Drain and fill at 208k miles. Should I be worried?

Just drained and filled the A/T on my recent acquisition. It’s a ‘08 4.0 A/T with 208k miles. I usually avoid A/Ts. The transmission did not particularly seem to be acting up, but the color of the fluid has me a bit concerned.

 

Does it smell burnt? See any metal flakes?

With that many miles, I would attempt to replace the ATF filter and clean out the pan, taking a good close look at the magnets and pan for metal flakes. If you see flakes, that will be clutch material and you should put everything back together, including reusing the old ATF cause your tranny will start slipping if you remove the old fluid.

I suspect you are OK; several TW members have done ATF flush with high miles. You just need to take more careful precautions and know what to look for. Look up a good video by Chris Fix on ATF flushes. i’ve posted the clip on several recent ATF threads but I’m on my ipad and too lazy to copy/paste.

 

Honestly, All you can do is fill it back with NEW fluid.
You would properly need to do this about 3x to get most all the fluid out.
As a drain and fill only drain about 3 qt.

Then drive it, you’ll know soon enough if you have issues.
I think you will be fine.

I would not NOT flush it since you do not know the previous service history.
I believe the valves and valve body are highly susceptible to contamination.
Better to drop the pan and replace filter.

 

Looks like normal used ATF fluid color to me.

 

This ^^^ and make sure the AT fluid is within the temp range for checking the fluid level accurately.

 

nope

 

It does appear to have fine metal flakes in it. When I get back home I’ll see if it smells burnt. I got it into temp check mode to check level.

 

@208k I’d expect some metal flakes. Especially if it’s on the original filter and fluid.

 

At 208 I would of dropped the pan, clean the magnets and changed the screen.

 

Old vs new fluid, first drain and fill after 45k miles.

 

The fluid on the left has been abused. Transmission probably run hot, it is almost impossible to do that in 45K. Mine looks just like the bottle on the right after 200,000 miles. I don't plan to change mine until I have the transmission rebuilt. Most people are getting 300,000-400,000 miles on the factory fluid, unless they mess up and let it overheat. I've seen no evidence that shows changing it gets you any farther down the road before you need a rebuild. In fact from what I'm seeing they last longer left alone.

 

I’m at 145 and have no idea if the trans fluid has ever been flushed or changed. So I’ve been wanting to do it. Very curious to see what your outcome is

 

I did my first drain and fill at right around 150k and I had about the same used vs new as OP. It’s been about 10k and I plan to do it again and then probably again at 10k after that. Transmission shifts perfectly and between off roading and towing my camper I’m sure it’s been hot a time or two.

 

Did my first full flush at 60K and have been doing a drain and fill every 20K or so ever since. It makes me feel good that the fluid is still a nice shade of new.

 

This may be the truth and is exactly why I was reluctant to do anything more than drain and fill the pan. We got a Camry for a song with 210k miles on it and I just wanted it to last us the year. We gave it away about four months ago with 360k miles on it and I never touched the transmission. I did top it off after replacing a radiator.

I just got out of my wife’s ‘06 4-runner that I haven’t driven much, and I must admit that it does shift more smoothly than the ‘08 Taco I just drained that fluid from. The Taco is far from rough though. I may need to drive it around the block and see if it feels any different from before. Should it?

 

Just took both for a spin. From P to R to D is definitely a lot more abrupt in the Taco. Normal driving from 0-75mph and I almost could not feel either one of them shift. From u-turn to 75mph the downshift was fairly abrupt in both, and while I could feel the shifts a little better, they were still quite smooth. I assume that’s a fairly normal experience. I’m not sure if anything actually changed on the Taco, or if it was just shifting from P to R to D that I thought was really different.

 

Pretty dark. Doesn’t smell burned and feels pretty slippery.

 

I think you will be just fine.
If it shifts smooth just drive it.


Don’t be alarmed if, in cooler weather, it shifts “harder” until the fluid is warm.
It is typically more noticeable from 4th to 5th.

 

I would do 3 or 4 DAFs with Valoline Maxlife. And if you feel froggy....go ahead and drop the pan and throw on a new filter

 

The plan was to do the 3-4 drain and fills. I live in a dusty place and doing it in doors would involve asking for a favor, so I’ve been leery of dropping the pan for fear of dust/dirt contamination.