Transmission: Should I Drain or Flush? 140k never flushed.

[BetteMidler]

Have an 08 V6 SR5 with ~140k mikes that I recently bought. I have a nice amount of service records but didn’t see that the transmission was ever flushed.

I think 90k is the recommended mileage for the flush but at this point would I be better off just drain and replacing the fluid or doing a full flush? I’m heasitant to do the flush because I don’t want any sendiment that might be in there to come loose, as I think it’s a mostly sealed transmission on this engine?

Tks in advance

 

[Counterpoint08]

Bette Midler is that really you driving an old 4Runner??! Lol. How mechanically inclined are you? My recommendation is to find a competent dealer (I know that's the hard part) and have them do a fluid exchange (not a flush!). You will be just fine. It will likely cost you a couple hundred dollars, but it's worth it since these transmissions are bulletproof and you will be good for another 100K. There is a procedure to follow/temp-check to determine the proper fluid level. Just let a competent mechanic handle it. If it was mine this is what I would do. I do work on my 4Runner, but I plan to let a dealer do the transmission fluid exchange. It should have been done ideally around 100K if there was no towing or extreme driving.
There are also several threads (do a search) if you want to tackle this job yourself. Many people have done it themselves with good results.
Good luck.

 

[fourwd1]

Hi
Moving tbis to Maintenance section

 

[Arik07]

I wouldn't touch a thing. Flushing could make it worse.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[TowMeOut]

Drain and fill, via the cooler hoses. There are several threads on the subject. Generally a "flush" uses a machine to generate enough hydraulic pressure to push the fluid backwards through the system (I have no idea why they do that). That's what breaks loose sediment and other crud that tends to clog up filter screens and other areas.

I had good luck using the Valvoline Maxlife ATF. There are lots of threads on that too. Some say it's fine. Others claim it will destroy the universe if you don't use the Toyota WS fluid. Valvoline says it's compatible with the Toyota stuff. Until they deleted the dipstick to appease some government regulation I'd bet any old ATF was just fine. Now that the transmission is "sealed" and you're supposed to run it in excess of 100K without a change they just upped the standard....but the transmission didn't change.

You can do a drain and fill but to me that's kind of pointless. Adding 4qts of clean fluid to nearly another 10 or so of dirty just barely dilutes it at all.

 

[FrenchToasty]

Drain and fill, via the cooler hoses. There are several threads on the subject. Generally a "flush" uses a machine to generate enough hydraulic pressure to push the fluid backwards through the system (I have no idea why they do that). That's what breaks loose sediment and other crud that tends to clog up filter screens and other areas.

I had good luck using the Valvoline Maxlife ATF. There are lots of threads on that too. Some say it's fine. Others claim it will destroy the universe if you don't use the Toyota WS fluid. Valvoline says it's compatible with the Toyota stuff. Until they deleted the dipstick to appease some government regulation I'd bet any old ATF was just fine. Now that the transmission is "sealed" and you're supposed to run it in excess of 100K without a change they just upped the standard....but the transmission didn't change.

You can do a drain and fill but to me that's kind of pointless. Adding 4qts of clean fluid to nearly another 10 or so of dirty just barely dilutes it at all.

Agreed, if you can change your own oil, you can use the trannys pump to safely circulate all the old ATF out, and new fluid thru the system with no issues- lots of threads on how that's done aswell