High mileage transmission that’s had no pervious service

Have a 2016 that’s well past required/recommended transmission service mileage.

getting some vibration and shuddering at 30-35 mph during acceleration. Driveshaft has been rebuilt and new set of tires within the last 1000 miles.

Have researched and transmission issues may be the root cause. As far as what to do, most seasoned Toyota technicians say leave it alone. Don’t even do a drain and fill.

What, if any risk would there be in adding a half quart of fresh fluid and doing a temp check to make sure it’s not low on fluid ?

thanks in advance for any help/advice

M

 

Has anyone done a drain and fill at high miles with no previous service and had no issues ?

 

Dump it, put fresh fluid in it and make sure the level is set.

Only old hat techs think fluid holds a transmission together. Only a really failing transmission will react poorly to a fluid change, but its already ready to fail.

Yours sounds like a converter shudder and fluid level is the first step, which you may as well put fresh fluid in.

 

Drain and measure what comes out and replace exactly what you measure.
Do not flush or try to replace all the old fluid unless you want issues.

If you had been replacing all at 35k intervals, then all new fluid would have made sense,
but that was then…,

 

Check level & condition of existing fluid first, then drain/ fill as needed.

Just had a 200k + mile Ford Ranger automatic trans serviced with new fluid & filter for the second time in the truck's life (100k mi. recommended interval) with no ill effects. Several shops said they wouldn't even touch it even though the tranny had no existing drivability issues, due to the high miles. I thought that was silly because in my mind preventative maintenance is what keeps things going.

I'm also a fan of Lucas 'Stop Slip' for high milage automatics that may just need topped off with a quart or less of fluid. It won't fix a broken transmission, though obviously!

 

I would check the transmission fluid level first if it has never been done. Many 2016s came from the factory low on transmission fluid. Mine was one quart low from the factory.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...be-low-on-fluid-directly-from-factory.405642/

I did a drain and fill at 40K miles on my Tacoma. Just did a drain and fill on my daughter’s Scion XB at 90K miles. Both are shifting better with new fluid.

Here is a video from the Maintenance Map thread if you decide to do a drain and fill on your Tacoma yourself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNqYpEpmUng

 

also check your diffs if you are getting shuddering, could be your rear diff

 

Horseshit.

 

I don't recall there being a required/recommended transmission service interval (unless special conditions apply?)

Any way, I'm the original owner of my 2016, and didn't touch my transmission until last year at 112K, where I did a drain/fill three times over one week, along with all the other fluids in the truck. No issues or changes in performance for me.

 

Just drive the fucking thing!

But then again, what the hell do I know!

 

^^^^^^^^^
This !

Spill & fill only, no flush and no additives.
Use the OEM Toyota fluid.

 

Thanks everyone.
Will do a drain and fill. Have OEM fluid in hand
Appreciate the experience on the group.
Just changed all the diff and transfer case fluids as well

 

What’s the mileage?

 

Getting close to 250,000

 

ewff, steps were missed, but as @Bishop84 mentioned, do a drain and fill, if it's already on the way out, it's out of your control. I would also add- after your first, I would do much more frequent drain and fills to help cycle that old fluid out, maybe every 30k-45, especially for the first few. It's so cheap n easy, you will be kicking yourself for waiting a quarter million miles to do it.

 

250K, yikes! I stand by my just drive it recommendation.

 

Woof is right.

I am kicking myself.
I pull oil samples every oil change and the engine has no issues. Doesn’t burn any oil at all.

 

250k miles without touching the transmission, thats kinda the plan I'm going for as well

 

My 2005 OR did 215k without me ever touching the fluid (no towing) and my 2016 sport went 94k before trading it in and never replaced that one either. Never had any issues but have to say in my new 25 hybrid with a new more complex trans I will be doing
drain/refill at 35k intervals.

The days of simple reliability of Toyotas has moved to more complex designs and my way of leveling the playing field I guess