How many guys are still on original transmission fluid? Come on in!

[Category 5]

05 sport 4wd with 255k. No problems with the original fluid. It runs like a champ.

Wow!

142,000 on my original fluid, but getting paranoid.

We have a "14 Honda Odyssey that developed a horrible juddering problem between 10-60mph. After much research I discovered it is a flaw in the design that allows the ATF to heat up and fail prematurely. I took it to Honda (50K on Odyssey) and the guy gave me so much shit. He basically told me that in Florida you HAVE to flush the system and replace the ATF every 30,000 miles or these symptoms will arise. he was basically making me out to be an ass for not having done it before 50K mark. The service schedule recommends it at 60K, but this guy was saying Florida is like driving on the sun and I'm an idiot for not paying them $200 every 30K for a system flush. He then went on to say he's never heard of ANY ATF going 60K miles in Florida without causing serious shifting symptoms.

I decided to bring up my trusty 4Runner with 142,000 on the original ATF, though he smirked and acted like I had proven his point, that I'm an idiot.

A system flush and fill seems to have temporarily cured the Honda, but I find that every time I take that vehicle in for service I'm reminding them that "My Toyota never needed that".

I have changed the oil every 5K, tires twice, and brakes once and 11 years later my old gray 05 sport is still making new cars look like lemons.

On a side, note, I guess I should take it in for an ATF flush and fill?

 

[BackOff]

Haynes is the joke of the automotive world...

Just trying to say, maintenance is a good thing.

What is 'Lifetime' of a Toyota? A million miles?

 

[luke87gt]

Just trying to say, maintenance is a good thing.

What is 'Lifetime' of a Toyota? A million miles?

Lifetime of a Toyota may be a million miles on your eyes and my eyes.

In Toyota's eyes, lifetime is when their repair liability expires.

 

[Drummer1]

My transmission fluid is original on my 2006 Limited which has 96,000 miles.

 

[smurray711]

102,000 miles but just did my first drain and fill. So...like 1/3 original. Going to do another drain and fill this week after having driven it for 1k miles.


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[bob3dsf]

The flush using the cooling line (linked in this thread a couple times) is really easy.... in general. No reason not to change your tranny fluid for fear of the process. However, the PITA part is getting underneath to refill the new fluid. That stupid fill hole.... I've done 2 flushes (at 100k and recently at 150k). The first I did 3 rounds of drain and fill. The fluid ended up nice and pink but not new, bright pink. This last time I used the full flush via the cooling line and got 100% new fluid. Much better and not really any more work involved.

My biggest SNAFU was my bottle pump breaking during the job. I then ran out and got one of those orange transfer pumps. Then I had trouble getting that to work properly, so I went back out and got another bottle pump (the one that fits on qt and gal bottles) which I should have just got in the first place. Once that fiasco was over, the remainder of the job went smooth.

I had read some write ups where the person let the truck pump out the fluid until it began to sputter out of the cooling line. That seems like a bad idea for the pump. Just pump out 2-3 qts at a time and don't worry about running the pump in the tranny dry. I used OEM fluid because I got a case for the 100k service and didn't use it all. I only needed a few more to get another 12 qts. But, there are many reports of the Valvoline MaxLife working great, providing some savings on fluid cost.

My fluid was brown at 100k (original fluid), at 150k it was very red/pink. It looked almost new.

 

[T5RUNNER]

This is a great cross reference for trucks to avoid on the for sale threads.

 

[Ralph Blake]

My 08 isgetting real close to 6 so should i change my trans fluid?:juggle:

 

[jfry008]

Toyota reasoning-'if you tow, change ATF every 60k. If you don't tow the ATF has an unlimited lifespan.'

The tsb says to not change at 100k, only inspect it. So Toyota has to consider lifetime >100k, but continue reading and it says to not change for life of vehicle...



:toilet:

 

[t-man]

Toyota reasoning-'if you tow, change ATF every 60k. If you don't tow the ATF has an unlimited lifespan.'

:toilet:

Big tires, offroading and hard use is just as bad on the fluid, if not worse in certain situations so I'd say change on that basis too. Thanks for the maintenance pic!

Sent from the drivers seat of my 05 4runner.

 

[bamma]

Toyota reasoning-'if you tow, change ATF every 60k. If you don't tow the ATF has an unlimited lifespan.'

:toilet:

Pretty sure Toyota's definition of special operating conditions is the conditions most of us deal with (short trips, town driving, etc.)

 

[jfry008]

Pretty sure Toyota's definition of special operating conditions is the conditions most of us deal with (short trips, town driving, etc.)

The special operating condition are listed, dirt roads or dusty roads and towing.
However I agree with [MENTION=101553]t-man[/MENTION] that big tires, lift, added weight (bumpers, etc..), off-roading would put you in this category too.

