Trans

Thoughts on getting a 2016 Tacoma trans flush ?

 

What are you asking?

Is it needed? When to do it? How much? Is Elvis driving the SpaceX car?

 

I’m asking your opinion on getting it done. I know a lot of people are against it but others aren’t.
I saw a thread on here about 2016 Tacoma’s being sold off the lot with low trans fluid. So I’m about to be heading to the dealer in the next half hour to have them check it.
But I wanted to see what I others thought on getting a trans flush. Because I know people are against it

 

In my opinion it depends on the milage and type of use the trans has seen . Towing every day , lots of long uphill driving ? i have heard old school that if one waits to long , say 100K or so and never did , don't do it . I have had it done to my older trucks at 40K and had no problems .

 

If the dealer is going to drain it and there is a distinct possibility that it will be low, I would want new fluid, esp if you have a good bit of miles on the current stuff.

 

Trans

 

Yes, definitely have the dealer check it. If it is low, they will top it off. A full tranny fluid flush will be out of pocket.

FYI - Suggested flush is at 60k miles.

EDIT: The suggested 60k miles is if you meet those listed conditions.

 

My opinion? That's the last thing I would ever want done. Is your transmission shifting rough? Getting hot? Some problem? If it's low, add fluid. If it's not, move on. There are a lot more horror stories from people who have had it done than from people who have not had it done.

 

Actually, looking at the maintenance schedule, I don't see it as a line item on the main check boxes.

 

Every tme I've had a transmission flush and fill I've burned it up within 10K.


Edit: I'm not talking about a Tacoma though

 

I wouldn't put a lot of faith in that. There are a lot of rumors on the boards here. Perhaps one or two out of the hundreds of thousands of Tacomas sold happened to have low trans fluid. If everything is acting normal, not running not, not shifting hard and you're not near your 60K mark I would say leave it alone.

 

Make sure you get them to check the level physically.....NOT the "computer check"....!!

A lot of trannies have been low....but they generally will have symptoms..... like rough shift.... not engage quickly, etc etc...

 

Transmission fluid should never be changed, unless the vehicle is having a lot of issues. The fluid acts as a cleaner and really doesn't get dirty like oil does. After a lot of miles, it can become dark with clutch materials. They say Even then! It's not wise to change the fluid because you lose a lot of that sandpaper material that helps the clutches to hold...

 

I have don't have any thoughts on trans flush cause I stopped doing them some 20yrs years ago. If I did have any evil thoughts along those lines, I'd have to worry about my power steering pump too since it's a hydraulic pump.

But If I were to see any hydraulic leaks, or malfunctions, then I'd have some thoughts. Mainly bad ones...SOB!!!GrrrrF@%#^.

Last one I traded had almost 200k, never touched the dipstick (T4R 4.0L) except maybe a couple times in 13years to make sure it was pushed all the way in and tight. And yes, It worked like the day I drove it out the lot new.

I also still have a 14yr old tractor with a hydrostat that wines when turning tight since new, but works as intended, never touched it or checked the level, no leaks, no need, no thoughts

Now that maybe bad in the eyes of some, but I hope that helps with the though process
Cheers!

 

FYI you can't "flush" the transmission in the Tacoma.... flush refers to replacing ALL fluid in one go... you used to be able to hook up to the transmission cooling lines and literally pump out all the old fluid while replacing it with new fluid.

That is NOT possible on the 3rd gen transmission (I don't even think it was possible on the 2nd gen... only on 1st gen).

All you can do is a basic drain and fill which will replace 3-4 quarts of fluid. I'm planning on doing 3 of those with consecutive oil changes which will essentially be equivalent to a "flush" but NOT the same thing.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-full-flush-for-automatic-transmission.68462/

 

No

 

Hmmm did i imagine the transmission flush I did?

 

Now you tell me...I just got done pouring sand in my transmission.