Lifetime AT fluid?

Lots of conflicting reads out there from "Toyota"

https://www.toyotaofdallas.com/service/toyota-transmission-repair-dallas-tx.htm
https://www.toyotaofroswell.com/toyota-transmission.htm

https://www.toyoheadquarters.com/threads/toyota-ws-world-standard-automatic-transmission-fluid.1432/
https://attachments.priuschat.com/attachment-files/2015/10/96203_T-SB-0006-11.pdf

 

I didn’t read the other responses.

I did a Drain & Fill @100k miles.
Stuck with WS fluid since I didn’t want to mix fluids. I have 151k on the truck now. No problems yet from changing the fluid.

 

I would think it's way less risky and less system shock to do a filter change or a drain and fill at regular intervals starting now (which would change about 1/4 of your capacity, 3 qts +/-) rather than a complete flush and fill. It is a closed system, but as said, it's a petroleum product and will break down over time regardless. I don't think you'll have problems doing one of those and starting a schedule now, but I would def DIY. It's a one banana job.

 

I have 72k on my 14 and I’m going to do a drain and fill soon, but I have a friend with a 4Runner with over 200k on the original trans fluid and it still works fine fwiw. Each to their own I guess.

 

Lifetime means just that.
The lifetime of the component it is in.
It has nothing to do with the fluid.

A drain and fill only gets about 1/3-1/4 of the total fluid. Think of it as a “refresh”.
If a Drain & Fill causes problems at 87k. You already had problems.

 

Any honest moral car mechanic will tell you, a lifetime automotive fluid does not exist.

 

Almost all vehicle manufacturers today call their transmission fluid lifetime and technically they aren't wrong in that it will last the life of the transmission, they will not however tell you what that lifetime is...

It all comes down to the race of who can claim the lowest "cost of maintenance" and also EPA pressure, it's the same reason oil change intervals are being pushed higher and higher at the expense of potentially shorter engine life.

Most manufacturers don't care anymore about longetivity as they are in the business of selling cars and keeping the EPA off their backs, as long as the majority make it out of warranty, last "long enough", and have more features than the next one, so that consumers keep buying them.

As an owner you ultimately have to weigh the benefits and potential risks of performing or not performing maintenance.

 

I just got a 2015 with 85k, one of the first things I did was change the trans fluid. It needed it too, brownish and smelled burnt. This method works great https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-full-flush-for-automatic-transmission.68462/

 

On Toyota's own website for a 2008 V6 Tacoma, it says to change the ATF at 60K if towing, using car-top carrier, or heavy vehicle loading.
https://www.toyota.com/owners/parts-service/maintenance-schedule
On our 07 Lexus ES350 manual, it adds, to the special operating conditions, off-roading and long idling (as in taxis, commercial use, etc...)

There is always a risk, even doing your own oil change has a level of risk. The idea is to minimize risk by following procedures and/or learning from the experience of others.

 

To answer your question... Yes, I have seen another post in the Gen II forums where a dealership said it was a lifetime fluid. Not certain why though.

I just did a drain and fill at 60k along with coolant. Easy DIY with the great instructions on this site. Might want to look into diffs also.
Good luck.

 

Changed my transmission fluid at 150k. Followed the DIY full flush write up on here. Valvoline Maxlife fluid. It runs and shifts a lot better now.

 

I'm in the camp that says save your money, drive it till it dies and then have it rebuilt. Most vehicles will be in the scrap yard for other reasons before the transmission dies even if you never change it. You can literally end up spend more servicing the transmission than it will cost to have it rebuilt. And it will end up dying at about the same point either way. It is because of the cost vs benefit that most manufactures no longer advise changing the fluid. It's just not economically worth it.

If your transmission is in good shape, then changing the fluid won't hurt a thing. Won't help either. But if the transmission is already compromised then keeping the old fluid in there will buy you some time before it completely dies. It is pretty common to see one die within a few weeks of the fluid being changed. That is why most shops won't touch an older high mileage vehicle.

And FWIW, I've been driving for 49 years. My dad started driving in 1936. Dad worked from the 1970's through the 1990's in sales driving 40,000-50,000 miles per year and he put 200,000-250,000 miles on every car he ever owned. Neither of us has ever changed the transmission fluid on any vehicle we've ever owned. That is several million trouble free miles between us. There are close to 1/2 million combined miles sitting on my driveway. All of them have the factory transmission fluid in them. If the transmission dies on one of them tomorrow, I'm way ahead financially.