[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

The transmission oil was not changed. Owners manual says AT oil is sealed for life.

No oil has infinite life. My experience, on the AT Grand Vitara, is that changing AT oil improves shift quality. And the oil had definitely deteriorated at 80K kms. I now plan to change oil at 4 years/40-60K kms intervals.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4319459 (The First Grand Vitara on Team-BHP)

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-...ml#post4571121 (The First Grand Vitara on Team-BHP)

[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Sorry to learn that you had to cut your Sikkim trip short. But why drive to Kolkata to get the oil changed, when you could have done it in Siliguri itself?

The Siliguri workshop (or any workshop nearby) does not have stock of AT fluid.

Changing the vacuum modulator did not solve the growing sound. I left Siliguri in the morning and the growling sound continued at every gear change. I was not very confident in continuing, finally stopped at ghosh pukur toll plaza and the workshop is sending their tech team here to diagnose the issue. Waiting with all family in the car… very inconvenient. Reason sometimes I start questioning myself getting a hi tech car from mahindra. A superb car spoiled by incompetent workmanship. I got a booking for Xuv 700 but don’t think would go ahead. First the workmanship, secondly issues popping up after five years?

The AT issue popping up has no excuse. Hundreds of cars are taking the Rohini road every day. I have taken my wagon r Amt so many times. No over heat issue. Why would a torque converter with three people would have issues in going up?

[sagarpadaki]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

The AT issue popping up has no excuse. Hundreds of cars are taking the Rohini road every day. I have taken my wagon r Amt so many times. No over heat issue. Why would a torque converter with three people would have issues in going up?

Do not blame yourself for the choice of the car. It is not your mistake. Mahindra should have given a replacement schedule for the transmission fluid. I am sure if you flush all the old fluid and replenish with fresh one the car will be back on its feet.

Ensure that the ATF oil used by Mahindra is exact match to the manufacturer specification. If you put a different grade and spec of oil then you will be in for bigger trouble. The ATF spec should be mentioned in your user manual and it should match with the one on the ATF bottle letter to letter.

[Chhanda Das]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

The transmission oil was not changed. Owners manual says AT oil is sealed for life.

As our fellow Bhpians have mentioned earlier, "sealed for life" means something quite different from what is generally understood. A sealed for life or lifetime transmission oil means that the oil is good for the "lifetime" of the car which is often upto around the 10 year mark based on an annual drive of 10 thousand kilometres. I own a 2017 Creta 1.6 petrol with a torque converter automatic transmission or AT and Hyundai too says that the transmission oil does not need replacement during the lifetime of the car. But here is the issue. If the automatic transmission fluid (ATF) is not replaced periodically, the transmission would not last much longer than the lifetime of the car. Also, the transmission has drain bolts and a mechanism to top up the ATF if necessary. So even Hyundai knows that this "sealed for life" concept is a fantasy Otherwise, they would not have kept these provisions to top up and/or drain the ATF. And Hyundai also mentions the ATF specifications for my car. I am sure that Mahindra too has kept similar provisions in the AT gearbox of your car. However, please be careful because if you replace the ATF too late, that could get the AT gearbox to completely die faster since the dirt/debris that was earlier holding the gearbox together, while compensating for the worn components inside, could now get dislodged and block the passageways after interacting with the new ATF. So please replace the ATF as soon as possible.

Ideally, torque converter automatic transmissions in India, irrespective of the manufacturer, need to have the ATF replaced at around the 96-100 thousand kilometres mark if the car is driven in a relaxed manner or approximately at around the 50 thousand kilometres mark if the car is driven very abusively.

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS LIFETIME ATF

[Indian2003]

I have been looking around. The Isuzu and Volvo cars fitted withvthe Aisin Seiki boxes have a fluid change interval of around 50,000 km. What is so special about Mahindra that needs no fluid service?
My manual VW/ZF box is also filled for life but I replace around 200,000 km.

[ph03n!x]

Originally Posted by Indian2003

I have been looking around. The Isuzu and Volvo cars fitted withvthe Aisin Seiki boxes have a fluid change interval of around 50,000 km. What is so special about Mahindra that needs no fluid service?
My manual VW/ZF box is also filled for life but I replace around 200,000 km.

Not just Mahindra - even Toyota, who owns Aisin Seiki sells their auto boxes as sealed for life! Tata, Hyundai, Maruti - you name them, all their TC AT are called sealed for life. Who's life, I wonder...!

