Dealership Transmission Fluid Change?

Hobson

Hobson

New member
I recently got my oil changed at a Toyota Dealership and asked them to change the trans fluid and I was told "we don't do that, thats asking for transmission failure." Is this normal? I have read on here that most people change it at 100,000 mile intervals.

07 Sport V8 4WD 130,000 miles.

Opinions?
 
Register to hide this ad
lots of people believe if its not broke, dont fix it with transmissions. Could dislodge something to cause issues. Having said that, personally if its never been drained before i'd be afraid.
 
Drain and fill is a good idea, trans flush is a bad idea IMHO. I had the dealer do it with no issues and a shop flushed my wife's and killed the tranny.
 
Changing transmission fluid

I read on here where a guy disconnected the pressure side hose connected to the transmission cooler up front, put the car on jack stands, started the vehicle and put it in drive in order to get the fluid pumping. He measured 5 quarts coming out and put 5 quarts of new transmission fluid back in through the fill tube or something like that, maybe a couple quarts at a time? I am entertaining something like this, probably do the 5 quarts then drive the vehicle for a couple months for evaluation on whether to do it again?
 
ive got the same 4runner and ive done a drain and refill twice on mine in the last 2k miles. got it at 70k miles, had never been done before, so i did it twice to cycle some clean fluid through it.

you dont have a dipstick, it uses WS fluid and has a fill port on the side of the trans. its also supposed to be filled a certain way based on the trans fluid temp, and is a huge pain in the ass to do. if you miss the window it can take hours for the trans to cool down to the correct temp again, i dont play that game i just measure what i drain out and put the same amount back in. have been doing it for years with 0 issues on plenty of cars

if i remember correctly i got just over 2 quarts out of mine each time when i drained it
 
a flush with that many miles on it could do more harm than good. suggest you drain, drop pan to replace filter, refill. drive it a few miles, drain, refill. drive it another few miles again, drain, refill. By about the third time of doing this, you'll have cycled through the old fluid and end up with nice clean fluid again.
 
Just had mine flushed at the dealer at 86XXX miles. I didn't notice it shifting hard before, but noticed how smooth it was after. The service adviser said they have never killed one of these transmissions with a flush. He said they don't "backflush" like many other shops will do, which often kills them.
 
I am going through the same dilema? My 04 V8 has 166,000 miles and has never had any transmission oil changes. The dealer said they do not do a drain and fill. They do a complete flush with a flushing machine and recommend that service even though the manual does not say that. The cost for the dealer flush is 300.00. The 4Runner shifts just fine right now and I am under the impression that you dont fix anything thats not broken, however it seems to me that an engine with 166,000 miles would like some fresh tranny oil in there!
 
Last edited:
The dealer said they do not do a drain and fill. They do a complete flush with a flushing machine and recommend that service even though the manual does not say that.
Click to expand...

I don't use the dealer. I go to a transmission shop a couple towns over. They do NOT recommend flushes - only drain and fill. When I inquired about the tranny service at my dealer...they said the 4runner uses WS fluid (which is true)...and that it NEVER needs to be changed (which I don't believe is a good idea).
 
Mike, where is the tranny shop in NH and how much do they charge? Should I do this three times at the tranny shop or just leave it alone? very confusing with all the different opinions on this!!!

1. Leave it alone - its a sealed unit and does not need to be changed
2. Do a drain and fill- never a flush
3. Dealer- do a flush on our flushing machine only
 
I had the dealer just do it on mine, with 74k. He said they don't really like to do it past 75k miles if it's never been done before.

Transmission seems to be even smoother than it was before, however, they didn't lube the driveshafts enough so I'm still getting the occasional clunk. If spring ever shows up I'll get under there and do it myself.
 
I did a fluid exchange by letting the tranny pump out the old fluid as I added new fluid until what was coming out was all new fluid. Then checking the fluid level per the link provided above. It takes 2 people to do it correctly and by letting the tranny do the work like it always does it will not hurt it. I did mine at 100k 1.5 years ago and it is smoother than before.
 
Gatafly said:
I did a fluid exchange by letting the tranny pump out the old fluid as I added new fluid until what was coming out was all new fluid. Then checking the fluid level per the link provided above. It takes 2 people to do it correctly and by letting the tranny do the work like it always does it will not hurt it. I did mine at 100k 1.5 years ago and it is smoother than before.
Click to expand...

I did this exact method about 3 weeks ago on my 04. With the dipstick on the 04 it is easier to do. I drained 4.5-5 Quarts out of the pan with the tranny warm, Dumped 4 quarts in the dipstick tube, Pulled the return line from the cooler up near the radiator, had my son start it, pumped 4 quarts out, shut it off, dump 4 quarts in, start pump 4 quarts out stop, dump 4 in, start pumped 3 out, stop dump 3 in. until I had run 15 quarts through it and it was coming out clean. So in theory I was 1/2-1 quart low now. I had pumped 15.5-16 out and only dumped 15 in. I used the last quart to top it off after taking a 15-20 mile drive to get tranny good and warm. used about 1/2 the last quart. I checked the Fluid level again about a week later and it was on the money!

Good Thread Lots of info & Links

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/maint...ission-fluid-servicing-sealed-non-sealed.html
 
On my 06' v* Sport I had the dealer do mine at 90K miles. It was part of the timing belt / brake fluid change / major service.

Service schedule if towing calls for 60K changes. I don't tow but at 90K figure I got my money's worth out of the fluid.

Dealer is my choice for that replacement/service.
 
i believe it is only true not to touch the transmission (change fluid) only if the transmission is very old and has never been maintained for years and years. At this point, it might do more harm than good. If you tranny has always been maintained on the regular basis, i say yes, change the fluid and continue doing it on regular intervals.

Its kinda like an old cedar roof, you dont want to get someone to power wash it or clean it. It might make things worse. not sure if that is a good analogy. :)
 
i went to the dealer to see how much it cost for them to do it,
outrageous price, i told her i will do it myself, she tried to tell me i
cant do it myself and that theres a special tool needed to do it and
there the only ones that have it and wont sell it to the public,
i laughed and told her shes full of *$*%.
 
ddnww said:
i went to the dealer to see how much it cost for them to do it,
outrageous price, i told her i will do it myself, she tried to tell me i
cant do it myself and that theres a special tool needed to do it and
there the only ones that have it and wont sell it to the public,
i laughed and told her shes full of *$*%.
Click to expand...

what is outrageous? what was the price they were asking?

Our dealer here in Canada wants $120 for drain and fill and $220 for flush, which is pretty reasonable. IMHO.
 
sold a 97' GMC K1500 recently with 160,000 miles on it. never changed the transmission fluid or filter. didn't drive it hard and the fluid was still bright red with no burnt smell. No shifting problems whatsoever.

Ex wife had a 98' Accord with 140,000 miles on it. Needless to say, she drove the car a bit harder than I would. Changed the transmission fluid for the first time just cause. It had no shifting problems, but the fluid was getting a little too dark for my taste. did the drain/refill/drive 3 times and all was good.
 
Gecko123 said:
what is outrageous? what was the price they were asking?

Our dealer here in Canada wants $120 for drain and fill and $220 for flush, which is pretty reasonable. IMHO.
Click to expand...

i think it was the high 200's, i had asked for the tranny and a few other
services and it was like $1500 or something.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

Total: 970 (members: 9, guests: 961)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,312
Messages
3,554,089
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top