Auto tranny fluid flush?

M

msommers

New member
I'll be rolling over 100,000km here soon and wondering if it's time to drain the old AT fluid. I don't have any problems with the shifting but intuitively it seems I should get it changed.

Oddly Toyota doesn't list it under any of their service schedules!

Thoughts? Suggestions?
 
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I was told to never change the fluid. some kind of special fluid. I'm thinking this is the reason that its not in the scheduled booklet. Thats my 2 cents.......
 
me i would change it
but thing is if you wait to long to change it you can cause problems as well
with 100k id still do it but that's just me.....
 
msommers said:
I'll be rolling over 100,000km here soon and wondering if it's time to drain the old AT fluid. I don't have any problems with the shifting but intuitively it seems I should get it changed.

Oddly Toyota doesn't list it under any of their service schedules!

Thoughts? Suggestions?
Click to expand...

If I keep mine for awhile I will change it at 120K MILES or 193K Kilometers. I am a firm believer in correct maintenance as prescribed by OEM engineers. Even if I don't "feel" it's the right interval I defer to they guys who designed it because they know many things I don't know. That's my thoughts. Why? Even though they don't list it on their schedule my driving habits are between "normal" and "robust" let's say, and 120K miles is about max after polling a few other guys I know in the industry.
 
1engineer said:
If I keep mine for awhile I will change it at 120K MILES or 193K Kilometers. I am a firm believer in correct maintenance as prescribed by OEM engineers. Even if I don't "feel" it's the right interval I defer to they guys who designed it because they know many things I don't know. That's my thoughts. Why? Even though they don't list it on their schedule my driving habits are between "normal" and "robust" let's say, and 120K miles is about max after polling a few other guys I know in the industry.
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On the Tacoma, you can't change all of the fluid at once, only about 1/2. I've been getting my Taco's serviced every 75K. Is the procedure the same for the 5th gen?

David
 
In some ways I'm of the mantra, if it isn't broke don't fix it. But I really want to keep up the maintenance of this thing because I'm driving it until it dies *knock on wood*.

I've also read a few horror stories about the fluid getting changed and screwing things up when it was totally fine before. Maybe a flush screws things but I can't see a drain and fill with the exact same fluid causing issues.

Am I over-thinking this or is my skepticism justified?
 
At 62,000 miles, no I would not flush mine. What type service you running? High speed, heat, heavy loads?
What I did was to install an external, in-line, oil filter. Now I can service that filter depending on how hard I operate. Filter holds about 1/2 qt. and if I want to refresh the additives I might also drain/refill the pan, another couple quarts.

The WS fluid is good indefinitely (sitting in a sealed container) in a dry, cool environment. Your trans fluid became contaminated (not ruined) early, like its first 5,000 miles. Depending on how much heat it's experiencing, it could slowly over time wear out it's additive package. Or if it saw really high temps it could rapidly wear out.

I'm just not a fan of flushing the converter.
 
msommers said:
Oddly Toyota doesn't list it under any of their service schedules!

Thoughts? Suggestions?
Click to expand...

I don't know what year yours is, or if Canada is different. But my 2012 maintenance schedule DOES call for "replace automatic transmission fluid" at 60,000 miles under the "additional maintenance items for special operating conditions" section.

I went ahead and had mine done at the dealer when mine was at 60k miles. It cost about $250.00 plus $20.00 for a rental car for the day.

I was satisfied with doing this, that way it should be covered by my extended warranty if it fails before 125k miles.

I am not a big fan of flushing every drop of fluid in the trans. on pervious vehicles I have just dropped the pan and replaced the filters and refilled the fluid with new every 50k miles or so. That way at least most of the fluid is exchanged. I am new to Toyota but seems that transmission fluid should be changed at some point. Just like any other fluid or lubricant including brake fluid and power steering fluid.

Mine would be included under special operation conditions due to the "heavy vehicle loading" that I use my vehicle for.
 
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It's a 2010 SR5. I'd say 80% of those kilometers I've put on are highway cruising because of my job. It's not even weighed down much at all and I don't really do any conventional offroading either.

Interesting the US service schedule has it but not the Canadian one... Oddly it doesn't say anything about changing the oil in the differentials and transfer case either, which I've already done and will continue to do. Bizarre why these things are missing, and yet our oil change interval is every 8,000km (5,000miles) vs. the American 16,000km (10,000miles).

Hopefully the link works for you guys (go to full schedule):
Xtime Menu Manager
 
Well like the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It is your truck, if you feel the need to have it done, by all means do it. It certainly won't hurt.

But be careful to make sure it is done properly, that it why in my case for this issue, I took mine to a Toyota dealer service dept. I had read up on the procedure on another post on this site and decided not to take it on myself.

If something goes wrong, I have a receipt from the dealer.

The transmission on this vehicle does not even have a dipstick, and to check the fluid level you have to have the temp just "right" and remove a plug on the bottom of the pan to see if it drips out, so it is one thing about the 4Runner that makes me a little nervous.

Peace of mind is worth whatever it costs to get it done by someone who knows the transmission better than I do.
 
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