60k trans service opinions requested!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-2nd-gen-transmission-pan-and-filter.726329/

If you are doing a flush , please do it properly by removing the pan first .

 

On some vehicles, at certain intervals, you drop the pan.
On others, sometimes it's just fluid (less quarts) drain and fill.
Both are good. Both are better than the shitbag who neglects their vehicle and hasn't done a single one in 130k.
Pick your poison.
I'm sure both are decently easy and affordable.
It really depends. Do you give a shit about the car? Do you want to keep it and have it run for a while? Then maybe you'll take the extra step and spend 10 more minutes to do more.

interesting concept to replace only 4qt in a 12qt system
While you're at it, only replace half the engine oil at a time,
wash only half the laundry, re-wear the rest
drain only half the diff oil

 

Planning to get mine done..117K. I will use a local transmission shop who has done any transmission related work for me since the 1990s and is a small business, so I know the reputation of them.

If I understand right, stay away from the flush/pressure type stuff and just let gravity do the work?

 

Many places do not do flushes because forcing fluid to circulate through at a high pressure can lift particulate that the ATF is designed to suspend, and move it elsewhere, as opposed to simply draining out

It is one thing to flush a trans for the first time at 40k, and then every 40k after that, if shops even use those machines nowadays.
And another thing to do it for the first time after 100k when crap has built up inside.
Most people think it's a good thing to drain, drop the pan, new filter, new fluid at correct level, new pan gasket. And it usually is. Even more people never actually do that.
Upon doing that, shift feel is usually smoother.
ATF can also get burnt over time.
You ever seen a car come out of a Jiffy Lube that got "flushes" to find the wrong fluids in it, at the wrong level, some of them still looking dirty as if they were never actually changed?
I have

 

I figure to do just the drain, drop, filter method you mentioned..well, have it done but..

 

Got my full transmission flush completed today, super easy thanks to the tutorials posted earlier.
I also got the front/rear diff/transfer case fluids changes, driveline lubed, air filter replaced, and spark plugs changed.

 

Is the pan gasket reusable?

 

Had a drivers license for almost 50 years. Never once changed the transmission fluid on any vehicle I've ever owned. My dad started driving in 1936 at age 13. He never once changed the transmission fluid in any vehicle he ever owned either. And he drove 40,000 miles/year working in sales from 1977 to the late 1990's. That's several million miles. There are 1/2 million miles combined on the vehicles in my driveway as I type this. All with the factory fluid in the transmissions. Never had a single transmission issue.

I'm still waiting for some proof that changing the fluid extends transmission life. I've seen vehicles with 400,000+ still running with factory fluid, and I've seen guys replace a transmission at 110,000 miles even after changing the fluid every 30,000 miles. Some vehicles just have crappy transmissions that wear out in 100,000 miles no matter what you do. Others have good ones that just keep on working.

 

Your call. Having someone else do it means it will be less messy because they'd be doing it with the car up on a lift, a big oil drain bucket underneath, and tilting the pan at a certain angle to pour the old ATF into the bucket.

It's harder to do that on the floor on jack stands with a plastic drain bucket and metal drip pan tray underneath, let alone finding the level ground it requires to set ATF level, if the driveway is at an angle

There's always that one guy with black brake fluid from reasons like this

I don't think a factory engineer is getting paid to come on a forum and explain why things are done
When an automaker has a service contract that pays for services whether the owner knows about it or not, and calls for certain fluid changes that get done, then they get done
some manufacturers used to call transmissions lifetime fluid, which probably meant lifetime of the trans to be have it blow up at 100k
many automakers also have the brake fluid changed every 1 or 2 years, which sometimes, can literally even be free to the customer.
I don't know who is turning down free services like that when they bring their vehicle to the dealer in response to a Service Due! warning indicator light coming on in the dash.

Or maybe there is that one guy.
Car: Service Due!
Service Advisor: Looks like we can do all this factory stuff for you, that also helps keep the warranty, for free
Customer: No Thanks. My grandpa didn't change his fluid in 1936. I'm good. Service records to keep resale value of the vehicle? No thanks.

Usually at 100k a vehicle auto trans will start to behave worse because the fluid level has changed, it has become burnt, etc. and the first cheapest easiest step to try fixing that is normally a pan service. Unless of course your grandpa in 1936 didn't do it that way therefore you won't.

I have no dog in this race driving manual

After a while probably not. I have seen people re-use a rubber gasket, or certain exhaust gasket, if it is still fresh and new. Like if they have to drop it again like a day after installing it for whatever reason.
But if it's old, has many miles, age, by that point it has probably squished/conformed/crushed to the surface, started becoming dry, etc.
and if it is cheap, might be safer to replace rather than risk a leak

 

I figure easier to just pay someone else to do since I know the guy's work very well, plus limited space to work in my driveway.

I remember permanent antifreeze back in the day...basically meant it would always keep from freezing, but the rust inhibitors would break down anyways.

Gasket..eh, for the short money to change it versus the risk of dumping fluid I figure cheap insurance to replace it

 

I wish people would stop calling it a flush and call it what it is, a “fluid exchange.”

The transmission pump runs as it always does, but instead of picking up dirty fluid it picks up new fluid and pushes dirty fluid out into a bucket. No extra pressure, no problems.

 

There is no shame in other people doing the work.
Especially if they are good and do it properly. One thing a professional has, is 100 times of practice doing that same repair to get it down to a skill.
I wish I made $1m/yr. If I did, I would probably have someone else do my work, and would be glad to help support them.
Every now and again, maybe. To teach the kids how to wrench or something. Or weekend therapy, sometimes it's nice to bust out a wrench for a little bit on a Saturday.
But constant wrenching, if I made $1m/yr, would for sure be outsourced; not worth the time, time in life is finite

I don't know if it was touted that way to help sell cars. To give the owner the idea that their car somehow is reliable, lifetime, and maintenance-free
when despite a "lifetime fluid" other components can still wear, aka no lifetime brakes or lifetime ball joints

At any rate, coolant may become acidic over time, rusty or with dirt deposits floating around, and discolored
there are special tools out there to measure this,
but given the amount of time that wastes, most people just go by a schedule. Like if milk is not finished in my fridge after 2 weeks, it's probably time to throw it out. As opposed to looking at 1yo half gal whole milk going "let me set up the testing lab"

I have seen inside of engines with coolant changes on time, the metal looks new.
And ones that never really had it, where it does not look new.
Some of this stuff is not that expensive. I think 3 gallons of coolant cost me $15-30.

 

This is true plus the lift makes this task so much easier. I do agree with the opportunity cost..same reason I don't bother doing my own oil changes anymore, the process to dispose of the old oil in my area is a pain in the balls plus not having a useable garage makes wintertime a bitch.

Good question re lifetime, though in the case of antifreeze it really is a misnomer since the rust inhibitors aren't lifetime. I got mine done by Toyota recently, but the truck was getting reframed so that was part of the job.

That said, the peace of mind factor is not unimportant and the cheap cost of the fluids makes it cheap insurance.