alright,
this isn't exactly thirdgen related, but it's related to cars, so here goes. My girlfriend drives a 97' chevy prizim (the old geo crappers) neway, the thing was taken to the shop the other day cause the brake light was on (parkin brake) and the shop realized that her brake fluid was low, so the add fluid, no more light. They also noted that her transmission fluid was brown instead of the bright shiny red. I haven't gotten a chance to look at the car yet, to take a peak at the fluid, but heres the Q....if the fluid is brown, does this simply mean that it should be flushed nad filled? or is the transfilter bad? Another Q, is this a sign of a failing transmission. My bird had the fluid pushed out and in last year, and is doign good (except not working right now) but i've never noticed my fluid turning brown or anything, just wanna see where i should advise her to go. Thanks in advance.

fellas (and ladies) i already posted this on the tranny board, just thought i'd put it up here too to see if anyone in my ole' v6 community had any clues. Thanx again.

 

if you've never changed the fluid and filter now would be the time to do it. it seems to me newer cars tend to have darker looking fluid than in years past. i also know the fluid has changed over the years so maybe that's part of the reason.

 

Dark fluid doesn't necessarily indicate a problem with the transmission. Normal use can cause the fluid to get darker. If it smells burnt though, it may have gotten really hot at some point in time, and/or the transmission might have internal problems. In any case, I would also recommend a fluid and filter change.

 

Fluid and filter change.

This is something I would do "when in doubt". I don't see why a 97 Prizm would cook it's transmission... but maybe.

 

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Thanx for all the info. LIke stated before, since i hadn't smelled or looked at the fluid yet, i don't know...but, i'll be sure to check it out, and change the fluid...I'm doubting that it's burnt up, that car rarely pulls enough load to put stress on the tranny. Neway, For the sake of our cars, we have the radiator lined tranny coolers, and my thought for what would cause em to overheat would be excessive load, which is why trucks that are doing lots of towing are normally equipped with an external (seperate) transmission cooler to further lower the temperatures of the tranny fluid.