How much longer does a 4T65E have to go?

[Matt Cramer]

So, my daily driver Buick Regal (3800 SC motor and the 4T65E transaxle) has passed the 160K miles mark, and I've been putting 20K miles or more on it a year.. This has me pondering how long this transaxle has until mean time to failure - some people throw around numbers like 180K or 200K lifespans, which doesn't really seem that bad for a FWD transaxle behind a supercharged V6. But it does make me wonder just how much time I have to prepare for a transmission failure - and whether trying to get a junkyard transaxle and rebuilt it at my leisure is an absurd idea or a perfectly reasonable precaution. Any GM transmission expects care to weigh in?

[anotheridiot]

Not an expert, I can just say that now that you are talking about it, the failure is bound to happen.

I would plan for the entire rebuild though, all that work to get the tranny out, just to consider having to do it again.

[squirrel]

Unfortunately the mean time to failure doesn't tell you much about the actual time to failure of your transmission.

You could do the Boy Scout thing, and be prepared. Or you could find something else to drive, when it finally goes. Or just not worry about it, and it'll be fine.

[AndyB]

Take a sample of trans fluid and send it off for testing/inspection?

[silver_bullet]

As long as the fluid looks and smells good, maintain fluid and filter change intervals... make sure that the transmission doesn't overheat (we installed a plate type cooler on our GTP, bypassing the factory one, with a remote filter unit... takes longer for the car to warm up, but, we don't have issues with it). ChevybyTroy may have a better answer...

[Matt Cramer]

As long as the fluid looks and smells good, maintain fluid and filter change intervals... make sure that the transmission doesn't overheat (we installed a plate type cooler on our GTP, bypassing the factory one, with a remote filter unit... takes longer for the car to warm up, but, we don't have issues with it). ChevybyTroy may have a better answer...

Thanks for the encouragement - it's coming up on another fluid change time. Good to know they can be kept around a while.

[anotheridiot]

do you do the flush or dump and fill 3-4 quarts?

[silver_bullet]

We won't flush.... dump, remove and clean pan, replace filter, and refill.... have heard the horror stories from flushing....

[Matt Cramer]

My plan was to do a plain fluid and filter change too, not a flush.

[Dan Barlow]

I change the filter and put the old fluid back in because I've seen friends create those horror stories .