Manual transmision fluid normaly does not need to be changed for life of vehicle?

[4x4junkie]

Totally normal.

I changed my Ranger's fluid at 30K and it definitely already had a blackish color to it. What's more odd though is at the next 30K (60K) the fluid was still very pink. Fluid's cheap, so I replaced it anyway (truck had been seeing some towing duty).

 

[adsm08]

I think the original stuff gets all the break-in junk in it and gets dark quickly. We see this on transmissions that use LV too. The first round is black by 10k but the next round is still bright red when it is due to be changed.

Postin' from teh Galaxy

 

[4x4junkie]

^^
Makes sense.

 

[fixizin]

... Even though I removed the fill plug when cold some fluid started dribbling out. I never understood why this happens as my garage floor seems to be level.

Floor might be level, but Rangers tend to lean LEFT (like Obummer), which is same side FILL plug is on. Measure from floor to tops of fender openings to determine your "lean"... or your "list" if you're a Navy type.

 

[4x4junkie]

More likely it was just overfilled a hair. Not going to hurt anything, especially on a manual.

 

[SumoPsycho]

I bought my truck used with 100k, so I was assuming it needed a change, but after removing the fill plug some fluid started dribbling out and it was a nice pink color so I left it.
It must have been changed as I would not think the fluid with 100k would look like this. Even though I removed the fill plug when cold some fluid started dribbling out. I never understood why this happens as my garage floor seems to be level.

I've rebuilt a ton of manual transmissions, and you should change the fluid. At what mileage depends on how hard the truck was used. In the manual trans there is metal wearing against metal so there will be small flakes of metal in the fluid. You will see this when you remove the drain plug, it has a magnetic tip that will catch most of the flakes but not all of it. Clean the magnet before putting the plug back in.

Remember fluid is cheep and easy to change.
Buy a hand pump that fits in a gallon jug for around $5-$10, this makes filling much easer.

When you fill the trans with fluid you fill it till fluid comes out of the fill hole, if you put the plug back in right away the next time the plug is removed fluid will come out as long as trans has not been leaking.

 

[veefer800canuck]

change it. fluid is cheaper than a transmission.

last time I did mine was when I changed the clutch. since I had the shifter off anyhow, when it was time to refill the transmission, i poured in the new fluid through the shifter hole until it ran out of the filler hole. much easier than using a pump.