Low transmission fluid level

I have the Off-Road long bed 4x4 with tow package and like many on this forum I was worried about low fluid so I took mine in last week and insisted that they check it. I politely talked to one of the service managers at Fort Myers Toyota Auto Nation and he told me that Toyota was fully aware of the issue. He also told me that the exact run of trucks that were affected by this issue have been identified and that all the truck owners with these specific VIN #s have been contacted and made aware of the issue.

I have no way of knowing if this is true. He did keep my truck for 6 hours and refilled my transmission fluid (I know because I painted the caps) even though my truck was not on this list. I thought many of you would want to know this and maybe some here can confirm if this is true.

 

So if they know the 'exact run' why wasn't your truck on the list?

 

My 2015 was 3/4 quart low. I doubt there was a " single " batch of trucks sent out low. How much does Toyota save under filling 250,000 Tacomas.

 

Service manager is feeding you BS but he might only be repeating what he was told. Mine was low, where is my notification?

 

There is no way of knowing if my truck was low. I have a big trip coming up and basically told the guy to check it no matter what. He said it was easier to just have his guys refill it. I was frustrated not knowing if it was in fact low... but relieved to know that it is full now. The information he gave me seemed to be recent news.... so maybe he wasn't even really sure and thought he better cover all the bases.

 

Good point... so either they have found some of the trucks or this was a rehearsed BS story to appease the customer.

 

Toyota is aware? Or the dealer?
No notice here.

 

I'd bet he's repeating something he heard or read on the Toyota message boards. Benefit of the doubt that he wouldn't outright lie to you.
But yeah. I was 1.25 low. No call. No notice.

 

I am guessing the "batch of trucks" they have identified is all of the TRD OR with the towing package. However, he is full of crap claiming they have all been contacted. No way that could have happened without something about it showing up here.

 

You should tell him, "can't believe everything you read on the internet."

 

That was my first thought..

 

What you 'know' is that someone removed the paint from the caps. Hopefully to do what you were told was done.

Not even quite sure what that means.

Guessing it was drain the case and refill with a specified 'case only' quantity. If that's the case, you'll never know if its correctly filled until the procedure is run, because a 'drain' doesn't account for the fluid in the convertor, coolers, lines, etc. almost 1/2 of the capacity.

If it's shifting alright probably don't sweat it. But I'd certainly be looking for a proper capacity check the next time.

You might recommend him for a promotion to the sales team. Seems he's mastered the BS component.

 

Why would it be easier to refill than just top off. Check procedure is the same. From what I have seen most are 1/2 to 1 quart low. Through a quart or quart and a half in get to temp and pull the check plug.

 

My guess he is just doing the job they are supposed to do in pre delivery. (check all fluids), that's why they didn't write it up.

Dealers buy off the pre-delivery checklist without checking the transmission fluid. Their excuse they do not have the time, sealed unit from the factory, they don't get paid and whatever excuse they want to make, but it's on the check list. Just like on the factory service, it says check all fluids. Nothing is clearer than that.

It's all part of their responsibility between the dealer and Toyota. It doesn't list exceptions. Just like the factory fights to pay out for warranty service with the customer, I am sure they are going to be pushing back at the dealers blaming them for QC issues that the end customer should never have seen. If the dealers did their job like they are supposed to do in pre-delivery the issue would have been caught much quicker and been resolved between the dealer and the factory. No customer would have had a low fluid issue.

Certified QC systems can't just let customer complaints go unnoticed, they are obligated by their own systems to identify the issue, root out the cause and initiate a correction to keep the issue from reoccurring. Thats how its supposed to work in the real world. It just takes allot of time to fully vet the system.

What good is a QC system if everybody assumes everyone is infallible, doing a perfect job, making a perfect truck, on a new truck and retooled production line. Having the same issues with 2 production lines in 2 countries, making the same product. Some people have allot of explaining to do. Toyota screwed the dealers and the dealers screwed us. That's why there is a pre delivery checklist.

Toyotas last line of defence, the dealer as QC didn't work. First year growing pains. First sign we will see is new trucks not having low fluid issues. Just like the hood bonding issues seem to have been resolved at the production line level.

 

Not pocket change

250000 x $10 (being conservative) = $2.5 MILLION ... that's a nice bonus for the production manager, just sayin. OR the parts guy and the few folks on the line doing the fills at the factory are giving themselves a bonus?? Then add in the grease they didn't use and the DIFF fluid they forgot about... adds up to a pretty nice piece of coin.

 

What type of fluid does 6spd auto require? i am going to do mine myself

 

Toyota WS or an equivalent WS fluid that meets or exceeds toyota specs. There is a thread out there listing the different suppliers.

 

I don't know why people keep thinking toyota is skimping half a quart just to save a few bucks. And yes, in the grand scheme of things, 2.5 million isn't a lot. At least not to justify the costs they are going to incur if transmissions actually start failing because of it.

 

I've seen that comment a few times now... people love a conspiracy theory.

 

Still waiting to be contacted and my contact with Toyota Corporate has been less than friendly... basically told me to jump off a bridge