Transmission Issues. PLEASE HELP!!!

OK fellow TW members. I am in need of some serious help. I have a 2006 Tacoma TRD OR 4x4. Automatic Transmission, 107000 miles. I bought the truck used at 92000 miles back in March. In July my trucks transmission started acting funny. It was having trouble down shifting into 1st gear. Took it to the transmission place and they called a while later and said I was a little over 2 quarts low of transmission fluid. They filled it back up and I was on my way. Problem solved. Well, this past Saturday the issue returned. I took it to the transmission place this morning and they called this afternoon and I was told that it was over 3 quarts low. They filled it up and problem solved. Well, my question is......WHERE THE HELL IS IT GOING???? The guy checked everything. Its completely dry under there. Checked the transfer case to see if it was going in there and nothing. Checked to see if there was water in the transmission and nothing. Checked to see if the radiator had any trans fluid in it and nothing. I mean he literally went over the entire truck front to back and there are no leaks. He has never seen this before and we are stumped. Usually you would see if there was a leak somewhere...especially when its leaking/drinking 1 quart of trans fluid a month. Has anyone got any suggestions or have you ever heard of this before? Please....any help would be appreciated.

 

It's full. I actually just changed it Friday evening.

 

No. The transmission was not acting up then. But when I changed it, it was still basically clear. At least for the most part

 

How is the shop checking fluid level?
Where on the truck is the shop filling the fluid from?
Did the shop use genuine Toyota WS fluid or incorrectly put in Type IV (which is used in the 4-cyl and earlier-gen trucks)?

The transmission fluid level can change significantly depending on fluid temperature. The procedure to check fluid level on the Tacoma is a bit unique, since there is no dipstick. See: http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/63851-how-drain-refill-automatic-transmission.html

 

Have you crawled under the truck to have a look for yourself ?

Only a couple possibilities and most of them have been covered from your explanation .

trans was never filled properly
leaking into transfer case
cooler or additional cooler and cooling line system .Does the tech know you have a cooler on the front ?
Air Cooled Oil Cooler: Removal, Installation

 

FYI trans check plug is on the bottom of the pan. the trans needs to be at a proper temperature to check this.

 

^^^^^ this for sure .
Did he at least check with engine running ?
Sounds like a classic case of the technician not doing his homework .
There are many transmissions presently that use the fill plug to tell when the trans is full .The A750E is not one of those .

 

@jwhendrix01: Make sure you didn't drain the trans fluid by mistake when changing the oil. You wouldn't be the first, or fourth, person to do this...

 

I wonder if the person who bought that Tacoma 6 months later knew about the 'oil change incident'...

 

Yup. If you didn't drive it anywhere, and found the mistake before you did, you could at least say it gave you a chance to refill your transmission fluid...

 

Maybe check your engine coolant..

 

One of the advantages for 2.7 owners, wes got a trans. dip stick.

 

That was my bad. Yeah I knew that. He went over it all with me. And yes, he checked it while it was hot and running. He has been my trans guy for years and years. He knows what hes doing. I have all the faith in him to do it. Good guy.

lmao... i guess it could be confusing to some people. I have always changed the oil in all my vehicles and its pretty apparent which one is the oil pan. At least to me it is.

Yeah he knows there's a cooler in the front. Its good too. He also checked all the trans lines and the vent just in case it might have been spewing from the trans vent and it was fine as well. We are totally out of ideas on where this fluid is going. That is why I came to TW!

 

Engine coolant is good. He checked it all out as well. It was a little low, but other than that it was perfectly normal.

 

im gonna guess the engine wasnt warm enough when it got checked and it is now over filled. i did a 3 qt drain and fill on mine a couple years ago and thats what happend to me. once the truck warmed up it shifted violently for lack of a better word from 3-4 and 4-5. i did another drain and fill as a cheap last option before major surgery and after a couple hundred miles to get the air out of the lines its running like a top again. also, just a thought when they "filled" it what kind of fluid did they use? i think WS is all thats recomended for these. that could have something to do with it

 

The truck was actually hot when I dropped it off. I have a 30 minute drive to work and he looked at it about 5 minutes after I arrived. It was plenty warm enough. And he used WS fluid. The only thing he is saying it could be is in the cooling system but as of right now there are no signs of that. He wants me to keep a watch on it and bring it in every 4-6 weeks for another complete evaluation on it. He wants to keep a watch on the radiator fluid to see if it ends up in there. We are at a total loss. I don't mind taking it up there to have it filled every once in a while, but id rather find out where its going.

 

Your truck was too warm to be checked correctly...

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...-transmission-low-fluid-directly-factory.html