transmission fluid

So just called my local toyota dealership and the service advisor told me its a sealed transmission and does not need to be changed unless the fluid is black.... She said they rarely ever do them on these trucks. I'm at 91,000 and a little nervous, I work at honda and we do every 30k.

 

i would be very nervous if mine had 91K and had never been serviced

 

I bought it about 6 months ago and didn't trust the dealership who sold it to me. I want to change all fluids.

 

Change it. Just because "sealed" doesn't mean it is going to last longer. It's the same fluid whether "sealed" or not.

 

I agree that it should be serviced . 5 speed here http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...hift-kit-shift-recalibration-kit-2nd-gen.html

and 4 speed here http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/te...warner-340-series-transmissions-write-up.html

 

My 09 is at 202k. Just started getting some slow down shifts. I’m gonna change the fluid tonight for the first time ever. I tried a while at like 120k and the place (not a dealership) told me that it would do more harm now since I had never changed it. It think that’s the generic answer for most cars. Anyways. I know it’s not something to be proud of but I have neglected that AT and it was good over 200k. The rest of the truck has not had the same neglect FYI

 

this. read through these threads and you'll be in good shape.

i used Valvoline synthetic ATF because it is much cheaper than Toyota WS. the DIY tranny flush threads talk about the OEM certification hype. after some reading i am convinced the Valvoline is fine.

edit: maybe we should ask a mod to sticky one of those trans flush threads?

 

The general consensus is don't do a full flush over 100K, although many have done so with no issues. A filter change and a drain/refill would have been OK at 120K. But 200K and not even a drain/refill? Definitely don't do a flush. The problem with high mileage ATF is that the fluid has accumulated too much metal shavings from the bands breaking down that the ATF itself contains the friction material needed to shift properly. Replace that material with fresh ATF and the tranny will start slipping. Additionally, the detergents in new ATF may dislodge too much crud that could block passages. I would definitely replaced the ATF filter and do a drain/refill, and hope for the best cause it appears this tranny may have irreversible damage.

 

I'm at 10+ years and 186,000 miles on my factory fluid. My owners manual says never change it and there have been several guys go over 400,000 miles on the original fluid. I'm not changing until it dies at this point and I fully expect at least another 100K.

It isn't miles that kills AT fluid. It is heat. If you tow a lot, especially at altitude, in mountains and near max loads then it makes sense to change the fluid more often. If you ever let the fluid reach 250 degrees it should be changed ASAP regardless of when it was last changed. The more time you spend over about 210-220 degrees the more often it needs to be changed. If you keep it around 200 degrees or less then you'll likely wear out the rest of the truck before the transmission.

If I were over 150K and had never changed it I'd ride it till it dies. IF there is any excessive wear changing the fluid will not help, might as well save the money and use it toward a new transmission. In fact the old fluid is less slippery and can keep a damaged transmission rolling along a little longer. Changing to new, slippery fluid will only make the damage more noticeable.

I'm not convinced that regular transmission service is cost effective unless you tow a lot. It isn't that hard to get 200K or 300K out of most transmissions with no service. The guys who service them religiously only get another 30K-50K out of one, but spend enough on service bills to pay for 1/2 of the new transmission.

 

Are you V6 4.0 auto?

 

Probably one of the easiest maintenance items I've done on my V6 auto Taco is a full flush of the transmission with a pan drop and replaced the filter at 130k miles.

 

I had 194k did a full flush and almost lost my tranny...do it right and pull the pan!! Or do drain and fill. Tranny is fresh now but it could have been bad.

 

Just saw all the new replies. My tranny today was stuttering and shifting like shit. I changed it and drove about 10 miles currently, it shifts like new. When I was draining the overflow the new fluid was kind of Black from mixing with the remnants of the old fluid. I’m gonna go to Austin from Houston tomorrow for a couple days and replace it again when I get back. I have a filter on my funnel and there was absolutely nothing in the filter after draining. It seems good right now I’ll update if anything bad or good happens. I do have a couple oversized trailers I have occasionally towed in the 200k that I put on it.

 

Took about 13 quarts of new fluid until it stopped coming out dark/black lol

 

I can't find my 07 owner's manual to disprove your statement that the manual states never to change the ATF. The 07 Tacoma manual on Toyota's website actually says, on page 405, "Change automatic transmission fluid only as necessary. Generally, it is necessary to change automatic transmission fluid only if your vehicle is driven under one of the Special Operating Conditions listed in your “Scheduled Maintenance Guide” or “Owner’s Manual Supplement”. The maintenance schedule says to inspect the ATF every 30K. Toyota does not define what it means to "inspect". My opinion is the lazy car owner would only check the fluid level whereas the fanatic car owner would take a sample and submit it to a lab for analysis and replace the ATF accordingly. The prudent car owner would fall in between and do a drain/refill. Toyota does, after all, list the drain/refill specs on the owner's manual (also on pg 405)". It wasn't until 2010 that Toyota actually set 60K as the ATF replacement mileage for the Tacoma for "Special Operating Conditions". Doing the minimal drain/refill at 40-50K is so cheap and such a relative easy task, I don't see why you would risk shortening the life span of your transmission.

https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/om-s/OM35869U/pdf/OM35869U.pdf

 

To me, and this is just me, 200k is a hellacious life for a transmission. I know I had transmission problems with ford and Chevy around 100k. I don’t think I could complain if I had to go to a junk yard and pay 500$ for a transmission with 60k miles on it and a year warranty. At over 200k I have spent 25$ on my transmission. I am more than satisfied with that. If they could only make their wheel bearings stronger the truck would be unstoppable for maintenance cost.

 

It's my belief dealers(for the most part) don't want to do this service because their lube techs would make a mess out of the whole process. ASE/Master/Certified/whatever you want to call them techs wouldn't be all that interested in this job because flat rate for this wouldn't be worth their time.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...t-out-of-your-transmission-now.331521/page-17

 

Just an update on my first fluid change at 200k. I’m at 211k now and I’m getting slow down-shifts again (going say 30mph slam on the breaks come to a full stop and take off. The trans won’t go to 1st gear fast enough. if I step on the gas too quickly it jumps hard as hell). I’m gonna drop the pan clean what I can and put a new filter in. This is a hellacious filter; I didn’t expect it. I feel this is gonna solve the problem because new fluid helped for a while but the slow shifting seems like fluid it being hindered from getting where it goes fast enough.

 

As long as you have something that reads fluid temp. Serving the transmission is the easiest thing on the planet to do.