transmission flush

I wanted to get a transmission flush for my 2012 Tacoma 4wd 6cyl. 4L.
I was told Toyota uses a fluid that doesn't need to be changed and that I
should just top it off if needed.
Is this true? If so, what type of fluid is it?
Thanks

 

Welcome to the transmission fluid war(s). Toyota uses something called Toyota “World Standard” (WS). As to does it need changing; I do a periodic drain and fill with Valvoline MaxLife. YMMV

 

Change it every 60K miles. Just do it!

 

How many miles on the truck?
My understanding reading up on the matter some time ago -
If nothing has been done before, <100K mi Flush is OK; 100K~150K drop the pan; 150k+ maybe drain and fill the pan. You can crack the overflow plug and see how dirty the fluid is. There is process to get the trans up to temp so the fluid is at the proper level.
Dirty fluid helps clutches engage. If you put clean fluid too late in the game you can create more problems (slipping).
If you use a flush machine late in the game it could bring up larger contaminates and clog small passages and/or cause slipping. These transmissions have a mesh filter, where they catch debris that then settles down on to the magnets in the bottom of the pan.

 

So, does Toyota use a tranny fluid with a built-in solvent? And is it necessary to use it? Is that
why I should re-use the fluid that's already in there? The truck has about 150,000 miles.

 

I'm not sure if it has solvent, but I've heard it mentioned.
I did a flush at the dealer around 150k and did a pan drop and filter change my self around 200k. I decided to use ATF-WS for the pan/filter because it wasn't that expensive and since the pan\filter only changed around 40% of the fluid (a lot left in the torque converter) i felt better not mixing different brand fluids.
What do you mean by "re-use the fluid"?

 

It absolutely needs to be changed. At least every 60k with a drain and fill.
And by 100K you really should try to have a full system evacuation and refill.
That's the minimum. Even better would be a drain and fill every 30K. But that's boarding on over kill.

By the way, Tell the service guy he needs to look up the service info.
They updated it to specify when the fluid should be changed.