[yd_gli]

This whole "ATF sealed for life" is a bunch of BS by the OEMs. The only reason they want it this way is because they and their dealers are too lazy and incompetent to train their service technicians in India to do the job correctly. Why bother changing the oil? Let the customer run the gearbox until the oil is charred and by then the car is surely out of warranty. Then charge the poor customer to replace the gearbox. It's a win-win for the OEMs and their dealers.

[amritpal2489]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

This is a very relevant and pertinent post for us Hexa owners as well. Hexa’s six speed AT is also supposed to be sealed for life, as stated in the manual. This one does not get a transmission overheat light either. You have no way of deducing overheated ATF except for that typical burning smell. In other applications of this Punch Powerglide 6L50, oil change interval is usually 1.5L km. Interestingly, while the manual says ATF sealed for life, it also mentions what grade of fluid is used and the quantity.

I am yet to come across any Hexa owner who has changed the ATF. Any insights on this are welcome. My own car has done 1L+ km on the stock fluid.

I visited this thread specially to see the same for my Hexa. Did you get any updates regarding this?

[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by amritpal2489

I visited this thread specially to see the same for my Hexa. Did you get any updates regarding this?

I have some more information, ad update on this.

I drove the vehicle to Kolkata, it performed flawlessly, except, of course, occasional sound while shifting gear(no, its not happening all the time). Spoke to two workshops in Kolkata, both seemed pretty knowledgeable, and have handled AT transmission. Finally dropped the car at Maheshtala yesterday. the entire team including the manager and specialist who works on AT were waiting for me after the workshop is closed and took a test drive with me.

After taking test drive, they confirmed occasional noise is present which Siliguri workshop said normal.

They confirmed that procedure followed by Siliguri workshop is not right. The oil starts overflowing only when the operating temperature reaches between 55 degree C to 65 degree C, which they need to confirm by connecting laptop. Siliguri workshop laptop software was not working, and they just kept the car running and assumed it reached operating temperature and since no overflow, they topped it. The Kolkata workshop feels it was not required however they feel it wouldn't cause any issues. They are also confident that the sound is not related to AT based on their experience, they are yet to come across any AT issue in any Mahindra vehicle irrespective of age and usage, and they have no instruction from Mahindra to replace oil or top up oil.

Today they would involve experts from Mahindra and plant to diagnose the issue and update me.

[sridhar-v]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

The Siliguri workshop (or any workshop nearby) does not have stock of AT fluid.

Most service centers don't have the oil in stock. You either need to place an order or get the equivalent grade from retail channels.

Now let me utter a heresy:-
In an emergency you can top up the oil with any grade of fully synthetic AT transmission oil - provided you later on change the complete oil (using the double flush method I mentioned in the links) with the correct grade of oil.
But this is only for a driving emergency.

Changing the oil to another grade basically affects the seals and o-rings in older models.

[sumannandy]

Got the car back from workshop. they have done a detailed checking and here is the update according to them.

1. The condition of AT oil is good, it's not black. They have mentioned that the AT oil does not require change, and there is no instruction from Mahindra also to change the AT oil. No oil was changed.
2. They might have flashed the ECU/TCM.
3. The extra oil did not cause any issue
5. They checked all components of the drivetrain as per their protocol.

There was some loose connection near the hose for VGT, and it was resolved.

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

However according to them the oil turned dark/black. They advised me to get the oil changed asap.

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Got the car back from workshop. they have done a detailed checking and here is the update according to them.

1. The condition of AT oil is good, it's not black. They have mentioned that the AT oil does not require change, and there is no instruction from Mahindra also to change the AT oil. No oil was changed.

The two workshops seem to be contradicting each other.

[Turrrb0]

Originally Posted by ph03n!x

Who's life, I wonder...!

Haha! What they mean is sealed for the transmissions life, which is until the "sealed for life" fluid wears out.. . So, technically speaking they aren't wrong..

BMW ZF boxes are also supposedly sealed for life. But if I'm not wrong, I remember reading that ZF's own website mentions a drain interval for their transmissions, and sells the kit to change the fluids and gaskets/seals.

[GeeTee TSI]

Originally Posted by Artyom

Is this inspection also applicable to Dual Clutch Transmissions (Hyundai DCT) to be specific ?

Only if the DCT in question is a wet clutch DCT (which I don't think the Hyundai 7 speed DCT are)

[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The two workshops seem to be contradicting each other.

Yes they are contradicting. But the service center in kolkata seemed to be well equipped. They also have people who worked on AT.

Confusing for customers. Siliguri service center also changed my vacuum modulator which I feel was not required. Neither the top up… like discussed in this forum there was no leakage, where would the oil go?

The sound is still there but rare. I think it’s not coming from transmission, may be some other issues.

I had a 500 kms highway drive on Sunday, the car performed flawlessly as before.