Real World Transmission Failure From Towing

OP look at this.....

/thread

 

60k is right when the Powertrain Warranty ends.
Seems like a logical time to have you change that fluid that voids the warranty. Lol

Honestly, there is no reason not to chAnge the fluid.
Unless of course it perfectly fine or new fluid?

 

I noticed that about the power train warranty expiring right then.

This ends the debate with OP about it being “lifetime” though.

 

Lifetime to the dealership is 60K miles when your powertrain warranty runs out unless you purchased extended warranty. After that, you're on your own. Change the fluid.

 

I agree.

I don’t like the term “Lifetime” as it typically refers to the failure point of what ever the fluid is in.
The lifetime of the Transmission is when fails. This principle can be applied to many different things.
Then again, I’m not a mechanic so take my advice as opinion.

 

Ask them to put that in writing.

 

It's just a numbers game for the dealership. They know it should be changed at 30k but they also know you can get 60k without to many problems. On the other hand if you have someone trying to perform maintenance on something they don't know the correct procedure for they can cause alot of damage so it's less they have to fix for free if nobody messes with it. Once it hits 60 it's your problem so there off the hook. If you are planning to keep your truck for 100-200k then I would change it alot sooner then they say but like the other guy said it's just an opinion.

 

X2

This is why car companies stopped putting dip sticks for people to check their transmission fluid.

 

And sealed transmissions, sealed diffs, engine covers that require special tools to remove...and then there's the city of Sacramento in CA thats banning people from doing any DIY work on their cars that takes longer than a day. What is this world coming to

 

I always forget I'm in the minority that prefers a manual transmission

 

Right there with ya

 

my truck has 110k on it. for the first 80k i used my truck for work and play. work was towing a 4-5k lbs enclosed trailer 5 days a week(which was like and air dam plus the weight) and then toys occasionally on the weekend(boat and other things). changed the fluid at 60k and plan on doing it again at 120k. by the first change i was out of warranty anyways. truck still drives great and dont have any signs of abnormal wear. i did take care of it while driving, watched temps and made sure the torque converter stayed locked in for the most part(kept it out of 5th completely). easy acceleration when i could and under 65mph on the highway

i plan on keeping this truck for a long time. why would i not change the oil?

truck is SOLID and works great for me and others probably feel the same about their tacomas

 

I get your point, but technically they do NOT mean it that way. If they say lifetime they mean it (and they are incorrect). Otherwise they would say "warranty life" which is a stupid thing to say. This fluid is not lifetime for this truck and they should never use that word in any way referencing the life of it. I also don't see how if it's recommended to change the fluid at 60k, how simply doing this preventative maintenance EARLY would void a warranty... especially if you tell the dealer to do it. That doesn't make any sense.

My ex had a dodge that had "lifetime" fluid in the tranny and it was a sealed unit which never needed to be serviced; never mentioned in the manual. Of course it's a dodge so it had trouble overheating and the tranny cooling lines clogged up.

 

I’m at 143,000 miles, most of those (probably about 100k) are highway miles pulling about 3500lbs of trailer, some of those miles in over 100degree weather, some in the Rocky Mountains. I also tow a 16’ double axle loaded up with hay or other farm equipment here and there. I did a full flush of the atf fluid around 60k to replace the factory stuff with Valvoline MaxLife, and have done two drain/ refills since then (I made it part of my 30k maintenance)... because with the stock cooler the highest temperature I saw on my gauge was about 220 or so and that had me worried. I would get over 200 degrees sometimes in the harsher conditions due to mountains and or temperature and I had this chart in my head:


However after some digging and thinking I came across a thread on one of the 4 runner forums that addresses temperatures with the WS fluid our trucks use, and they wrote Valvoline with their concern about having reached 240 degrees in his case. Valvoline wrote back saying basically hey don’t sweat it, this new fluid can handle that.

So that made me worry less though I do still mind my temps and change my fluid. But what I’m saying is the standard chart like the one above that talks about the risks of fluid temperatures doesn’t seem to apply to our fluid. If this is in fact the case it would be nice if someone made a chart for our fancy synthetic WS fluid.

 

Good to know, thanks for giving real world useage.

 

Good to know and thanks for giving real world useage

 

Toyota dealer flushed mine at around 90000 I also have an aftermarket trans cooler . I only tow 2-3 times a year camping . Around 4000 lbs . 350 miles round trip . My UltraGauge shows some TC temps around 220 but not for very long before it drops again . TC runs a little hotter than the rest of the transmission from what I have been told . Also never tow in OD . @gearcruncher can provide you with great info

 

Worth noting perhaps that when I’ve changed my fluid it’s always looked and smelled brand new, even after having reached 200+.