$89.95 Transmission Drain and Fill

Dealer quoted me only $89.95 to drain and fill the transmission fluid on my 2011 automatic, just reached 45k. Got the pep talk though that its a lifetime fluid and dont need to do it till 100k, but I'd rather be safe and do it now at close to 50k. Just seemed like a low quote. I remember my 2008 double cab was like $150 in AZ.

 

Thats a pretty low quote from an actual Toyota Dealer. They have to do it a certain way from what I understand.

I thought certain years the Tacomas don't need to be changed till 90-100k. The newer ones are 60k?

I know i was quoted $140-$220 from different dealers.
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its is low, and incomplete, drain and flush is almost 11 qts and around 200 bucks. Just changing whats in the trans is not all of the oil.

if you play in the dirt alot take a peek at how dirty the oil is, if its pretty dirty then yes, change the oil.

I'm faced with this next @ 60K miles, in the dirt a bit and its getting pretty filthy.

Filter is merely a screen, not really a filter so to speak.

 

Exactly which is why I wanted to jump on it. It should be 60k for all of them. Originally WS fluid was thought to last past 100k miles, toyota updated this in the 2009 year to 60k/72 months. Im pretty anal about my truck and do all my own maintence, but tranny I wont mess with.

 

I was told there isn't a filter it's a screen

 

Flush is bad, not wanting to flush, just drain and fill and replace filter (forgot about that, though I thought it was built in like a screen thingy).

 

i also heard that flushes are bad?

 

Iv always been told flushes are bad. Just drain and replace.

 

Flushes are not bad. The additives or cleaners that are used can be whats bad. But anytime you are changing the fluid any fluid it isn't it better to change 100% or as close to 100% as you can of the fluid as opposed to 1/3 to 1/2 as with the case of the AT?
When you do a drain and fill on the AT there is a lot of left over contaminated fluid still in the trans. A complete flush replaces as close to 100% as you can get.

 

I always heard flushes were bad too. Someone explained to me though that usually people drive forever, and neglect the trans fluid until their transmission is messing up, then get it flushed. A month later is implodes and the blame the flush.

Not sure which is true, but I've had transmissions flushed without issue multiple times.

 

flushes will stir up the sediment in the trans.

Just drain the 3 quarts in the pan, refill 3 quarts, run for a bit (take her around the block). park, drain 3 quarts, fill.... do a drain and fill 3 or 4 times and its going to be alot better.

 

Metal screen filter, no need to change.

Its still a filter but yes its a screen.


I work at a transmission shop, there is no such thing as lifetime fluid. When the transmission fails due to lack of lubrication/cooling (bad fluid) they will call it the life of the transmission. I will be doing drain and fills (NO FLUSHING) every 30,000 miles with Toyota WS fluid (the WS means world standard) I don't tow heavy or off road but I KNOW the A750 is an expensive rebuild and lack of service will not be a cause of failure for me. Every other service the pan will be dropped to inspect the screen for debris, but at my shop a drain and fill for our truck IS less than $100.00.

 

My only last comment has nothing to do with this thread.... but i just wanted the quoted to know, your bug just trolled the shit out of me.... good game!

 

I just had my tranny flushed @ dealer for $150. From what I've read, the type of flush machine determines if it bad for the tranny. I figured the dealership had the correct machine. Mine is an 05 5speed and had 97k at the time. That was its first tranny service. I got that sick feeling when I read up on the so called lifetime fluid and how toyota eventually caved and changed the interval from 100k to 60k. My truck has a very consistent shifting issue that is termed a slip here, but I'm not so sure. Flushing the tranny hasn't helped or hurt the issue.

 

Good info.


On a side note.... I hate your sig! I just put a fingerprint on my computer screen trying to get the bug off of it lol

 

Flushes are not bad for your vehicle. That is a myth started a long time ago talking about stirring up sediment in the pan. A PROPER flush (one done with a machine connected inline with the cooler line) will loosen up the sediment, and push it OUT of the transmission, while cleaning the valve body and passages. On the vehicles that I have seen come in the shop after a flush was performed that had a failure, disassembly and diagnosis revealed that the transmission was already going out. On several cases we had pulled Carfax reports for arbitration that showed the customer had gone to another shop for a transmission issue, and was told the transmission was bad, so the customer came to our dealership and got a transmission flush done, then a couple weeks later when the transmission "failed" they would blame it on the dealer.

 

A little side question: If you have your radiator swapped, do you lose tranny fluid in the process?

 

With a cooler built into the radiator, yes you will lose some. The radiator holds some along with the hoses that are disconnected. Not sure how much you would lose.

 

I recently did the full machine flush at 90K on my 07 at the local Toyota dealer. I think it was around $200 all total.

I considered doing it myself using the instructions elsewhere on this site, but I got to thinking the cost of fluid and materials was going to be over $100, so I decided to just bite the bullet this time.

Have had too many transmission problems in the past on other vehicles, I've gotten a little nervous on it. Most of the problems were probably brought on by towing too close to the limit for the vehicle and one was a Dodge Ram "designed to fail" at 100K.