Transmission fluid change

My dealer has a fluid exchanger AKA flush machine. It interupts the cooler line and injects fluid as it removes it while filtering it.

Uses about 10-12 qts and its 300$. It works like a hot damn, fluid almost always looks way cleaner.

The spill and fill 150$ service uses only 3-4 qts. So in some ways it makes more sense to do the flush, if they have it and endorse it.

I personally never flush my own vehicles, I just do spill and fills every 30-40k or so. But I dont have to pay for labour.

I suggest flushes for high risk vehicles, like siennas and highlanders. I typically dont sell them on Tacomas.

 

Does motul make fluid for the 3rd gen taco tranny? I love motul.

 

dealership

 

dealerships suck
https://new.motul.com/en-US/products/34200?product=MOTUL+GEAR+300+75W-90
this is rated at gl-4 and 5

 

NOTE for MT owners here... i ran into a video from the car care nut discussing the MT fluid requirement for the manuals.

He warns against using GL5 oil in the MT even if the label says it is compatible with the GL3 /GL4 spec that is specified... it is worth a watch...

Ill try to find a link...

 

dealership is probably the cheapest place to get the fluid
if it's automatic

 

That's what my mechanic does.

 

They might only do one service or sometimes both. You have to call and ask.

 

I paid $260 to have the fluid swapped in wife's RAV4 last week by an independent mechanic. Used 12 quarts. Sounds like I got a decent deal.

 

I drain and fill at 50,000. Make sure the thermostat is pinned open if yours has one. I do not believe it makes much of a difference whether you drain and fill once or twice, whatever makes you feel good.
Agree with above on staying away from a flush or complete fluid transfer. As stated it is very important to maintain temp window to verify fluid level. I use a scan tool to monitor transmission fluid temp.

 

As @chasecmc stated there are a lot of videos out there, so take your time and do it right. When I pick up my fluid from local toyota stealership they comment about how many vehicles get flat bedded in due to owners doing their own transmission service. Transmissions are expensive and scan tools are cheap. 2cts.

 

Can someone explain to me why it is a good idea to leave old, often burned (radiator cooler is never adequate) transmission fluid in the transmission? 3 drain and refills will get 75%-ish of old fluid out. It is better than nothing, but the amount of additives and viscosity will be lower vs all new fluid. Pumping the fluid thru gets 100% of burned fluid out. No cleaning agents, no washing, just old fluid out, new fluid in.

 

From what I understand its that some pieces get dislodged that are keeping the transmission in working order when the flush happens and then the trans goes. Apparently it’s gona go anyway if that’s the case. It’s a risk from what i read

 

Doing the pan drain and refill OFTEN, like every 25-30k is so much better than a complete fluid exchange at 100k like many do.

 

Only an idiot would wait till 100K to service ATF. I do complete fluid replacements every 35K-40K miles on all vehicles I own.

I lost one transmission in all the years I did that. Chrysler minivan (their transmission have known problems). Lost at 95K, after the Chrysler dealer under-filled the ATF by 2 QUARTS when they did a 3rd ATF service on it. I went on trip to the Smokies, and low fluid level, coupled with mountain driving in a fully loaded van for 700 miles did it in.
Never went back to the bastards.
PS that van was used as a truck for most of its life, when it did not haul the family. Love the StoNGo. Timber, cinder blocks, sheetrock, plywood, cement, dozens of trees and plants, trailers. It hauled everything.

 

Remember, it's not like the fluid is going backwards through the valve body or something. During a flush it's flowing in the same direction and at the same speed as when the truck driving down the road normally. All you're doing is introducing new fluid into the cooler line as it takes its normal path up to the front of the truck.

You can make the argument that the old fluid affects the friction of the clutch packs and there can be risk in completely removing all of it. But the worry about dislodged chunks is a bit overblown IMO. If you have chunks in there you've got bigger problems

 

I have a 12 Camry with 175000k on it. I flushed at 75k and again at 173k. The last few winters I had some shuddering in the torque converter in cold conditions only at start up. No problems at all this winter. I don't know how they can do this for $200 if they are using new fluid.

 

It won’t get 75% out because you’re removing a percentage of new fluid with every dump.

 

So it is even worse. So why not replace the fluid?

 

I get a full fluid exchange every 100 000KM. Even that doesn't get every bit of old fluid out. A complete and utter fluid exchange involves dropping the pan and recovering fluid as it enters the pan, while submerging the pickup in fresh fluid.