Tranny fluid

[sailor86]

How often should tranny fluid be changed out? I've got a Mitsubishi 4-banger, front wheel drive. Also, should I routinely change out spark plugs and wires?

[shorod]

We'll need more details on the car and your driving habits to answer the first question. Is the transmission an automatic or manual? What year is the car? How many miles are on it? Have you owned it for all the miles? Have you checked the maintenance portion of your owner's manual or possibly the separate maintenance guide? Are most of the miles on the current transmission fluid stop and go city driving, or primarily highway miles? Do you have a transmission dipstick so you can check the general condition and level of the fluid currently?

As for spark plugs and wires, yes, these are a routine maintenance item. Depending on the age of the car, it may or may not have platinum spark plugs in it. Again, your driving style will have some impact on the expected life of the plugs and wires. If it has copper spark plugs, then you may need to replace them ever 30k miles. The wires may last 60k miles. If it has platinum tipped spark plugs, the manufacturer may suggest they will be good for 100kmiles, but real-world is probably more like 60k. Depending on the quality of the spark plug wires installed, you might consider changing the plug wires at this interval as well.

Also, depending on the age of the car, it may use a distributor cap and rotor. These too are regular maintenance items that should be inspected every time you change the plugs and replaced when you replace the wires as a general rule of thumb.

-Rod

[Mavrick14]

Tranny fluid depends on the driving your doing.. lots of hot, city driving then change it atleast every 40k (km). If mostly highway and no towing, do it every 80k (km).

Plugs and wires.. depends on what year of car but most new stuff is usually good to 80-100k (km) on the plugs.