Transmission flush?

[montijo505]

Hey guys,

So I'm the idiot from yesterday who drained the transmission fluid instead of engine oil. I feel pretty confident in just topping it off myself and then doing the process to make sure there's enough fluid in there. My question is I called my local Toyota specialist shop, not the dealership, and the guy I spoke to was very knowledgeable. He recommend I do a full flush since my rig has 130k on it and as far as I'm aware it's never been drained and filled or flushed in its life (purchased at 92k by yours truly). This place is highly recommended by town folk as the dealer has a not so good reputation. Full flush is $250. I know a full flush is a controversial topic. What do you guys think? Only reason I'm even considering it is because it was driven about 3 quarts low for about two days (about 20 miles). Thanks in advance for the wisdom!

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[VT245]

There is a lot of heated opinion on this topic. Here are some threads to look through (and there are a lot more than this!):

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/126570-transmission-flush-drain.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/105954-transmission-service-drain-fill-machine-flush.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/90766-2008-4runner-transmission-fluid-flush.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/86250-transmission-flush-just-change-fluid-04-v8.html

You are more than likely going to get an equal amount of opinions in either direction. I did mine at 90k for peace of mind, but I tow a fair amount in the warmer months of the year. Good luck.

 

[montijo505]

There is a lot of heated opinion on this topic. Here are some threads to look through (and there are a lot more than this!):

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/126570-transmission-flush-drain.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/105954-transmission-service-drain-fill-machine-flush.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/90766-2008-4runner-transmission-fluid-flush.html

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/86250-transmission-flush-just-change-fluid-04-v8.html

You are more than likely going to get an equal amount of opinions in either direction. I did mine at 90k for peace of mind, but I tow a fair amount in the warmer months of the year. Good luck.

Thank you, I think I'll just top it off and drain and fill in a couple thousand.

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[Gatafly]

If the full flush he is recommending is actually a fluid exchange where it is not pressurized and uses the transmission to pump it out I would go that route over a drain and fill myself.

 

[Brian3676]

If the full flush he is recommending is actually a fluid exchange where it is not pressurized and uses the transmission to pump it out I would go that route over a drain and fill myself.

This is true, but it's essentially the same thing as a bunch of drain and fills, and those are ok. It's the actual FLUSH that is not recommended.

 

[CrimsonCountry]

I actually just had this done last week. I've read the varying opinions on both sides for years on the pros/cons of it and determined, at least IMO, that a forced flush was the most vocalized negative aspect of the process. While I've never had the dealership do any services on mine as I prefer to do everything myself, I went ahead and had them do transmission assisted drain and fill.

It's also worth noting that the main reason I to go ahead and get this done was the color and smell of the tranny fluid when I checked the week prior (brown-ish w/ slight burned rubber smell). The other factor that pushed me over the edge was that had just started to notice a tiny rumble strip issue b/w the usual 20-30mph at 1000-1500 RPM. I went ahead and had them throw in a tube of Anti Shudder as well.

My truck has 193k miles on it and I found no indication that this had ever been done (bought it at 84k). I'm glad I did it as my truck is shifting so smooth now and I didn't even notice it being that "rough" before...it's just that much better now. The rumble strip issue appears to be gone as well for now but i'll keep an eye on it. Overall, color me satisfied. YMMV :banana:

 

[alia176]

I simply drain and refill the ATF when I do the engine oil and filter.

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[S p a r k y]

I went in for a dash replacement last week. Since I was there I went ahead and had a trans flush done, with tax and all it was $242. I have 172k on mine, never noticed any problems but went ahead since I have that mileage. Couple hundred miles later, still runs great!

 

[catrains]

since you drove it 3QTS low on tranny fluid I would drop pan clean it out and then do the tranny fluid transfer method using the transmission to flow out the old as you install the new.

flushing with a external pump device can cause problems with high mile tranny debris getting into the torque converter.

why did you remove tranny plug on engine oil changes ? no time to read up on this repair process here on the forum ?

IMO there is too many members asking these questions multiple times every day .

 

[montijo505]

since you drove it 3QTS low on tranny fluid I would drop pan clean it out and then do the tranny fluid transfer method using the transmission to flow out the old as you install the new.

flushing with a external pump device can cause problems with high mile tranny debris getting into the torque converter.

why did you remove tranny plug on engine oil changes ? no time to read up on this repair process here on the forum ?

IMO there is too many members asking these questions multiple times every day .

It was late at night, in my dimly lit garage and I had just worked a 10 hour day. Literally an accident for not paying attention.

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[catrains]

It was late at night, in my dimly lit garage and I had just worked a 10 hour day. Literally an accident for not paying attention.

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before you work on your vehicles plan ahead . the info on what you need , parts, pictures , hundreds of members screw ups and fix ups doing this here is just insane...

this forum has more info on this oil change , than any other vehicle ever made LOL....

 

[montijo505]

before you work on your vehicles plan ahead . the info on what you need , parts, pictures , hundreds of members screw ups and fix ups doing this here is just insane...

this forum has more info on this oil change , than any other vehicle ever made LOL....

Lol oh well, people make mistakes, I always do all my own maintenance/repair and had never made a mistake anywhere near as bad as this.

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[BlackWorksInc]

Just do a few drain and fills on the fluid or you can do a "flush" via a bucket and hoses. The big thing is when you fill the transmission for the last time, make sure you do the fluid level inspection procedure properly (even if you did the "flush" method, it's not accurate).

The main take away is to get a good amount of the old fluid out and new stuff in, you will NOT get all of the old fluid out no matter how hard you try unless you tear the transmission down; so just get that nonsense out of your head.

The main purpose of drain & fill and/or flush is to replenish the additive packages in the fluid and replace a majority of the fluid; this is enough to keep both the fluid and the transmission happy.

Anything beyond that is just fluff, I probably should make a thread for both the 4th & 5th gen guys because I see a lot of opinions thrown around as fact.

 

[montijo505]

Just do a few drain and fills on the fluid or you can do a "flush" via a bucket and hoses. The big thing is when you fill the transmission for the last time, make sure you do the fluid level inspection procedure properly (even if you did the "flush" method, it's not accurate).

The main take away is to get a good amount of the old fluid out and new stuff in, you will NOT get all of the old fluid out no matter how hard you try unless you tear the transmission down; so just get that nonsense out of your head.

The main purpose of drain & fill and/or flush is to replenish the additive packages in the fluid and replace a majority of the fluid; this is enough to keep both the fluid and the transmission happy.

Anything beyond that is just fluff, I probably should make a thread for both the 4th & 5th gen guys because I see a lot of opinions thrown around as fact.

I was hoping you'd chime in eventually! Thanks for the advice. I had it topped off today and will do a few more drain and fills. It's running great so far. Also the shop I took it to was able to replace the front differential drain plug I butchered when I replaced my cv axles a couple years ago!

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