I think short trips and town driving would be what Toyota considers normal conditions and therefore would recommend to never change the ATF(according to the tsb).

IMO

 

[Bob22222]

Just trying to say, maintenance is a good thing.

What is 'Lifetime' of a Toyota? A million miles?

It's your lifetime not the runners. Most folks suffer a massive heart attack upon recieving the repair estamate for a burnt trans.

 

[Ratubbs]

Was having issue's with my trans, 220k miles, and I went in and had a full flush done. The old fluid was brown and sludge! All my issue's have gone away now and it shifts like new! Wish I had done it when I first bought the truck, but I just didn't think of it. New fluid on top, old crappy stuff on bottom!

<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/132186222@N08/28963647370/in/datetaken/" title="20160826_165942"><img src="https://c3.staticflickr.com/9/8024/28963647370_48ca4e720d_z.jpg" width="480" height="640" alt="20160826_165942"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Did we ever find out what the name of or the maker of this machine ???


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[Ratubbs]

Any of you guys with high miles that did the fluid exchange were you experiencing any issues prior to the change? I had a trans man tell me that having 226K miles that he wouldn't exchange the fluid explaining that the clutches and bands break down and the debris suspended in the ATF becomes a friction coefficient and that swapping the fluid with new could cause any slipping or shudder issues to become worse or more noticeable... I guess that theory makes sense, just wondering what you high mileage guys experience was.
TIA


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[T5RUNNER]

Any of you guys with high miles that did the fluid exchange were you experiencing any issues prior to the change? I had a trans man tell me that having 226K miles that he wouldn't exchange the fluid explaining that the clutches and bands break down and the debris suspended in the ATF becomes a friction coefficient and that swapping the fluid with new could cause any slipping or shudder issues to become worse or more noticeable... I guess that theory makes sense, just wondering what you high mileage guys experience was.
TIA


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Yes that is possible, with a full flush. The flip side of never changing it is all that friction material is circulating through your transmission with the old worn out fluid and shortening its life.

This is why you drain and fill instead. It is the happy medium. It also happens to be much cheaper and can be done easily without special equipment.

 

[russoaks]

Changed 2nd Day of Ownership

I just picked up an 04 4.0 with 218k - took it to the dealership the following day and had the service rep check through their info online and nothing showed up for mine being done at any dealer. Asked about the full flush - he recommended just doing the drain/fill method - got it swapped for $130 and the fluid was definetly old - possibly the original. Happy I moved forward with this. He did mention flushing sometimes uncovers hidden problems (which of course I've heard before).

 

[ZebRuaj]

I just picked up an 04 4.0 with 218k - took it to the dealership the following day and had the service rep check through their info online and nothing showed up for mine being done at any dealer. Asked about the full flush - he recommended just doing the drain/fill method - got it swapped for $130 and the fluid was definetly old - possibly the original. Happy I moved forward with this. He did mention flushing sometimes uncovers hidden problems (which of course I've heard before).

$130 for a drain and fill? Ouch.

 

[chitown40]

I'll reiterate again, that a drain and fill, even though some dealers recommend it, is a waste of money. There is 16qts of fluid in your transmission and you are essentially just changing 3 or 4 at a time.

That would be like changing 1-2 quarts of engine oil at a time. Sounds pretty ridiculous when you put it like that?

Most of us have changed the lifetime fluid well past 100k and while it may be dark in color, the majority had no symptoms or performance breakdowns prior to changing the fluid. Fluid breaks down with excessive heat, and with the properly installed coolers on a vehicle, most manufacturers including Toyota seem to keep this in check pretty well for the average vehicle use. Towing is a different story as it adds a lot of extra stress on the transmission, henceforth they recommend changing out the fluid at more frequent intervals.

If you constantly run loaded down near the GVWR, you may want change the fluid more often. Most people drive their vehicles around near empty with one or two people inside.

 

[chitown40]

The flush using the cooling line (linked in this thread a couple times) is really easy.... in general. No reason not to change your tranny fluid for fear of the process. However, the PITA part is getting underneath to refill the new fluid. That stupid fill hole.... I've done 2 flushes (at 100k and recently at 150k). The first I did 3 rounds of drain and fill. The fluid ended up nice and pink but not new, bright pink. This last time I used the full flush via the cooling line and got 100% new fluid. Much better and not really any more work involved.

My biggest SNAFU was my bottle pump breaking during the job. I then ran out and got one of those orange transfer pumps. Then I had trouble getting that to work properly, so I went back out and got another bottle pump (the one that fits on qt and gal bottles) which I should have just got in the first place. Once that fiasco was over, the remainder of the job went smooth.

My second time around, I ran vinyl tube from the top of the engine compartment into the fill hole. I put a funnel into the vinyl tube and secured it upright in the engine compartment. Made refilling a breeze. No more hand pump.