Starting to slip while in reverse

Have a 2008 V6 with an AT. It has 261K miles on it. It just started to slip this week. Here is the pattern. On a cold start I have to back up a hill out of my driveway. Generally, within 50 feet the tranny will slip once or twice while backing up the hill.

Had the tranny fluid completely changed this week. Mechanic said the seals were fine, although the fluid was down about a quart. Within 2 days it slipped again (once while backing up). Same conditions.

Mechanic said they would have to rebuild the tranny. However, he also suggested to wait it out since it is just starting. [I think he's thinking that with that many miles I might want to consider not sinking any more money into a truck with that many miles.]

Any thoughts on this? Should I wait? Could it not get any worse for quite a few more miles? I might want to replace the truck in a year or two. This truck has done me well as a work truck since I am the orginal owner. Can't complain. On the other hand would it be worth sinking more money into overhauling the tranny if it may last another 100K miles. I don't even know what it would cost.

Is 261K miles on original tranny before starting to fail not bad.

Just looking for opinions on all of this. Thank you in advance.

 

If you plan on keeping the truck, you can find a good lower miles used trans on car-part.com for a good deal. Might be a cheaper alternative to rebuilding the old one. Just a thought, if you're 2wd they will cheaper. A 4wd trans will cost a bit more but I bet you can find a good deal still

 

Thanks for the quick reply Robert. It is a 4wd trans. I'll look into a used trans. Maybe I'll keep running it the way it is until it gets noticeably worse. I don't know if this type of issue progressively gets worse in a very short time period or not.

 

Since it was a quart low and after filling, it was OK for a day, is there any chance you have a massive leak?

Also, I’m curious to know how he determined it was a quart low. Did he measure what he drained out and compared it to what he put in?

 

Has the fluid ever been changed before? If not, it's possible you could have made the problem worse by changing it so late. The friction material wears off into the old fluid and without regular changing, that old and burned up fluid is now the only thing holding onto that friction material. Replacing the fluid also gets rid of said friction material. It is likely time to rebuild or replace the transmission.

 

1)Don't know how the quart low was determined.
2)Transmission lines were leaking and replaced 39k miles previously at 222k miles. Thus, at fluid replaced 39k miles ago as well.
3)Transmission fluid replaced throughout ownership. Fluid replaced 30k miles replaced prior to transmission lines leaking at 222k miles. Never anything dripped on where I park on the concrete. Thus, I wouldn't imagine I ever had a massive leak. [Note: Even when my tranny lines were leaking at 222k miles, my tranny never slipped as it is doing now.]
4)I live in northern OH where rust is a big issue. Not sure if that was why the tranny lines were leaking at 222k miles.

Well, now that I have 261k miles, is it unreasoble to assume that the tranny is simply starting to show signs of normal wear?

 

Possible, but if I were you, I would do the tranny fluid check yourself and see if it's correct.

 

Ok. How is it done on this particular 4wd model, since there's no dipstick (at least I don't believe there is)?

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-drain-refill-automatic-transmission.63851/

 

Ok. So it sounds like just to check the level, I need to follow a few things. Little PITA, but ok.

More info. I found out the independent shop did a flush and fill. Something I have had done in the past.

Would adding Lucas Transmission Fix help? The slip in reverse only happened twice this week. I wonder if the seals at 261k need a little help.

 

Back down the driveway in neutral so you can drive forward up the driveway when you leave.

 

Was thinking the same thing.

I might still try the Lucas Transmission Fix

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMyfq8ZxZc8&ab_channel=ProjectFarm