Many owners and users of cars, SUVs and luxury or light trucks are totally ignorant of the fact that the transmissions of those vehicles also need to be serviced regularly. I know many of you reading his piece will be asking how regular is regularly???
Manufacturers of automobile generally recommend that modern vehicles be serviced at every five thousand kilometers interval.
However, given the very challenging circumstances that vehicles are subjected to on many of our traffic congestion cum pothole defined urban roads, and the particularly dusty roads, I generally recommend that vehicles be serviced between three thousand five hundred and four thousand kilometers interval. And many of you know I'm fastidious about motorists using the right spec of engine oil by the manufacturers for vehicle lube services.
The correct specifications for the vehicles imported from North America can easily be either on the cover of the vehicles cap or at the top engine oil dipstick. Although, as a rule of thumb, vehicles from about 2014 to 2012 will likely recommend SAE 5-W-20, while vehicles from about 2011 to 2000 will recommend SAE O-W-30. The irony is that many of our high Street oil marketing majors do not actually stock these right specs. The best grade they usually stock is SAE 0-W-40 whose refinement quality falls far short of the manufacturers recommended refinement grades for many vehicles on our roads today. Considering the extenuating conditions under which automobiles are used in the world. I have recommended a reduced mileage regime for lube services here.
The issues of the right lubricants for transmission is even much trickier because some manufacturers have dedicated ATF fluid recommended for their vehicles.
The peculiar problem of getting the right type of ATF for vehicles with CVT(continuous variable transmission), is very troubling. Many technicians don't even know that there is a special ATF fluid for CVT transmission.
