Drain and fill or flush? 60k service

Toyota recommended maintenance is to replace at 60k for "Extensive idling and/or low speed driving..." otherwise replace based on condition during inspection.

Lets be honest, they aren't inspecting anything. If it had a dipstick maybe, just maybe to upsell you. My opinion, just replace at 60k and move on with your life feeling confident it's all good.

 

I definitely don't disagree. But I really am curious how anyone comes to the conclusion to replace based on condition during inspection, if inspection only means "look for leaks".

 

Trans fluid inspection is visual appearance and smell. If it's clean, bright, and smells nice it's "good", if it's black, or some odd color like yellow, and smells like burnt clutch it's "bad". Everything in the middle is subjective opinion.
Oil is far more complex than looks dark, smells burnt.

 

Oh I got that part lol I just mean, at what point does someone following strictly by a 3rd gen service manual crack open the fill/drain plug to visually inspect it? I've tried to search it and argue the same points and people always pointed me back to the manual, that gives no indication of an interval for actually doing anything pertaining to trans fluid, besides "check level by looking for leaks" essentially. If no indication of leak, its "good". If indication of leak, its "no good" lol.

I agree its probably a good idea to visually inspect it yourself, but for those who choose to use a dealer for every single service, it really seems like there's a potential to go the entire life of their truck never having the drain/fill plugs cracked open, because the manual 'seems' to only call for visually inspecting for signs of leakage. I just wonder if a drain/flush is ever actually called for (technically, not just random internet people recommended)

 

Maybe your does. I've seen what oil the dealer changed in my toyota....came from a 55 gallon drum of mobil 1 extended service 0w-20.

 

This is the cost for the entire service they are trying to sell me on.

I’m prob just going to have an actual reputable transmission shop drain and fill for me. May just have them do it all, this price seems too high.

 

Or save over a grand by doing it yourself on a Saturday if you've got basic mechanical skills.

 

I personally like to taste it to see if it’s still good or not

 

Only thing on the list that makes me even a little nervous is the tranny. Some people say don’t even drain and fill. Idk how in 2022 there is still so much conflicting information on tranny services lol.

 

Curious what the whole fuel injection cleaning involves; a can of fuel additive? On injectors that clean themselves?

 

I believe the manufacturer of the tranny themselves recommends 30k mile servicing, so...

I myself do a spill and fill every oil change. I figure about 3qts. exchanged somewhat frequently keeps the demons at bay.

I highly recommend doing something between flush machine and nothing.

 

Do you do the temp check?

 

Yeah, I use OBD fusion app and my phone. Super easy. No jumping stuff or guess work.

 

Good to know. I always hated doing the jumping wire.

 

That is Mercedes-priced maintenance right there! I wouldn't spend that much to maintain my Tacoma. Not even on a Mercedes. But I like doing this stuff myself. I find it relaxing (I just serviced the fancy Airmatic suspension on my wife's GL450, and saved about $3,000).

 

This is amazing! Thank you.

 

Very helpful. Sticky worthy . Thanks

 

If you’re considering taking it in for a trans fluid “flush” then I’m assuming you don’t want to do it yourself (totally fine), at which case, I’d recommend finding a trustworthy shop/Toyota specialist to just do a standard oem trans fluid replacement.

From my experience (14 years BMW tech), those “flush” machines are popular at the $20 oil change places. At my old shop and other shops I’ve worked at, we used oem fluids and did standard drain and fill. I understand everyone has their beliefs with using “upgraded” oils/fluids but more often than not, I’ve had much more consistent performance with OEM fluids. Obviously some oem fluids are just branded off the shelf fluids, in which case just get it direct from whoever supplies the OEM but note, some fluids are engineered/designed SPECIFICALLY for certain applications.

 

I would measure what came out, add 1 qt to it and pump all in. The fill plug is not easy to access -have to navigate around the heat shield and a hot exhaust.
When I did 1st drain, I got 3.5 qts out. Next drain was 2.5 qts. I would buy extra qts of the fluid for sure.