Transmission Fluid change (135,000 mi.); yes or no and if yes how often please.

I just did a partial drain & refill yesterday, went smooth. I warmed the fluid up, 105 degrees estimated 1st. About 3.5 quarts came out, a bit dark, looked original, 85k miles, 2013.

I put in ‘Max’ in with my pump. The plan is to do the partial exchange, every Summer. The videos were helpful to know the level checking methods with Toyota.

 

The only real way to know is to have your used fluid analyzed. “Looked dirty/looked clean” is as accurate as a butt dyno for horsepower.

That being said in addition to the people in the thread with very high miles on original fluid there have been plenty of others. I remember seeing a recommendation of 100k intervals for “severe duty”, lifetime for normal.

 

Curious as to why you "warmed" it up? Was it to drain fluid better/faster?

 

my toyota dealer in lancaster pa said there was no filter in mine hum? so i went to a trany. shop that has been in business for about 50+yrs the head guy took a 2sec. peek underneath and said most defiantly there was one.so i said do it 150.00 so they started and snapped 7 bolts of ugh. it was so dirty at 142,000 so they recommended to do a flush i was very hesitant they said it would be fine pan was off and flushed from the in and out there. fixed all bolts and put in a fluid far superior to stock fluid.total 300 it runs well.thats my story.

 

It’s not really a filter, more like a screen. Toyota wasn’t wrong. Look at post 30. His was clean at 130k. Most people don’t replace it cause it’s usually a waste of money and the bolts can easily break.

 

Why is it that most people live in fear, and car companies know this.That is where alot of money rolls in for most companies,people always worried about something. If there was any chance of problems don't you think toyota would have put a dipstick for check and fill? One of the best checks for tranny problems was always smell, if it smelled burnt , change it. Some of you say only drain pan and refill, that is not good , all you've done is mixed a small amount of good with alot of bad, if it's even bad.. Most trannys hold about 9qts + , with most in torque convertor , if you just drain oil pan you have only given yourself false pc of mind. To do correctly , drop pan , clean screen , and follow video about draining cooler , because not sure if able to get at convertor ,to drain . so in video running thru gears pushes old fluid thru. Also my question would be is cooler before or after convertor? If before again all you've done is changed small amount in cooler also. Does anyone know total amount of fluid in tranny? My main point is unless like some of these guys that race and climb in the desert , sandy an hot , or pull heavy trailers, most of us don't need to worry about tranny, rear ends and transfer cases, thats why we bought TOYOTA. And one other answer to about where could fluid go if not leaking , is it could be sucked out thru a vacumm line, some older trannys had modulators that had diaphrams that would leak,not sure about lines on tundras . Agree to complete flush at 150-200,000 miles, this is just good maintenance, and if it's been good to you that long ,it's just cheap upkeep.

 

I wouldn’t call it living in fear. I think most people just want to maintain their $40k+ investment. You could probably go 50000 miles without changing the oil too, but should you? And this is just people who have posted on this site, which is probably 1% of total tundra owners. I’m sure most haven’t thought twice about their transmission or changing the fluid except what Toyota says to do in the maintenance schedule. And even less actually do it.

 

They should have known better that they would break since they're a dealer. Sure, if you're not careful, they'll break if you use too much torque on them. They probably used an impact to bust them. I would not have paid them one cent more than what they said they'd do it in the first place.

 

ther was no charge in getting the broken studs out only one helix coil was used . the trany shop did the work not Toyota.i belive they were taken out by wrench.

 

Most of the bolts have opened threads on the top leaving them exposed to dirt/water and possibly salt etc. They very commonly seize and break off when trying to remove them

 

I guess I missed the part about an indy shop doing the work. That's good of them to not charge for breaking the bolts.
I might just try to see if my bolts loosen up. I might try soaking them with PB Blaster since they are exposed from the top just to see what happens. It'll be some PM for if I really decide to change the oil.

 

no big deal just fix them every 100,000
fluid change.

 

I’m in the same boat, same mileage. I now it’s been a while but how did it turn out?