Transmission 2016-2023- 6 SPEED AUTOMATICS COULD BE LOW ON FLUID DIRECTLY FROM FACTORY

Hey Franklin .

Judging by your explanation , it doesn't sound like you are suffering the symptoms of the low fluid issue .
It may be possible you purchased your truck from a dealer who knows about the low fluid problem and the Technician that did the PDI on your truck checked the fluid .
Or Toyota is addressing the problem at the factory now .
Its always better to be safe than sorry , but I think you are good to go
Was you truck built at the San Antonio plant or Mexico ?
Most trucks coming from the San Antonio plant have been low

 

Thanks for reply. Could be benefited Tacoma World influence.

 

After I got my 2016, I read about low transmission fuild. I didn't notice any slipping issues until one cold morning "30 degrees". I let my truck warm up and reverse, then drive. Maybe I stepped on the gas too soon but it did rev up and barely moved for a second. I was like aww shit, maybe I got the low Trans fluid. Went to dealer and told the service manager about it. Of course he said never heard that , where? What dealer? I said please check the tranny fluid level. He didn't want to because it's a complicated prodecure. I told him I just bought a $34k truck from y'all and you don't want to check my tranny fluid level? I can go somewhere else then! Service manager finally said ok ok, tranny has to be 115 degrees to check it, hook up to computer, do this n that blah blah. After 45 min, my truck is on the lift with motor idling. The tech showed me the bottom of my tranny, looks like two drain bolts, slightly unscrew one of em and fuild dripped out and told me it's fine. I'm scratching my head, I don't know if I believe him. I thought you check the bolt up on the side where you fill it. Apparently it's a pain in the ass to check the fluid level...but my tranny has not slipped since.

 

Called my dealer to set up an appointment to take my 2016 SR5 DBCLB in to have the ATF level checked per all the posts. The service guy was not to thrilled about having it checked. I told him the Tranny seemed to slip a little in very cold weather. He said they charge $102.00 an hour. I said just to put my truck up on a lift an remove a plug to see if any fluid comes out. He then said if it did not need fluid they would charge me $40 + Tax. I said okay I want it checked. I brought my truck to the dealer. While I'm waiting in the waiting room the Service writer comes in and tells me when the Technician pulled the plug ATF sprayed out all over him. I guess he didn't know he was supposed to let the tranny cool down. The Service writer told me it would take 2 hours to cool the Tranny fluid down so they could check it. I said I would wait I wanted it checked. After a couple of hours they came and got me. I was told they added fluid for the fluid that was lost when they first checked it and it was now full. They gave me a bill for $58.35. This was $40.00 to check the Tranny fluid and $13.23 for ATFWS fluid plus Tax. My truck had 709 miles on it when I brought it into the dealer. I made a copy of the bill and gave it to my Sales Consultant. He was going to give it to his General Sales Mgr. After a couple of days I received a call from my Salesman he said the Sales Mgr. apoligized for the service and that I could bring my truck in when I wanted to and they would do a free detailing in and out. This satisfied me.

 

Unreal !
Technician probably got some nasty burns .
This is why Toyota wants you to check the fluid when its cool . Its a safety thing to avoid what just happened here
Wondering if Toyota is keeping up with the technical training for their techs .
The technician should have known the transmission was going to be hot .
Tacomas have been checked this way since 2005
Did the tech even use the manual ?

 

Even tho I had my tranny checked last week. This morning, I put the key in but didn't start it yet. It shows the check charging system message, then it said Warning - High Transmission Temps! I was disappointed to see that but I had to get to work. I got to work, it's only 5 miles. I turned truck off and tried to read that message again. The message is gone! I'm like wtf? I'm gonna take it to a different dealer for 2nd opinion cuz that service manager I talked to was a douchebag.

 

I hope the tech did not get burned. But don't you think It's SOP to check and make sure the Tranny fluid has cooled down. This can't be the first time they checked ATF manually. Then they charged for the fluid they blew out. Bottom line never really new if ATF was low. Only know that they filled it back up or they said they filled it up.

 

This thread got me bit paranoid lol... mines a new 2015 could they have resolved this by now?.. my truck shudders when put in drive.. normal? no other symptoms listed noticed.. i will ask for fluid check during next service..

 

These guys are talking about the 2016 trucks because Toyota no longer puts a dipstick on their automatics so you can check the fluid. I don't think the 2nd generation trucks have this issue.

 

Members with the 2005 - 2015 also have the issue
All the information is listed in the first post . There are links to the poll from a couple years ago for the 5 speed Aisn Seiki A750e low fluid problem and how to battle with Toyota
Edit : this was the reason I created this post for the 2016 trucks .
All I needed was 1 low fluid complaint from a member with a 2016 truck at Tacoma World to verify Toyota did nothing to fix the issue and that happened on December 9th
So here we are at a count of 44 transmissions low on fluid as of Feb 26th
Reports are coming in that the San Antonio Plant is the root cause .
Need more proof to verify
Go outside and check your vin #
If your VIN starts with a 3 your truck was built in Mexico, if it starts with 5 it was built in the US and I will see if I can change the poll to account for the plant where your truck was made .
If Toyota isnt going to address this , They had 4 years , all we can do is narrow down why it continues

 

Hey, you're the transmission guru. I was just trying to tell the new guy that he could check his transmission fluid himself. Unless I'm mistaken, trucks up through 2015 had transmission dipsticks. I know my 2013 does.
.

 

Yes Bill there are 2 different auto,s for 2005 - 2015
The aisn warner A340 series is a 4 speed auto used with 4 cylinder engines and some small 6 cylinder engines and it has a fill tube
You can read about your 4 speed auto here https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...sions-write-up-your-4-speed-automatic.325531/

The aisn seiki A750 series is a 5 speed used with the 4 liter engine and has no filler tube
You can read about your 5 speed auto here
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

Guys , I updated the poll so you could add where your truck was built
It would be great if some of the guests reading this could join up and submit their vote as well
Arghh got some grief with the poll lol and Thanks for fixing it tcBob !!!!

 

That's interesting, I thought, because of the way some of the members were carrying on, that the 2016 year model was the first one with no dipstick. We live and learn, don't we?

 

Its all good .
You probably just taught a bunch of members that there has been no filler tube since 2005 on the trucks using the 4 liter engine .

 

Yeah, coming from a GMC it was quite a surprise to me when I couldn't find the dipstick. Seems kinda crazy, but I'm no engineer.

 

Me either, but I've always liked trains.

 

I am fairly certain that General Motors was the company that started this No Fill Tube disaster back in 1999 .
It was a common missing feature on their front wheel drive cars .

 

My VIN# starts with a 3 and it was built in Baja Calif, Mexico. What kind of information is coming in that points to the San Antonio, Tx plant as the culprit for saving ATF.

 

Low and taken care of today with 1100 miles on it. I feel special, first (according to poll) Mexican taco that was low.

 

Most members were indicating San Antonio a few weeks back . This is why I gave you guys the option of selecting where your truck was built as part of the poll results .
It should eliminate any confusion .
Are all the plants responsible for shipping trucks low on fluid ?
Only time will tell .
I know some of you guys voted already . Now you have the option of adding where your truck was built .
I should have listed this at the start of the poll . My bad
If your VIN starts with a 3 your truck was built in Mexico, if it starts with 5 it was built in the US
Just a reminder , I update the first post with the newest information every day