Transmission advice

I have a 2004 tacoma 4x4 6 cyl. I have 305000 miles. Never changed the transmission fluid. I dont work on my Tacoma, dont know how. I kept up on oil changes but idin't know i was suppose to get transmission fluid changed. At any rate the fluid is brown now. I do not have any issue with slipping. I was told it may start slipping if i mess with it now. So what should I do? Thank you

 

Changing the fluid now will NOT cause it to all of the sudden start slipping. A power flush done by a 3rd party that doesn't know what they are doing can stir up debris and cause issues. But just to drain and refill or have the dealer change it, won't cause it to slip. Just make sure the proper fluid is used.

 

Thank You

 

@gearcruncher

 

So how often should I have had the fluid changed? What is the best to do now?

 

It depends on fluid condition..you can change it and it may never move again...seen it many times

 

Gearcruncher will pick up the tag above and chime in.

 

OP what you have explained is no big deal.
Your truck doesn’t slip so it’s just a matter of getting the old fluid out and new fluid in.
On my Taco I dropped the transmission pan, cleaned it out, cleaned 3 magnet that are in there to attract small metal particles from normal wear, replaced the screen, re-installed the pan, and refilled the transmission. Then I did a drain and refill 2 more over about 6 months. This way all the fluid is replaced. Gearcruncher will probably recommend a quart of LubeGard. Listen to him.

 

Changed it how? Drain and refill?

A flush, yes, bad things can happen. A drain and refill with appropriate fluid can't make a transmission stop working unless there is already an issue or debris gets past the filter and sticks a valve/solenoid.

 

Look at manufacture recommendations. Every 100k isn't unheard of.

Yes, just drain and refill. No flush. As Parkvisitor said, if you really want to get all of it out, drain it again after driving a bit and refill. You can also flush using the cooler lines and buckets and letting the transmission oil pump do the work. But that isn't necessary. A drain and refill is almost all that is ever recommended.

 

Ok thank you all.

 

All fluids when they get old they get laden with abrasive waste.

It doesn't take much effort to save the seals in the tranny, differential, steering rack, master cylinder, ect...

just need to be in the right mindset......map out your service intervals...

Something as simple as rear axle seal job can set you back $1200 ~ $1500.....


For a tranny....I'd do it at least every 60K.....

with right tools you can do a partial 2 qt change in less than 15mins....
maybe every 10K or so.....thats what I do.......hydraulic pump/long straw....

Same with the differential.....they dont make those any more, destroy that and you've got a big problem...


In these electronic trannys they don't use hydraulic pressure for shifting...
but they dang sure have small little passages that can clog up....

 

All your replies are on the right page .
Most important is to remove the pan and clean the magnets , clean the filter or replace it with a new filter .

Absolutely no flushes .

When the pan is back on , fill the pan with new fluid and ofcourse with the A340 series transmission , add a 10 ounce bottle of Lubeguard in the black bottle .
This only replaces half of your dirty fluid .
At 300k , you have to do this using baby steps .
You dont want to change all the fluid at once . Thats too hard on your transmission .
A pan drop only gets half the dirty fluid out
The fluid in your torque converter will get the chance to mix with the new fluid in the pan .
Drive the truck for 6 months , then do a drain and fill by removing the pan drain plug .
No need to drop the transmission pan this time .