Replacing Transmission Fluid

I'm at 45k miles now and I'm planning ahead on getting my transmission fluid replaced around 60k miles.

I searched and it seems pretty tedious. The transmission has to be at the right temperature for you to fill up the fluid properly.

My questions are:

1) I'm thinking I should just bring it to the dealer. How much will this cost? I'm estimating about $300-$400. Could this be done for less? I'm in Orange County, CA. If you're local, do you have any recommendations where I can get this done properly for a good price?

2) Why can't I simply drain the fluid, measure exactly how much (i.e., fill it up in a milk gallon jug), then proportion the amount of new transmission fluid in a 2nd milk gallon jug to the exact same level, maybe a hair more just to be safe and pump that into the transmission? Would this be difficult? I wouldn't even have get the temperature right or anything if I'm simply putting back the same amount that came out. Am I over simplifying this process? Is it not worth the risk of messing this up and ending up with a catastrophic failure of the transmission?

Thank you.

 

because there's something like 12 quarts in the whole system and the tranny pan only holds 3... thats only 25% of the stuff you're replacing.

i might be picking up a bunch of toyota t iv oil soon. i'll let you know the price if you need it.

 

My dealer quoted me $170. I am typically a do it yourselfer but with the tranny it’s a different story. Too much oil and you blow a seal, not enough oil and you burn it up. I am just planning on having the dealer do it. IMO

 

I think for 150-170 I'm going to the dealer too. 12 quarts at 6-7 dollars per qt is already 80-90 bucks after taxes.

 

Don't let them fool you, all the dealer is going to do is drain and fill, for $170.

 

You have a 2nd Gen and an Automatic.

The Transmission fluid doesn't need changed until 100K miles - and that's per Toyota.

 

That fluid is 100,000 mile rated... My 2005 was done at 100,000 miles, never any issues... other than I traded it in for my 2010, at 102,000 miles! LOL

 

^^^^^THIS^^^^^
Not sure why people think dealer will do anything else. There is no flush machine for new transmissions. So at best dealer will do drain and fill at worst will do nothing and still charge you.

 

if they are doing a drain and fill for 170 that's a sick deal. better double check first

 

Did mine in my garage, pretty sure i got 15 qts out of it. Wasnt hard at all.

 

I went in to have mine flushed at 60000 miles and after the dealer agreed to do it, they called me back and left a message stating that they were only going to do the drain and fill due to something about the machine. Not much difference in price though.

 

I would advise a flush over just drop and add, Especially on a transmission.

 

doesnt the diy say its 12quarts?

 

I asked my dealer yesterday when i was in for oil change. They said they have a machine that flushes the whole system about 12 quarts. They said the change runs just under $200 due to the cost of fluid. I would rather pay that then mess something up.

 

thank god I got 6 spd tranny

 

What dealer is this? 200 seems fishy. The fluid alone is over 100 from factory.

Number you ain't in California

 

Interesting , my '09 Canadian Tacoma maintenance schedule calls for replacing the automatic transmission fluid at 96 000kms ( 60 000 miles ) , and I had this done yesterday , and indeed my invoice shows a complete transmission fluid flush and replacement with 12 units ( I assume litres ) of synthetic ATF , the flush was explained to me by the service manager as well as the tech that always works on my truck

I guess I'm just not paranoid enough to believe they just didn't bother , but wrote it up and took my money anyway

Oh and cost was $137 parts and $95 labour

 

What ^^ he said. around ~200 for flush. But I will have them show me the process when they do mine.

 

No basis in truth here. Dealerships are a far cry from what the general public makes them out to be. Every dealership I have worked at would do a full and proper flush with a machine, or if the machine was not working, we would tell the customer so, and reschedule the service.

You have to realize that the dealerships do not buy transmission fluid by the quart for the service department, normally. (Though it is done on rare occasions) They buy it by the hundred gallon lots, to be dispensed by the same way oil is for oil changes: Pipes and hoses in the shop. That Toyota transmission fluid that costs you say $6 per quart, costs them about $1.50 at best when they buy in bulk gallons. So 12 quarts of fluid costs them around $18. (Note that this is an estimate based on when I was working at the last dealership I was at) And then they charge you based on standard markup. Sometimes it may be that $6 per quart, but usually it is less. Plus labor charges. All of this is to pay for the tech working on your truck, the fluid itself, and cost of the machine plus wear and tear. Then the rest is profit. As I recall our full flushes were $189, and profit was about $30.

We had the basic PF-5, but this video shows the newer one. If you notice near the end of the video, the upper sight glass shows very dark fluid from the truck. After service is done, it is pinkish-red again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrYCmQONfNs

 

Did anyone ask the OP if he has a 2.7 or a 4.0?

The 2.7 still uses T-IV. 4.0 takes the WS which is the 100k rated fluid.