Dealers should be able to flush the transmission fluid, right?

Small rant ensuing now:
I called the nearest dealer the other day to schedule an appointment for a transmission flush. They quoted me $249 plus tax, so I scheduled it for today. My truck has 70k on it; bought it new and it has been wheeled and driven in mountains pretty regularly. Also towed my wife’s Honda Fit last time we moved roughly 3k on a dolly. I figured better to change out the “lifetime fluid” sooner than later to prevent something more serious breaking. Brought the truck in today and the first thing the service writer asks me is why I want the fluid flushed - he says it doesn’t need to be done. I told him I understand, but for my piece of mind I’d like it done. They tell me 2.5 hours. I come back after they call me and he tells me they didn’t end up doing the flush, they just dropped the pan and did a drain and fill. I ask why? Since they told me they would do the flush, not just a drain and fill of the pan as I understand that does not remove all the fluid. He says they couldn't do it because they do not have the machine to flush the transmission. I then ask ok, we’ll how many quarts did they change out? He calls someone to ask and meanwhile the tech who worked on my truck walks up behind me and says 6 quarts. I turn around and ask him if he worked on my truck. He replies yes and that he couldn’t do a flush because they don’t have the equipment, so he just dropped the pan and replaced 6 quarts. I explain to him that I read people take the line off the trans cooler and flush it that way at home. He explains they can’t do that since they don’t have a method to hook it up. During this whole conversation I can’t help but wonder why they hadn’t called me to inform me of what was happening. I asked for a flush and instead they just went ahead and dropped the pan and supposedly changed out roughly half of the fluid. I asked the tech what the fluid looked like that he took out and he said it was clean. I’m just wondering if there is any validity with their story of not being able to flush the the transmission fluid? I would hope of all the places that work on Toyota’s, the dealer would have the proper equipment. Also, it bugs me they didn’t even bother calling me to inform me they couldn’t perform the service I asked for. Instead they just assumed I’d be ok with them only getting some of it and then charge me $190. Am I wrong in being annoyed by this? Anything I can do about this? Appreciate any advice to ease my mind on this.

 

I would recomend against a flush. Unless you are driving a mid 70s chevy or ford. It stirs up more harm than you want to think of.

 

Evidence? Or just an opinion?

 

I flushed my Transmission and did a filter change at 50,000 miles and it shifts the same as new. Only thing different is that it has fresh synthetic fluid now, and I know it's clean.

OP, I would be annoyed too, but I suggest next time you find a good independent shop or do it yourself. $190.00 is way too much for a spill and fill.

Edit: I have put on 17,000 miles since then and have zero issues.

 

New transmission fluids have detergents in them to clean the transmission, this removes all the gunk from the inside of the transmission but leaves it in the fluid. This can cause the filter to become clogged or clog other parts of the transmission.

 

Ised to rebuild transmissions. The tight tallerances and the way the fluid is designed today. Can plug up the valve body of the transmission. Or create issues with the clutch packs.

 

I have a 2WD tow pkg A750E transmission - holds 11.5 qts ATF - Yours is a 4x4 so you have the A750F transmission. Trucks w/o tow pkg hold 11.3 qts. ATF - so fluid capacities are nearly identical. QTY. specified is from 2015 owners manual.

I'm not sure what qty. of fluid would be removed from an A750F doing a pan drain only, but in my case, 3 qts. are drained if the unit was properly filled. If you have the truck on the ground and elevate the front after draining what's in the pan, you'll get an extra qt. for a total of 4 qts. drained.
Your work was done at a dealership, so it most likely was done on a lift.
I could be wrong, but I would find it hard to believe that an A750F(4WD) transmission drains 3 more qts than my A750E(2WD) just doing a pan drain.
Maybe they pulled the pan and the filter. If they did, that extra qt. I just mentioned would have come flying down. This happens when the filter is removed - you get a fluid bath.
I suspect you paid for more ATF than you really received.

 

They gave you a service you did not request. You should have gotten a call and gave the go ahead. Their mistake could have saved you money. The manager, I am sure would have given you some kind of deal for the mess up. Not sure if you talked to a manager but I am sure they hate to get bad ratings and they will try to make everything right.

