Transmission 2016-2023- 6 SPEED AUTOMATICS COULD BE LOW ON FLUID DIRECTLY FROM FACTORY

Same when I asked my dealership... Honestly F*&1 Em! I'm going to treat it like I treat KTM Dirtbikes... Its going to get an oil change at 1K miles and a full fluid flush at 5K and yes along with the transmission. What I can say I have used Three Toyota dealerships and do not trust a single one. I'm sure there is one out there or reputable techs that actually care but its a common theme these days and not just with cars its everything. There are so many layers to things and so much separation from decision makers to the client that customer service is either talking to a robot or some customer represented reading off there risk mitigation sheet so the company doesn't get sued. Honestly great video and that guy has a tone of knowledge. There is a reason my 2016 is getting traded in at 123K... Its had every recommended service and then some! These turd generations aren't even half the truck the 1st or 2nd generation trucks were especially since I've started becoming familiar with what's under the hood...shits scary and yeah id rather have the 4 cylinder. but nothing will ever be as solid as the 22R and RE

 

Just got my 2021 tacoma back from the dealer and it was 3/4th of a quart low on tranny fluid. Mexico built truck

 

Updated the title to include 2021 model year .
Getting a lot of private messages from members with 2021 trucks finding out the hard way that their fluid is low.
Thread is 6 years old now . Sick of getting Hammered by members telling us its just a programming issue


As for the video posted above stating that transmissions that come low from the factory are only effected by cold weather is a Crock of shit . Period
Sorry for the language but this thread and the posts by members at Tacoma World have proven that low fluid is causing multilpe issues regardless of temperature .
Good luck running your 3rd gen torque converter in any weather with low fluid .
All proven facts !!!!! Get ready for a shit storm of transmission issues with the 3rd gen , this I promise . Its already happening
They need to be filled properly with the engine running warm in park , and a dribble coming out of the overflow .

 

you can't even do that anymore!!! you need techstream ffs!

 

2022 owner, yes it was low, only 1/4 quart but still an issue that needs to be addressed.

I wrote out how to check w/o jumping the computer! See my post ask questions if needed!
Jerry

 

I purchased my new 2021 Tacoma TRD Off Road in Sept. last year. My automatic transmission shifted fine for the first 3000 miles but afterwards began to occasionally slip and clunk between gears. Took the truck to the Toyota dealership and the mechanics couldn't reproduce the slippage and couldn't find anything wrong. After driving the truck another month the transmission continued to slip between gears as if there was not enough fluid. Frustrated I took the truck back to the dealership and paid to have the transmission fluid changed. Hoping that if the transmission was low on fluid that it would be refilled with the proper amount.

It’s been three weeks and the transmission is now shifting smoothly and properly. The dealership would not reveal to me whether the fluid level was low or not.

 

Wondering if my truck is suffering from this issue…symptom began about two weeks ago (noticed it after installing icon rxt leaf springs).

For now I have narrowed it down to making slow corner turns (for some reason slight uphill angle helps reproduce the issue) when the truck is cold. The issue is: low speed and low rpm, light to no throttle, making a LEFT corner turn, when I straighten out of the turn and reapply more throttle, the truck shifts into what seems neutral, rpm’s increase and then shifts into gear with a little bit of a thud/jolt (like its rev matching but not doing a good job it of lol). This issue never seems to happen when making a nice corner turn from a dead stop, but only when approaching a corner from a roll already. I’ve done some searching around the internet and these forums and this is the closest I have come to matching my truck’s symptoms.

There’s been a couple of times within the last week or so where at a dead stop, when applying throttle the truck revs because it’s still in neutral, it takes a second or two to shift into gear while rolling. Only happened a few times that Ive noticed.

Got my alignment checked Monday, everything checks good. My intitial suspicions were driveshaft/pinion angles or alignment after I lifted the truck (2/1, fox 2.5 and icon rxt). My hub/fender measurements are 23/24 both sides. C/o’s are not over-preloaded or anything. I’ve retorqued u-bolts, taken a gander underneath the truck for anything that’s obviously loose or broken. Everything looks good.

2020 Trd off road, 41,700 miles. Any suggestions? Should I go ahead and check the tranny fluid level to rule this out? Im still under warranty but dealership is my absolute last last last option.

 

Just wanted to follow up in case anyone experiences similar symptoms. My truck was just under 2 quarts low. Checked and topped off by local Toyota specialty shop, not the dealership.

 

After visiting 3 dealers who would not actually check the trans fluid, I opened a case with corporate and got dealer #4 to physically check it. It was 2 qts low. Toyota gave me an 8 year warranty out of the deal. According to corporate, the engineers said the trans is robust enough that 2 qts low wouldn't hurt it... I had the trans flushed shortly after. This was a couple years ago. I finally checked the trans level myself yesterday and found it was about 1qt overfilled.

 

How bad of an idea is it to just add half a quart of fluid. If it seems there all low can I just add some with out going thru the process of jumping the OBD and shifting it from P to D a bunch of times.

 

buy a $18 bluetooth obd adapter. download free app. pour 1-2 quarts into fill hole of tranny. monitor transmission temp with app. remove fill level check valve to remove excess. only takes about 20 minutes.

 

My 2022’ 6 spd MT was low 0.5 quarts when it started to drip out of the fill hole cold. Pretty sure all MT are filled the same way. The fill hole is the fill line. Not sure if this is a way for Toyota to save money or the workers aren’t adding the proper fill amount.

 

kind of concerning it's considered a lifetime fluid yet it's low from the factory

 

Most manufacturers recommend changing transmission fluid every 30k miles. I topped off with some AMSoil. My clutch was making noise as it was pressed in while in neutral going over bumps. Also the shifts have gotten much quieter since adding some.

 

Have a 2022 Tacoma TRD OR and just checked the fluid level at 500 miles. It was 450mL low on fluid (almost half a quart).

 

Manual?

 

Oh forgot to specify, no it’s an auto.

 

So far no problems with the 2022, but 2016 have a few hiccups.

 

Funny to see this thread persisting. If 6 years and 1.1 million Tacomas have fluid low from the factory, is it really low? Maybe we'll see 4th gen (2024) added to the thread at some point.

 

I have a '16 and finally checked mine today. Truck has 13,400 miles on it (pretty low) since I got it in Dec 2015. It was almost 3/4 qt low. Now I'm wondering how much damage was done. I have a 10/100K warranty that I got for $750 when I bought it since the owner of the dealership is an acquaintance. So, that is some piece of mind, but still... I should have done this much sooner.