Transmission Flush at 120K?

[wm69]

Wife's 2001 Limited is at 115K. I know the 120K is coming up and the stealership here recommended the usual 30K service that is $360 and said it would be a good idea to flush the tranny and cooling system for an additional $120 ($480 total).

We will be keeping this vehicle for quite a bit longer. It is in excellent cosmetic shape and I have had no mechanical problems from it except for the MAF which was replaced at about 70K. It has had ALL scheduled maint done since it was new.
I've heard flushing a transmission can do more harm than good, especially in older cars. All my cars I've ever owned up until this one have been manual tranny so this automatic stuff is all new to me.

So far all I've done is drain and fill, but I'm thinking about doing the flush since we plan to keep the car for a long time. Transmission fluid now is ok (not brand new looking, but ok) and is reddish (not dark) with no burnt odor. The car has been driven lightly and not abused.

So what do ya'll recommend? Flush or drain-and-fill?

 

[T4RBoarder]

never flush, so drain and fill

 

[JustAnotherT4R]

Drain-N-Fill

 

[Snookster]

I need to change my tranny fluid soon as well. I'm at 115K mi and I think it was last changed at 90K mi. this may be a dumb question but why would you choose to drain and fill as opposed to doing a full flush? Thanks

 

[judoant]

i had the transmission service at a valvoilne instant oil change and the results were amazing. my runner has just over 100k. thier service is not a flush nor a drain and fill. it cycles new fluid with old over and over with 12 quarts of new.

tranny now goes into gear much smoother and shifts much better

 

[T4RBoarder]

I need to change my tranny fluid soon as well. I'm at 115K mi and I think it was last changed at 90K mi. this may be a dumb question but why would you choose to drain and fill as opposed to doing a full flush? Thanks

because a lot of times especially with high mileage transmissions there is crud thats actually holding the tranny together, and when u flush it it forces that crud into places its not supposed to be and can a lot of times ruin the transmission.

 

[burton6509]

hey GOH10 Runner are those ski racks you got on there..if so what kind and have you had anypromblems with them?

 

[T4RBoarder]

hey GOH10 Runner are those ski racks you got on there..if so what kind and have you had anypromblems with them?

I think they are the Yakima ButtonDown Aero Snowsport Roof Rack, I bought them at ****s sporting goods.....they work awesome and I haven't had any problems.

 

[burton6509]

do you ski or snowboard? i want to get a pair and was wondering if you can fit a snowboard and its bag with it beacause i dont really want to get salt and that crap on it when i go to holidayvalley or somthin. and i dont want to spend 500$ bucks on one of those cargo carriers..have you tried that?

 

[T4RBoarder]

I typ just out a couple boards up there, haven't put skiis up there

 

[gapboi210]

i had the transmission service at a valvoilne instant oil change and the results were amazing. my runner has just over 100k. thier service is not a flush nor a drain and fill. it cycles new fluid with old over and over with 12 quarts of new.

tranny now goes into gear much smoother and shifts much better

that's a flush. I say do a flush if you are under 80K miles. I did mine at 65K.

 

[elemint]

Never flush, unless MAYBE, you do it every 30k or less .

 

[p nut]

Yup, I always just drain and fill.

do you ski or snowboard? i want to get a pair and was wondering if you can fit a snowboard and its bag with it beacause i dont really want to get salt and that crap on it when i go to holidayvalley or somthin. and i dont want to spend 500$ bucks on one of those cargo carriers..have you tried that?

Cargo carriers aren't all that great. And no, you can't fit a snowboard AND the bag in those type of racks. But why are you worried about salt? 1) salt would never reach the racks. 2) 99% of the snowboard is non-corrosive material. I've never had problems with rust.

Look on craigslist or ebay for some cheap racks then get some adapters for your factory rack.

