Changing Auto Trans Fluid in 08 Tacoma

I've asked the dealer many times to change my auto transmission fluid. Each time they tell me it's a sealed transmission and it can't be changed. They said there's no need to change it, there's World Standard Fluid that will last the life of the truck. Has anyone had any issues or changed the fluid yourself?

 

I took my truck to a transmission repair shop to get the oil changed at 85,000. He said it definitely needed it. His recommendation was every 30,000. The 100,000 mile that Toyota recommends is a bunch of BS. They did a pan drop vs a flush which in their opinion is the way to go.

 

I believe the pan drop only replaces 3-4 quarts verses 12 quarts in a full flush.


IMO, you don't need to change it every 30k miles unless you pull something heavy every weekend or go offroading. I didn't change mine until 140k miles and the old fluid was still red but not bright red like new fluid is and didn't smell burned. I don't offroad or pull anything with my truck though. Buy your own fluid and fallow that full flush DIY procedure BY Mountainlion . Good luck

 

I would say 100K may be too long, but 30K is much too soon and waste of money.

 

Well, this has me thinking. Maybe it's time to take the truck in for a Full Transmission Flush. I know it's not cheap to do but, with over 137K...I think it's a good idea. Dang it.... there goes more money

 

That's nonsense. If you look at the maintenance intervals in your warranty book, it'll say 60k and every 30 thereafter if you are towing or loading heavy.

I have the fluid for mine, planning on changing it soon, I'm at 96k now.

 

I needed this done two years ago but was having trouble finding a place that would do it and would do it a decent price. Believe it or not, the most reasonable place was a Lexus dealer. It's a lot of fluid to deal with and I wanted the whole thing drained and refilled rather than dropping the pan. Bit the bullet and paid up. Plus they finished the job very quickly and let me check out the process. I would not want to do it on my own.

 

It's not that difficult to do a drain and fill. Done 3 already, and soon going to do a full exchange as the color still has a brownish/ yellow tint to the red. @120 k.

 

How much they hit ya for?

 

I have the 4cyl 4-speed that uses T-IV fluid but I think the same general rules apply. I haul and tow occasionally with my truck, mostly just commute or normal street driving.
A transmission drain/fill changes out about 1/4 of the fluid. I did 3x drain/fill of my AT fluid (one per week) when I got the truck at 60,000 miles which worked out to about 90% fresh fluid. I recently dropped the pan and replaced the filter and gasket at 120,000. The fluid was dark brown but not burnt at all, and there was hardly anything in the bottom of the pan on the magnets, everything is wearing nice and slow. I don't plan to open it up again for the life of the truck, but I will continue drain/fill and add 3 fresh quarts every 30,000 miles just to keep some fresh fluid in there. Transmissions are expensive, trans fluid is not.

 

I honestly don't remember. But I do remember paying cash which is very rare for me. So it couldn't have been that much.
Sorry I know that's not much help, but it was over two years ago. I'm still working on trying to remember the wife's birthday

 

This is also my approach to transmission maintenance. If all is working as it should I will probably never do a flush or even a full exchange, but I will do a drain and refill every 30,000 miles. This will keep 3-4 fresh quarts of fluid in the system at all times.