 

This was my fear. I was hoping someone would shed some light on where they got 6 quarts from. Like you stated, everything points to the pan only having 3 in it. Thank you!

 

I wish I had thought to ask for a manager at the time. I will however be calling them back today! Thanks!

 

Old wives tale.

You want a power flush, not just a "flush". But do not do it if your fluid is burned dark or dirty, that means it's too late.

You do the power flush to prevent the fluid from burning and wearing out. That's the whole point of it, the fluid breaks down over time and needs to be replaced no differently than any other kind of fluid in a car.

When I say power flush, there's a specific type of machine that warms the fluid up and pumps it through the transmission at pressure to blast crap out of it. The machine pretty much does the whole thing by itself, you really just paying for the fluid and paying for the guy to hook her up and hit start.

The fact that they charge you so much for a drain and fill is ridiculous, I only paid like 250 for my previous powered flush. They used 15 quarts, mainly because they don't stop until the fluid comes out completely bright red for a little bit to ensure all the old it is removed.

 

No no no, this is completely inaccurate as you have to take into account the condition of the fluid.
The only time those issues happen is if you've tried to flush one where the fluid is already shit. But even still it's very rare for one to clog as the power flush should blow all of that out.

The main thing that people don't think about is the fact that once the fluid turns to shit, it cannot properly cool the tranny parts. So if your fluid is burnt dark and dirty that means your clutch pads are already worn out because they've been overheating. This is where the wives tale came in, when you remove all the dark and dirty fluid and put in fresh fluid in a transmission that already has damaged clutch pads it will not shift well. This is because all the random material floating was actually helping the worn out pads.

So as a rule of thumb, power flush your transmission every 50k or so. Every so often check the condition of the fluid. As long as you don't let it breakdown and we're out you'll be fine.

 

Most flushes use the transmissions own pump. The intake sits in a jug of fresh fluid and the outlet pumps into a waste bucket. It's more of an exchange than a flush. The more common BG flush does this by connecting at the transmission cooler lines.

The better type involves dropping the pan and connecting a hose to the intake in the pan. This exchanges every drop without old and new fluid mixing at all.

There's also no filter in these trannys. Just a screen.

 

Why would they call you and risk having you say no way your taking it somewhere that can.
That goes against all the training they have had to RIP customers off.
They are in the business to rape all customers of every dollar they can.
30min=$190
1.5hrs for a real flush at $249, they made way more dollars per hour.
I wouldn't have paid them, cause it's not what I asked for.

 

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A trans with 70k miles can absolutely be power flushed, but only using the correct process or junk will be left in the trans to cause problems. Our local Toyota dealer cannot do that process either and misrepresents their trans service. The only drop the pan and top it off with fluid leaving a lot of dirty fluid in the trans. You need to find a shop that has the BG Products trans flushing system (go to the BG Products webpage to find a shop). Their power flush machine FULLY flushes 100% of the old fluid out, including the torque converter, and replaces it. They add a conditioning agent to freshen the seals to keep them pliable and will guarantee no problems even flushing an older trans. I've had this service done on 3 vehicles with no problems whatsoever and one of the trans had a ton of miles on it prior to the service. They also offer a cash warranty toward service if there are later issues. (I do not work for BG, but I do like their products and services)

 

I would have asked him how did you get 6 qts. in the pan when it only holds 3.

 

Thank you for the BG products recommend. I looked them up and I have a shop that does that flushing 2 miles from my home here in Colorado. Look forward to finding out what their pricing is. After reading this I'll have the right questions to ask them.

 

Not sure if anyone wanted to know, finally spoke with the service manager last night. He was surprisingly understanding to my side of it and refunded me the whole amount. I think the biggest reason was because they never informed me they couldn’t perform the original service and did their own thing. Now I guess I’ll either tackle it myself or find a bg products shop to have it done. Thanks for all the replies.

 

Do not have your work done by a dealer. Ever. Not unless its a very Toyota specific issue.

Dealers will not do pan drop flushes with a filter clean. They don’t keep the equipment because Toyota doesn’t specifically recommend it.

You will need to go to a trans shop.

Search on here before having a dealer do anything. You would have known to question them about it more when they first agreed to it.

Glad to see they refunded you for your wasted time.
And honestly at 70,000k what they did is probably just find untill 140,000 miles