Transmission Flush Service: Dealership or Transmission Shop

So, I was originally going to start doing a pan drain and fill on my 2005 Tacoma (174k miles), with every oil change until I went through about 12 quarts, after reading an article that said that said doing a complete flush could just create more problems, due to the mileage (it's never been touched, from the factory).

Well, I'm still kind of torn. I've read the DIY thread, and I am just not comfortable doing it myself, and if I was going to exchange the entire fluid, I'd want to drop the pan and do it right by cleaning out the pan and the filter, etc.

What would you do?

So if you were going to take it somewhere, would you take it to the Toyota dealer, or go to a local transmission shop? Reason I ask, is that I was reading another thread, and based on that reading, determined that Toyota doesn't actually make the transmissions. So wouldn't it make sense to take it to a transmission shop that has probably serviced way more of these things, than a dealership?

 

Do the DIY pan drain n drop. Clean the pan, magnets, and filter/screen. Get a new gasket from Toyota along with the crush washers for the drain and level check plugs. Get high quality fluid, not WS shit. I used valvoline max life in the red bottle Dex/merc. Over fill the trans by about a quart, probably put in close to 5 qts. Then do level check according to the DIY thread. And remember, the little bolts that hold the filter and pan on have a torque spec in inch#'s, not foot#'s, so be careful not to over tighten. I used a 1/4" ratchet for everything, then had a torque wrench ready to get everything exact. This isn't all that hard, just need to have the correct information and correct tools, and correct supplies.

 

Sub'd

 

you only get about less than half doing it this way... full system holds ~11 quarts. Find the big thread on how to do it properly OP.

 

Agreed, do the full self flush. In my opinion, the power flush at the shops stir up too much internal crap, especially one with the mileage you have.

I used a power drill pump at the front tranny cooler. If you have the tranny cooler, much easier to extract and fill.

 

With that amount of mileage, flush is a bad idea. Do your homework.

 

Another vote for just drain and fill. Really not worth it to drop the pan. Any crud is in the bottom of the pan and that's the first stuff to come out with a drain.

 

exactly, thats why if you follow the tread about drain and fill you replace all the fluid without stirring up sediment.

 

With 174K don't do any thing but drive it. If you insist take it to an independent shop not a franchise if they are a good one they will tell you to leave in alone. A proper set up flush system is no different than driving the truck it pumps the oil in to replace what it takes out no blast of high pressure.

 

Spending money on a fluid change at this point is wasted money. You'll very likely get another 100,000 out of it as is. Spending money on it now MIGHT add a few thousand miles to the life of the transmission, might not. There is conflicting data on this, but lots of guy claim changing the factory fluid after about 100,000 miles actually leads to transmission failure. The jury is still out on that, but I sure don't see it helping at this point. I'm at 176,000 on my 2007 with factory fluid and plan on driving it until it fails. I'll rebuild or replace in another 5-10 years.

 

So basically your advice is to just drive until something fails....

Its fluid, it breaks down. Wasted money? fluid costs little to nothing, a transmission on the other hand is much more expensive.

 

Yeah, I guess that is why my original plan was just to do a drain and fill, nothing more. At least if I do that a few times, it would renew the fluid to a certain level anyway. Plus, I already have a case of WS sitting in the garage, along with the drain/fill washers...

If the fluid really is about a quart low from the factory, then shouldn't it be at a level fairly far below the fill plug? I assume it would at least be advantageous to fill up until it starts to come back out the plug, right? Or do I really need to put it into level check mode?

 

I am on the fence with this one ....Yes to a full flush and yes to a pan drop , however , the determining factor in replacing all the fluid would be what is visible in the pan and filter with the high mileage in question .
The valve body in your transmission is made of aluminum . Keeping that fluid clean prevents the constant abrasion of stroking valves from prematurely wearing out the bores in the valve body . Valve body wear is by far one of the most common causes of transmission failure due to lack of service
Level check mode is where you need to check your fluid
You can read what happens to a transmission with wore out valving here
http://www.sonnax.com/units/250-A750F#ac3
I would trust a reputable transmission shop over a dealership any day of the week
I have some info here that may help https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

 

I can understand the OP's conundrum. I've read and reread the DIY threads on here.

What I don't understand is why can't you just add the same amount of fluid back into the transmission that was drained out? Why do you have to go through all the level check stuff? If you drain it while it's cool and then refill it cool wouldn't that be ok?

 

Sure. If you are able to put damn near the same in that came out. Overfill and you start frothing the oil and losing lubricity, under fill and you have overheating, poor shifting, etc. When checking the fluid via the Toyota spec'd way takes 5-10 minutes with cold fluid, why not?

Honestly the DIY method is super simple once you actually do it. I think @Crom set it up to discharge dirty oil while the pump was sucking clean oil. I still recommend checking the level though.

 

Thank you sir, much respect, that last thread is what brought up many of my concerns when I was researching. The other link you posted takes me to a parts list, was that intentional, I did not see an article about a worn out valve, unless I missed it.

With what you said, some quantifying statements could help, maybe determine what should be done. I have the towing package, with the fluid cooler. Most of the mileage has been highway mileage, I'd say 70%ish. I nearly always use the parking brake when parked, especially on hills, and typically am a pretty relaxed driver, with that said, there are several instances where a couple gear downshift is required (read floored), in order to jive with traffic conditions. I almost never haul anything other than myself, and have only towed something maybe 5 times in the life of the truck (nothing that heavy, a trailer with some weight, and a cherry picker a couple times). I also have a ScanGuage mounted in my truck, with one of the monitored sensors being the transmission fluid temp, I cannot remember at this point which sensor it is, as I think I only have access to the one, through the OBDII port, but I want to say it is the one inside the transmission, not in the pan, as it changes rather instantly, depending on driving conditions. I've monitored this temp over the years, and it's safe to say I've never seen it more than around the 200 degree mark, if so, it was just barely. Seems to hover around 180-190 at it's hottest. I am not currently noticing any transmission problems at this time.

I watched a video on YouTube of someone dropping the pan, and changing out the pan fluid (not a full flush, but more than with just a drain and fill), and it did not look that hard. That even involved a guy not using a torque wrench to tighten the bolts, which I would do. That being said, my dad has said every time he has changed transmission fluid in an older car, has ended up having problems shortly after doing so. So that is what scares me about doing a full fluid change.

 

I've flushed and re-filled my transmission three times, each at about 100,000 miles. Still going strong at 331,000 miles, 98% all pavement miles and mostly highway at that.

 

The parts list I posted above was listed for you to research what happens as each valve in the listing begins to wear .
If you click on each individual part , there,s an explanation of the effect that occurs causing internal damage to the transmission .
Keeping your fluid clean pretty much eliminates the need for these parts .
With this said , I have used this companies aftermarket parts in every transmission I have rebuilt over the years
http://www.sonnax.com/units/250-A750F#ac3

 

Which ever is cheaper.

I would probably take it to a trans shop because I'd want to have the fluid tested and it's easier to convince a shop to let you go back with them and take a sample of the fluid as they drain it. With a dealer I would always fear they never actually did it right.