If you drop some ATF out, it's likely to be well dark in colour if it is in there from the factory. The Autobox on the D3 is much more robust than the 5hp and mine was perfect at 230K+ miles when I sold it but it got 60K fluid changes.
Plenty others have also had high miles without issue on the original fluid, maybe I wasted my money, I'll never know. From memory, they dropped the Pan to change it rather than use the machine.
If you have lots of receipts present and no mention of ATF, it's highly unlikely it was ever changed. Most Dealers will still tell you it is filled with lifetime fluid and doesn't need changing. ZF who make the box say change it.
I would first check the fluid level is correct which needs to be done at a particular gearbox temperature, I'm not familar with the details as I always got my local dealer to change the ATF. I'm sure you'll find it on the web.
If you're fluid level is low, topping it up to the correct level may solve your issues without any big expense or risk of making it worse.
|