I think it's possible my transmission fluid was drained and oil overfilled.... 1000 miles ago

So I'm going to try and keep this brief - got my 2018 Tacoma V6 auto with 42k miles from a Nissan dealership this past June. Brought it in in mid-September for the first free oil change, and went on a short road trip. Noticed some burning smell but figured it was just some spillage. Noticed some oil on the drivers side of the engine. Gave it a good powerwash when I got home. No problem.

Then I had a couple rough shifts, hesitating on the take off, weird transmission type stuff. I just chalk it up to weird 3rd gen transmission stuff. New truck, no way its transmission problems, ya know?

But lately, it's been blowing smoke like crazy. Whitish smoke, no smell that I can tell. Tons on startup, and pretty consistently while driving. It gets better, even goes away sometimes, but it's gotten bad.

So I've been digging around a bit more and found people had issues with mechanics draining the transmission fluid and overfilling the oil and had similar issues. Most people caught it right away. Seeing as I've driven about a month and 1000 miles, if this were to be the issue, how fucked is my truck?

 

Engine is probably fine. I'd be worried about the transmission.

 

Honestly, i don't think a transmission would last 1000 miles, those things get way too hot. The truck should throw a code for sure.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3rd-gen-auto-trans-fluid-change.548642/


On this thread, somebody says that only about 1/3 of the transmission fluid will drain through the drain plug.

I'm afraid they drained just enough for the truck to run, albeit a bit worse, but enough to cause longterm issues.

Only other thing I could think is maybe head gasket or some type of seal somewhere along the line? But that would also be a weird issue for a 3 year old truck with under 50k miles.

 

Have you checked your oil level?

 

White smoke is usually water vapour. Burning oil is blue.

 

What does the dipstick say?

 

Just did a quick check and it's about a quarter inch or so past the high mark on one side, streaks on the other about an inch and half past the high mark.

 

Oil level isn't out of the normal for these trucks if you add the full 6.2 qts that the manual says to add. White smoke is water, how's your coolant level? If it's low you, Probably have a bad headgasket. How does the oil look? Milky?

 

Oil looks super clean, nothing in the cap. Coolant is just under an inch below full and hasn't noticeably dropped in the week or so since I checked. I'm assuming it was topped off when I bought it, didn't take stock of it until recently.

Head gasket seems pretty unusual for such a new rig, no? Anything that might've caused it?

 

Impossible to say. Your going to need to tow it to a shop unless you have the tools and knowledge to do a pressurized leak down test on the coolant system. Your probably looking around 100 - 200ish from a reputable shop for a diagnosis. Unfortunately nothing on these trucks are cheap, hope everything works out for ya

 

Upon suspecting your truck was overfilled double the normal level, you should have had it towed to a reputable dealer and had them check your dipstick for overfill.

 

Any codes? If you don’t have a reader take it to a shop.

 

how many miles are on the truck? engine/drivetrain are covered till 60,000 miles. or raise a concern with the dealership you bought it from. and request to bring it to a toyota shop as you suspect a problem with driivetrain, it should be covered under toyota's warranty, if not that other dealer should foot the bill if it is a used vehicle warranty, or issue with their previous service... how much white smoke are we talking? it is getting colder and moisture vapor is white (and typically pressent as condensation in the crankcase/intake and is particularly visible in exhaust during cold startup, and first 5-10 minutes of running), but dissipates quickly (at the tailpipe) in the cold weather... oil/ coolant burning sticks around, oil is blu-ish, and coolant will be THICK white smoke THAT DOES NOT DISSIPATE QUICKLY.. also oil may be overfilled by tech waiting for dipstick to read full, oil drainback from the heads on our tacomas is not great, and you are filling via the drivers side head...

when i was a tech I would fill with the prescribed amount of oil (6.2qt capacity, fill with 6.2Qt... start up the vehicle, let it run for 1 minute. check for leaks, and do a final check of the dipstick, and top off if necessary... typically the "Capacity" either did or did not take into account the oil filter housing/oil cooler capacity into account, some did, some did not.. depends on manufacturer, letting the vehicle run ensured the filter housing was full, and checking the fluid level , and topping off ensured double checks, and proper fluid levels). AT LEAST THIS IS HOW i WAS TAUGHT, AND FORMED THE HABIT. a slight overfill is possible if you are checking fluid level cold.. and all the oil has had a chance to settle to the oil sump...but it should be within 1/8" or so of the full mark. I had noticed some odd shifting characteristics of my tacoma hard shifts, some "missed" downshifts..., but have not noticed anything lately.. all has to do with signals the ECU/TCU is recieving throttle input, air temp, trans temp, etc... it will err on the side of caution to not allow damage to the ENGINE/drivetrain, and may cause un-desired effects (hard shifts, delayed shifting, etc...) much like traction control interfering when you dont want it to..

my advice, keep an eye on it, but keep this stuff in mind. If you still are concerned, take it to a toyota dealer, and tell them you want a full inspection including vehicle fluid levels (specifically engine/drivetrain), have them verify fluid levels. and service/top off if necessary. I do find it hard to believe they pulled the trans drain... your engine oil would still be dirty, as the old oil would mix with new, and carry all the carbon.....

 

I know it is Friday and early, but this thread confuses the hell out of me. Are we talking Transmission or engine? Two totally different systems and I have never seen a tranny blow white smoke. Actually and thankfully, I have never seen a tranny blow anything.

 

Ask the Nissan dealer for service records. Perhaps they did a drain and refill. If so have them recheck the level and tell them about your concern. If our of any type of warranty through them but perhaps still in powertrain take it to a Toyota dealer

 

Ah, you close your eyes...

 

He thinks they accidentally drained (partially) his transmission fluid (I dont think this is likely, as auto fluid is red, and would be noticed easily), and overfilled his engine oil (can cause excess oil to burp up the PCV/valve cover vent, and be burned off..) but I think it's just condensation being burned off (cold weather).. not likely to be a head gasket, unless it is a super slow leak...

 

Tow it to the dealer and be careful what you tell them because everything you say can and will be used against you .

 

Trans fluid after being used is similar in color to used engine oil. Ask me how I know