John writes:
>>I always remember what the owners manual of my '65 Valiant said about the
>>transmission. "The Torqueflite transmission requires no servicing
>>throughout the life of the vehicle". This was in the era of the first 5
>>year - 50,000 mile warranties.
I had 1974 Plymouth with a Torqueflite from new. The owners manual
pretty much repeated what is stated above and I took it to heart.
No filter or oil changes unless the car was used for severe service
such as police or taxi.
On a ski trip to Vermont the over night temps dropped to 5dF. That
morning the car didn't go into reverse right away. The transmission
made a moaning sound until the car warmed for 2-3 minutes.
It cleared shortly after.
After I was home I opened the factory service manual under
"Troubleshooting". Suggested fix: Change the oil and filter.
Since the car had already gone 200K on the original transmission oil
and filter I took this to mean I was now in the "severe service"
region. <grin>
With fresh oil and filter the transmission reverted to it's former
flawless performance. Sadly, at 240K the floors were so rotted I
decided to it was time to junk the car. I wonder who's using that
tranny today. :-)
Cheers!
Tom O'Malley
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