I upgraded my engine from gen three to gen four in the process I serviced the trans. I drained the fluid at 189K it was black I suspect it had not been done before. I drove the car for about 8k so drained it this weekend and it came out grey silver slightly blueberry greyish. Planning to do it again till fluid it red. Now if you look at the pic there is tiny metal shavings I suspect this is normal wear on the trans of this age or am i looking a potential trans failure. only issue on trans is on occasion I hear a clunk when the engine starts of stops. its rare but I have heard other folks experience the same thing so I suspect this is normal the sound that is.
You don't have to change the fluid again, just keep it. It doesn't have to be bright red. There's nothing more you can do to prolong that transaxle, if it fails (which nobody knows when this will occur), then you replace it. Other than that, just enjoy the car. Don't change the fluid for another 60k+ miles
