Transmission Fluid Replacement Recommendations

Wow...overkill

 

Probably, but considering you can get a gallon of fluid at Walmart for $18, the cost is negligible... just 30 minutes of your time.

 

Which fluid are you using? Guess it's okay to use aftermarket vs Tacoma ATF ?

 

Maxlife full synthetic, it's Toyota WS compatible. It's not in Walmart stores for some reason, but it's $17.97 on their website. Sometimes Autozone has it for that price as well.

Get two gallons and it's free shipping.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valvolin...utomatic-Transmission-Fluid-1-Gallon/15125768

 

Maybe.. But mine has about 110k on in now and the fluid is clean as new
Plus.. I get the fluid for free

 

I printed the walmart.com price for maxlife atf and took it to AutoZone. They matched it.

 

Free is nice!

Everything about my truck is free to me, it's a company vehicle, but I still baby it and do my own maintenance to save the company money. I enjoy tinkering with it...149,000 miles and runs like its brand spankin' new!

 

That's good to know. Advance carries it too but they want $26 for it. Crazy!

 

I have 400,000 miles on mine and never changed the trans fluid. I've been told by many shops in my area that they won't touch my fluid. Which is frustrating, because I feel like the life time fluid has reached its lifetime twice by now.haha! In my mind so long as I'm not having any issues with the transmission it's safe to change the fluid as long as I do not do a flush right?

 

I wouldn't change it with that mileage.. It may never pull again with new fluid

 

If you aren't having issues then changing the fluid isn't going to introduce new issues. If you change the fluid and your transmission all of a sudden stops working then it needed to be rebuilt anyway.

 

Huh? That sounds like government logic...

 

Have you taken it to an actual transmission shop vs. just a regular shop?

People will state that it's dangerous to do a transmission flush on an old transmission because it will dislodge debris into the transmission leading to failures and gear damage. I think this is completely untrue and transmissions with such debris are on their way out the door anyways, the fluid flush just may have made the problems appear a bit sooner.

Some shops on very high mileage vehicles may be afraid to touch them because if you do have issues (which is completely normal at 400K) they feel you are going to blame them and might file a small tort claim against them.

I'm not sure what I would do in your position. If I would do a drain and refill or a flush. I would be more inclined to do the flush, drop the pan, replace the seal etc.

Maybe @gearcruncher has some advice for you. He's the all knowing transmission man.

 

Those are spectacular numbers but i bet that is a calculation per your accountant rolling the dice on the price of maybe a tranny or two going out against flush/fill costs X 4 (let's say its performed at 60k intervals) across a dozen vehicles. At 200$ that's $9600, whereas replacing a failed unit with a used transmission is around <$2k (?) So even if 3 or 4 fail your company saves $.

Can't hit blackjack on every draw so when one of these fleet vehicles with 200-300k+ on the clock and original unmaintained trans leaves you on the side of the road, and one will, you know it was because the bean counter skimped on maintenance. Your crappy day getting towed in the rain allowed your boss a bigger bonus check.

Not sure what a flush or fluid replacement costs, I guessed 200$

Edit: An afterthought. Your post about your real world experience has made me at least consider keeping my wallet in my pocket and doing zero maintenance to my transmission.

 

Well you certainly managed to go a while without a service .
And you can guarantee that within those 400k your fluid has never been overheated ?
I would start with a computer scan and a thorough test drive . I can pretty much bet problems would be found with 400k . The 750 series transmissions have issues straight from the factory
With this said , I would have zero issues removing the transmission pan to perform an inspection of the bottom of the pan , the magnets and the filter .
Once the pan inspection is performed , a decision is then made to either flush or just add new fluid to the pan

 

This is exactly what my shop does. Won't flush it until they see what debris/metal is in the pan regardless of mileage. If the customer is insistent on a flush, they'll make them sign a waiver and most of the time if they're extremely busy will refuse to do the flush and attempt to explain why.

 

I just did a full flush...very easy to do.

 

Just had the dealer do a full flush and fluid change on my 2015. 71K miles-light duty commuter. Changed the rear diff fluid at the same time. need this truck to last a long time. My experience is good maintenance leads to fewer problems in the long run.

 

30k tranny flush ...yeah file that under waste of time and money.

 

I never touched my trans, but at 125k I dropped the pan, cleaned the magnets, replaced the filter and did a full flush. 25,000 miles later at 150k I did a drain and fill, and I was pleased how clean the “old” fluid was. Trans shifts smooth as Tennessee whiskey.

Used Valvoline MaxLife from Walmart. $17.94/gallon, great price!