Transmission 2016-2023- 6 SPEED AUTOMATICS COULD BE LOW ON FLUID DIRECTLY FROM FACTORY

Well guys, I hate to break this news. I’m adding 2023 to this list. I purchased my 2023 two months ago. And been having problems with the shifting. I took it to dealership a few times and all I got back from them was, “everything looks normal “ intill I came across this past I just called Toyota and put a claim in. I just finished dropping my truck off to dealership once again after 3 times. And mentioned to them about this post. Now I’m pretty sure they will really check the fluids now. So Toyota will be investigating this now. But yes, put 2023 on the list. And I encourage anyone buying a new Toyota Tacoma to make sure to check your transmission fluid as soon as you purchase it.

 

I was willing to pay them to check - not sure if i requested the right service or if they checked it for me. They also wanted to keep my car overnight.
They said levels are normal??

 

It appears they did check fluid levels along with TSB recalls, scanning for codes and test driving to try and replicate said issue. If you're still having problems it's likely something else. Maybe give the trans a little more time to warm up on cold mornings?

 

was this low or overfilled?

 

Per Toyota it was the “correct” amount. Since the third gen Tacoma doesn’t have a AT dipstick to check fluid levels you have to over fill, run the truck until the transmission gets to a certain temp (95°-110° F I believe) and open up the overfill drain plug and let the “overfilled” fluid drain out until a sputter/trickle comes out and then you close/tighten the plug

 

The amount of dynamic fluid expansion due to change in temp should not be sufficient to notice a low level. delta (change in volume) volume= initial volume x oil constant (expansion constant) x change in temp.
If my truck was sitting at 20 degrees Celsius (68 F) and I warned it up to around 43 Celsius (roughly 110 F). Then the change in volume would so minimal for a manual transmission.

change in volume= Delta Temp (C) x initial volume x temperature constant for oil

change in volume= (43-20= 23 degree difference in C) x 2.6 (liters in transmission) x 0.0007 (expansion thermal constant for oil)
=
Only 0.041 liters in volume expansion to reach 110 degrees F from 68 degrees.

Now if the fluid was checked when cold then I’d say it wouldn’t really be noticeable.
Now go to do a realllllly cold climate, check the level and you might start to notice a few mm drop. In the end Toyota has probably caught into this marketing technique where they just make it seem like these transmissions are running at operating temp from factory. Give it a few 10k miles and the fluid starts to break down, then you will start to see the limit of what low levels can do to a transmission slipping, sloppiness and gear wear (metal in oil).

 

At the end of the day since we don’t have a dipstick to check, they only leave us with the option to over fill and close check bolt when it trickles out regardless what temp. That being said , when you change your ATF do you not go through the transmission temp cycle to check your levels? I’m just going based off what Toyota recommends for checking while it’s warm (they also say to change oil every 10K…) I’m certainly not disagreeing with what your saying by any means , just curious.

 

My respect goes out to all the automatic transmission owners out there of course. But yeah, With an automatic there’s so much more fluid and the change to expansion in volume from temperature change would be much more in this case.

 

just saw your MT! Makes more sense

 

Manuals are so simple which is why I love them. Easily serviceable at home, and you can put whatever transmission fluid the market has to offer just by a drain and fill. Luckily an automatic still offers a transmission service. It’s better to do a drain and fill rather than not. do a drain and fill on an auto trans and it’s most likely going to have better feel/firmness, since the new fluid has better compression capabilities, this is important when the torque converter engages.

 

Latest from my Toyota stealership in San Antonio: Following this thread I asked to check my AT fluid level during my 5K inspection on my 2023 Taco. They said it is impossible, they would have to flush the fluid and charge me $400+. Last time I was there...

 

Just jumping on the band wagon here. My 2 month old '23 TRD Sport with 863 miles just went in. Just got finished detailing it, put it in drive, and it didn't budge. All of a sudden... SLAM! And off I went, right to the dealership. After 9 days they found it to be "half a quart low" (I don't believe it for a second) and they reset the transmission control module. I asked about heat damage; they stated there should be none with such a small amount missing Currently in my re-getting to know you phase with the transmission. If it still doesn't drive right, going right back.

Edit: Been a couple weeks and the tranny still hesitates on take off and studders when coming to a stop. Thinking it's much more than the base issues posted here.

 

This morning I finally had the chance to check the fluid level on my new 2023 OR. I haven't experienced any issues, but I put in a quart and a bit under 3/4 of a quart came out the overflow.

I don't know what the "margin of error" is, but the translates to just over 1/4 of a quart low... If the process is 100% accurate.

Like I said, I haven't had any issues, but I'm about to take it on a 2500 mile road trip and wanted to be sure the fluid level was correct.

 

2023 SR 4x4 checking in. I did an atf check and found myself to be approximately 8 oz short.

 

Sounds like an SLT solenoid issue . Dealer time

 

It actually turned into a "Dealer has bought the truck back from me" time.

Since my last post: The dealer stated that they were in constant contact with the mother ship about my truck, the issues I was having, etc. Stated the computers do this and that for these reasons.... I said I'm not buying it. Dealership told me to take a test drive of a brand new O.R. they had sitting on the lot to see if it did the same thing mine was. It didn't.

I go back in and tell them it's not the trucks, it's MY truck. They said per the mother ship, after seeing all the recorded data from the test drives done with the tech that all of this is normal and there's no issue. My response: "if this is how your truck is supposed to be acting, then you can take it back. I don't want a vehicle with an obvious issue that you're going to write off as normal because you can't be bothered to figure out what's wrong with it, most likely due to your 4th gen coming out in 5 months or less and you can't be bothered. This isn't what I or anyone else would expect from Toyota with a maor issue and it's embarassing."

So they bought the truck back from me and I went and got a Ridgeline. Thing has been perfect.

 

I purchased a 2023 OR May this year. I didn't know it was low until I checked it today. It took a quart and it still needs some. It drives much smoother now. That explains the torque converter shudder and jerky throttle. Great.

Hope it didn't damage the torque converter.

 

Hey guys! I'm brand new to the group and found this site out while researching buying my 2022 SR5. I had the dealership check the ATF level before I would purchase it, and based on this thread, also requested I be present when it happened. The dealership had no issue doing this and the mechanic took his time to explain the whole process while he did it.

Long story short, the 2022 with 22k miles was about 1/2 quart low on ATF.

I was very impressed with the tech and the dealership for not giving me any trouble and giving me the piece of mind I needed to not only buy the pickup but use them for any service I need in the future.

The truck drives great and I'm happy to be part of this community. Big thanks to all ya'll who posted before me and turned me on to this issue!

 

Wow, that's awesome.

 

My 2021 Tacoma TRD off-road that I bought brand new was short about 1 quart of trans fluid.... FML.