Transmission Fluid Replacement Recommendations

My '08 is at 310k miles right now and I've never touched the tranny fluid since I bought the truck used at 70k miles. This has been worrying the hell out of me too. What do yall think I ought to do with it? It still runs perfectly and shifts perfectly the way it did the day I bought it.

 

I get both sides of the argument, and have my own thoughts, maybe the best way to determine how poor the oil is to drain some off and have tested, like having engine oil tested, if it comes back degraded/recommended replacement, follow the recommendations, works for heavy equipment and catches major component failure before it happens, or lets you know pending failure is due. Here in Canada Cat (finning) does a engine sample for 20$

that being said its a chicken and the egg thing, is the degraded trans oil causing wear, or the wear causing the oil to carry debris.
Been a mechanic for 30 yrs worked on everything from generators to Leopard tanks, heavy and light equipment. I believe if the oil is changed periodically the equipment will on average outlast the non serviced equipment.

some vehs have well known high rate of failure (dodge diesel 47re and 48re for example) there are many reasons for failure but in them if the fluid is replaced more often than recommended, it will last longer.
from what Ive seen the toyota trans must be decent to start with because failure rates are low even on high mileage trucks (without changing oil), so if they did fail at a higher rate, and lower mileage, likely everyone would be recommending and doing more frequent oil changes. I believe oil does break down loose lubricity and accelerate wear, refresh the oil extend the life
just my thoughts, not trying to change any minds/opinions

 

Why not just do the drain and fill.....keeps the transmission fluid fresh! The service manuals I've read suggest changing the transmission fluid....drain and refill. Like others have commented... An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A little precaution before a crisis occurs is preferable to a lot of fixing up afterwards! I think we can all agree to this....
Go Team TW

 

has anybody heard of the trans slipping after a fluid change? Like the old fluid holds everything together?

 

Wondering if your transmission fluid is low....
Low fluid levels – The most common cause for slipping is low fluid levels. Low fluid levels can create a number of problems, such as overheating and not enough hydraulic pressure being produced to engage gears. ... Bands are what links the gears in the automatic transmission together

 

I've done that. 3 re builds on my shoulders and new hip. what fun.

 

Here's a thought for those who live in the northern tundra rust belt and I'm no engineer. Your auto trans fluid can go from sub-zero to operating temperature, of say 140 to 180 degrees. When I did change, flush at about 45,000 miles my red colored fluid had kind of brownish tint to it. I believe it's moisture condensation that causes the slight color change. Boiling point of water is 212*. Even at operating full temperature it's never hot enough to burn off the moisture. My thought is your auto trans is not design to operate as hot as your engine where it can burn off the moisture. I believe some areas of your engine oil reach in excess of 212 degrees which is more likely to burn off any condensation. Ever hear of sludge build up in engines especially in the valve cover area, a creamy color sludge deposit? It's one reason I elect to use synthetic oil. I've read some engines manufactures had an issue with it in the past. Even after a recent drain and fill my trans fluid had a slight brownish tint compared to the original color of the V. MaxLife. Chances are the transmission and it's fluid will make it past the warranty period without any issues anyway, then it's on you if it fails. Some will go farther than others with the OEM fluid, nearly all will make it past warranty and designers and reliability engineers no that. I'll more than likely do an other drain and fill this up coming summer.

 

I sympathize with you.

 

I had my Honda in the local transmission shop last summer for an issue. Turned out to be minor, mice had chewed through a wire causing transmission to shift weird. While there I asked their advice about my 200,000+ mile Tacoma. The shop owner and his foreman pointed to their trucks in the parking lot at or over 400,000 miles on each of them. They had never touched the fluid in either of them.

They told me that most econobox cars they see will go through a transmission in 150,000-200,000 miles. The better built cars and most trucks are good for 400,000-500,000 miles on the factory fluid and they've never seen a customer who changed the fluid on a regular basis make it last any longer than the guys who just left it alone.

If I ever let the AT fluid get too hot was the only time they recommended changing it. Otherwise just save my money and apply it to having the transmission rebuilt down the road. It'll need it at about the same time either way. Transmission fluid doesn't serve the same purpose as engine oil. Lubrication is secondary and it has no chance to get dirty. Water can't get into a sealed system with no dipstick. The only way to hurt it is allowing it to get too hot. Mileage isn't a factor, heat is. And unless you tow heavy it is almost impossible to get it too hot.

If your transmission is in good working order changing the fluid will not hurt, or help. If you're transmission is already compromised then changing the fluid will speed up the eventual failure. Keeping the old fluid in there will squeeze a few more months, or years, out of it before it dies. Which is why most shops won't touch the fluid on a high mileage car. There have been too many times where the transmission has failed within days of a fluid change and they don't want the negative customer complaints.

 

Bottom line is toyota did us a disservice by deleting the dipstick.

 

Just drain the transmission, remove the pan, replace the filter and set it to the correct fluid level(look up the procedure on this). Let the fluid slowly clean whats in the transmission and do a drain & refill every 6 months until the fluid looks new. I've done this many times for customers and none of them have had issues. I've worked at shops and often times they use transmission flush additives & conditioners during service thinking they are doing you a favor or something. It's that sudden loosening up gunk and whatever else in there that causes problems. Clogs the filter and/or solenoids and now your clutch packs dont have adequate holding pressure and they start slipping, and that's a slipper slope because they'll burn out real quick if you keep driving. Same with engines. People run a flush on something neglected and clog the pick up tube screen and now your engine is done. You should notice much better shifts after doing a service.

 

Amen

 

Please change your transmission fluid once a year or 30k miles whichever is earlier - your tacoma will love you more.

Don't use store brand transmission fluid. Just go to your Toyota dealer and give them your vin number and get the original toyota transmission fluid.

Change transmission fluid filter if you have not been changing fluid regularly.

Don't overfill, just fill the same amount it came out and check the measuring stick if needta more.

 

That's a lot of miles on that ATF. Best bet is to submit a sample for analysis and follow their recommendation. See video below for general info on this.

Yep, video below explains why.

Yes and no. I've read a couple of articles explaining why several manufacturers have deleted the dip stick. Too many DIY'ers were messing up their trannys and submitting warranty claims for their F ups. Removing the dipstick has weaned out most of these warranty claims. And the new procedures for replacing the ATF is not so complicated that competent DIY'ers can't get it done. I've done three flushes on our ES350 and two on the Taco; it ain't so bad.

Buying store brand ATF is no different than buying store brand motor oil over Toyota motor oil - just stick to a reputable manufacturer; they will not lie to you if their product says it is WS compatible, or Type IV compatible, etc...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o690DovjDAc