Transmission fluid doesn't need to be changed?

I recently bought a used 2008 TRD Sport that was a lease return at the local Toyota Dealer. I'm coming up on my first oil change and considering the truck has 130,000km (80,000miles) I figured I would email the service manager for a copy of the service records. I told him I was particularly interested in whether or not the transmission had ever been flushed and his reply was:

"The transmission fluid is a closed system, so does not require to be changed."

Has anyone ever heard this?

Also, are there any canadians that know where I can get OE spark plugs?

 

My dealership told me the same thing. I asked them to change it anyways and they said they couldn't change it since it was a closed system and that I never need to change it. I called another Toyota dealership and made an appointment. They suggested changing it every 60k and were more than happy to change it for me.

 

I had a local dealership flush mine at around 80k and it cost about $180 to do it. They said that it didnt need to be done until 120k, but were happy to take my money and do it for me. I figure that the cost to flush it was pretty cheap for piece of mind that the fluid in there wasn't toast, and it seemed to shift a lot smoother afterward....but that might all be in my head.

I have a hard time believing that any fluid in a vehicle can be "lifetime", so I just did what I could do to make myself feel better about it

 

If you're handy, just draining the 3 qts in the pan and replacing that on frequent intervals (every 15K or so) also works and is a lot easier / cheaper than a power flush. The fluid is high quality synthetic and is doubtless good for 100k but cuts into the life of the tranny. That 180 gets expensive so that's why I think the more frequent pan-refreshes is cost effective way to go.

You're probably not imagining the improvement in shifting since the friction modifiers of new fluid will work better. But beware of too-smooth shifts: that means lots of clutch slippage and faster wear. Snappy shifts means less clutch wear but too snappy means u-joints wear. Just right is best! If you know they used ATF-WS, though, then you should be right on.

 

Yeah, I thought of going that three quart drain/fill route, but after all the money I have saved in the last 80k by doing all my own scheduled maint, I figured what the hell, flush it for $180. I was worried about them doing it right...using the correct fluid/temp check ect, but so far its running flawless and I am sure they did it right. Plus I wanted ALL the fluid outta there the first time around...

Maybe next time I will just do the three quarts, but that will be in a FEW thousand miles

 

I completely agree. No fluid for any vehicle will ever be "lifetime" in my opinion. Not so long as it endures temp changes and friction and moving parts. I'm sure world standard is good tranny fluid, but not invincible. Somebody post a link to the thread for the DIY crowd.

 

Closed System LOL. Ask those dealers why Toyota sent them a letter telling them it's supposed to be flushed at 60K miles if you do a lot of towing.

 

spend the extra $ and have dealer flush it.

 

Thanks for the replies. For those who paid to have it done at the dealer, did they actually do a flush or just drain the pan and replenish?

 

They told me it was a flush. I really dont know if they truely flushed it of just drained it.

 

Pretty sure they flushed it, they charged me for 11 or 12 qts of ws fluid, and they asked me before doing it whether or not I wanted the "cleaning agent/detergent" ran through it while doing the flush (extra $30?). I declined the detergent...

I honestly think that they flushed the system, or did multiple drain/fills, but you will never know unless you do it yourself. I thought about being anal and asking for the empty bottles of ws fluid after they were done but I didnt want to be "that guy"

I always have done my own work whenever possible to my vehicles, but in this case I just didn't feel comfortable doing it with the whole temp check process/no dipstick, (thanks Toyota). It felt weird taking the truck in for a fluid change, but was worth the money to me. Next time I will most likely just do a three quart drain/fill after 20-30K or so. That should give me time to get comfortable doing the process

 

The fluid in my 5 speed at 18,000 miles (bought used) was grayish black colored. Drained and filled with Redline MT-90. Only helped slightly with notchy shifting, and 2nd still clunks if I shift too quickly, but there's the peace-of-mind that the fluid should be good for about 30,000 more miles or so.

 

I had the same argument with service writer at local stealership. I paid for service at 60k. When I picked up the truck the drain plug had never been touched. He argued that it was "World Standard" and did not need it until 120k. I said but i paid you to do it. He said go read your manual. I went and got it and showed him where the manual said 60k and 120k intervals there was no mention of "World Standard". He still refused to do the service. Finally after a BBB complaint I got my money back. I had the service done at another facility. BTW..have not been back to that stealership since then. They lost a 21+ year, 9 vehicle customer over that.