm approaching 120k miles (I try not to drive that much since it doesn't get great mileage).  I was just thumbing through the maintenance book and it says to have the belts on the tranny realigned every 20 thousand miles.  Is this something I should stick to?  I haven't ever heard of this kind of maintenance on a transmission.  I've had it for almost 60 thousand miles now and not done this, is it critical? or just one of those things that they want you to do in order to make the dealer more $$$

[squat]

That car was made during the 'horribly bad reliability/quality' period in the mid 90s.  I knew someone that had a 300 and it ran forever but he did every single thing on the maintenance.  I also know someone that had a stratus and the only thing he did was change the oil and it blew 2 transmissions in the first 100k miles.  If I were you I'd go through the maintenance book and find everything you're supposed to do and then have them do it, especially the things that you are overdue for.

[95concord]

That car was made during the 'horribly bad reliability/quality' period in the mid 90s.  I knew someone that had a 300 and it ran forever but he did every single thing on the maintenance.  I also know someone that had a stratus and the only thing he did was change the oil and it blew 2 transmissions in the first 100k miles.  If I were you I'd go through the maintenance book and find everything you're supposed to do and then have them do it, especially the things that you are overdue for.

So yer telling me that if I do all the maint on the car it'll last forever?  I find that hard to believe.  I'd think that it'll be well past done in another couple years and then I can get myself a cheap good mpg car.  I am going to do the tranny maintenance though, having to rebuild one of those would suck.

[flint]

Is it so hard to believe that an auto if properly maintained can last an indefinite amount of time?  Hell when I hit the trails there's a guy there almost every weekend that's driving around in a 1964 jeep.  He only uses it on the trails and he's had to replace a few things but nothing too serious.  Cars are solid machines.

[06Hemiman]

Before getting this 06 I had an 04 Ram that I put close to 230k miles on.  The transmission went out at 80, needless to say I was a bit pissed.  I wanted a manual when I bought it but they didn't have any on the lot.  So I talked to the techs they had there repairing my trans and the guy said that the trans was solid but you had to adjust the belts every couple of years or so.  So I did that and for the next 150k miles the trans was perfect through all the beating I put on it.

[hemiram]

Before getting this 06 I had an 04 Ram that I put close to 230k miles on.  The transmission went out at 80, needless to say I was a bit pissed.  I wanted a manual when I bought it but they didn't have any on the lot.  So I talked to the techs they had there repairing my trans and the guy said that the trans was solid but you had to adjust the belts every couple of years or so.  So I did that and for the next 150k miles the trans was perfect through all the beating I put on it.

That's pretty typical of those older transmissions.  They were well build but they needed more maintenance than most auto transmissions at the time and most people didn't know that so they never did the maint.  Then when the transmission blew on them they get pissed.  The new transmissions are much better for that kind of thing.

[hemibob]

I remember them too.  It's really not any different than the old old transmissions.  It's just that the engines put out so much less hp back then that the tranny would last 100k miles and not be that bad, plus there were a lot more manuals out there that didn't need that kind of maintenance.  Chrysler was late to the maintenance free transmission game and it's costing them today in percieved reliability issues.  Do your maintenance 95, that car needs it.

[raman noodles]

The CTDs back in the 90s were pretty much bullet proof.  That meant the transmissions were great too.  That's one advantage of buying a truck that has to have good reliability or it loses market share.

[man o jeep]

The CTDs back in the 90s were pretty much bullet proof.  That meant the transmissions were great too.  That's one advantage of buying a truck that has to have good reliability or it loses market share.

Aren't autos on the ctd a pretty new thing?  Manuals used to be the rule, not the exception up until about 5 years ago.  Same is true for the wrangler.

[95concord]

Just got back from the stealership for the maintenance.  That was 600$ well spent   The mechanic said that the tranny was still looking good when he did the swap but one of the belts needed to be replaced.  Plus they had to redo a bunch of fluids, new spark plugs, everything that they could think of.  All in all I think I'd have a hard time selling this car for much more than 600$ so it bugs me to put that kind of cash into it.  But at the same time I know I couldn't buy a car that's in as good a shape as this one is for 600$ so to me it's worth a lot more.

[dodger098]

600$ is a pretty steep regular maintenance bill for a car.  You must've had them do everything.  At least now you have some piece of mind.  It would suck for you to not do the 100$ tranny maintenance and then have it go and cost you 2k to rebuild.

[hemibob]

Usually it's spread out over time though.  You spend 30$ this time, next time it's 50$, after that it's 30$ again, then it's 100$.  Over the course of a few years 600$ isn't that bad.  I think he got off cheap.

600$ is a pretty steep regular maintenance bill for a car.  You must've had them do everything.  At least now you have some piece of mind.  It would suck for you to not do the 100$ tranny maintenance and then have it go and cost you 2k to rebuild.

[gman]

I agree, 600$ for only doing oil changes for years is getting off cheap.  If that thing starts to fall apart on you the only person to blame is yourself.  You have to take responsibility for taking care of your vehicle when you buy it.  If you can't do that then you shouldn't buy it in the first place.

[moparman]

600$ is pretty steep to me.  To change a bunch of fluids and adjust a belt for 600$ is a crime.

[hemibob]

600$ is pretty steep to me.  To change a bunch of fluids and adjust a belt for 600$ is a crime.

You're forgetting how much money you have to spend on it over time.  It seems like he hasn't done anything but oil changes for a few years, over the course of a few years you'd spend that much maintaining a car, especially a chrysler made in the 90s.