 

[wm69]

Hmm, that would make sense.
Has anyone here used the flushing system that involves removing the pan and unhooking one of the lines. The machine hooks up to the "intake" on the tranny and the tranmission is the only suction/pump. The transmission pulls new fluid up into the tranny under its own power (so no excessive pressure) and the old fluid is dumped into a resevoir as it is pumped out the other end.
To me, this looks like it would get the inside of the tranny all nice and clean without screwing anything up, but then again I don't think there would be that many people saying "don't do it" if problems had not arisen from doing so.
Anybody used this method?
OR anyone here change their fluid, run 3-4K, change again, run 3-4K, change again etc maybe 3-4 times to get the old fluid diluted as much as possible?
What fluid are ya'll using. I know on Honda autos the consensus seems to be to ONLY use Honda ATF. Ya'll using Toyota fluid or will any good ATF work?
Anyone using a synthetic like Redline in their auto tranny?
Thanks guys. Like I said, I'm new to the auto tranny and want this thing to last as long as possible.

 

[BTLFED]

Never flush, unless MAYBE, you do it every 30k or less .

So you are saying that if my 4Runner has had every service done on it from the dealership since new (including tranny flushes) it is okay that I flushed it at 117K? I've never had any problems with flushing before on any of my vehicles, but you people are making me paranoid. My old Rodeo was flushed and was fine for over 250K miles. My 4Runner better be able to at least match that.

 

[toyota4life]

I think what people are saying is that if you flush your high mileage trans, you RISK having built up gunk getting dislodged and lodging iteself in an area where it can do harm/block etc. As with any risk (which seems to be your experience with previous flushes), there is always the chance that it does not occur.

 

[BTLFED]

I think what people are saying is that if you flush your high mileage trans, you RISK having built up gunk getting dislodged and lodging iteself in an area where it can do harm/block etc. As with any risk (which seems to be your experience with previous flushes), there is always the chance that it does not occur.

I realize that, but my thing is if the transmission was flushed regularly prior to me flushing it would there really still be a bunch of built up crap in there? It has a full service history from dealerships since it was new which includes regular trans flushing.

 

[toyota4life]

I realize that, but my thing is if the transmission was flushed regularly prior to me flushing it would there really still be a bunch of built up crap in there? It has a full service history from dealerships since it was new which includes regular trans flushing.

I hear ya. I'm no expert on the matter, but from what I've read on the topic, I personally wouldn't do it myself. I guess you have to ask yourself whether you believe that the benefits of a transmission flush are worth the risks. Since this is a service that I dont believe the factory recommends, I question whether this is an unecessary service that dealers add in an attempt to bring in more money. If it was that beneficial, then I would assume that it would be a scheduled service item recommended by Toyota. Just my .02 cents on the matter.

 

[wm69]

I hear ya. I'm no expert on the matter, but from what I've read on the topic, I personally wouldn't do it myself. I guess you have to ask yourself whether you believe that the benefits of a transmission flush are worth the risks. Since this is a service that I dont believe the factory recommends, I question whether this is an unecessary service that dealers add in an attempt to bring in more money. If it was that beneficial, then I would assume that it would be a scheduled service item recommended by Toyota. Just my .02 cents on the matter.

I called Toyota today and asked them. They said the same thing people here did; drain and fill.
I think I might drain and fill X2 to get more new fluid in there just because it will make me feel better, but I've had too many people say to NOT do it. Think I'll keep doing the drain and fill.

NOW, what fluid do I use, and where are the drain/fill plugs, AND how much does the tranny take?
Thanks again for the dialogue

 

[BTLFED]

I hear ya. I'm no expert on the matter, but from what I've read on the topic, I personally wouldn't do it myself. I guess you have to ask yourself whether you believe that the benefits of a transmission flush are worth the risks. Since this is a service that I dont believe the factory recommends, I question whether this is an unecessary service that dealers add in an attempt to bring in more money. If it was that beneficial, then I would assume that it would be a scheduled service item recommended by Toyota. Just my .02 cents on the matter.

Well I work at an Infiniti Dealership and have friends at the Toyota Dealership down the street and from what I was told was the machine you use makes the difference. Some flush machines flush by using pressure to get the fluid out and that is what breaks crud up and possibly blows out seals in an older tranny. The machine we use here just cycles it while the truck is running until all of the new fluid is transfered into the transmission. No extra pressure is involved. I dunno how true it is though.

But I think next time I may just do the drain and fill to be safe. My tranny is fine and I would like it to stay that way for a long time LOL :biggrin2: