Confused: Transmission Service?

I have a 2007 Tundra 5.7L DC w/ 209K miles. This was a one owner truck prior to my ownership. It has a good detailed service history but there’s one problem. There’s no evident history of the transmission ever being serviced. When I took the truck for an oil change at the dealership, I notice they marked the “transmission fluid level and condition” in red- needs immediate attention. However, the truck is shifting fine as it always has since I first got it. Most people including the few Toyota dealerships that I called are telling me not to have the transmission serviced since I don’t know the history and due to the mileage. I know flushing isn’t a good idea at this point and they also said no to a drain and fill. I heard the transmission is sealed and the fluid should be lifetime but of course it can turn black and have something build up in it. What do you guys think?

 

At 200k, I'd pass

 

I removed and filled my perfectly running 17XK mile 2010 and 2k later replaced the transmission. If I had it to do over I’d leave it alone.

 

Did you do drain and fill, or did a pan drop?

 

Pan drop, new filter drove about 10 miles drain and fill.

I would leave it alone if I had it to do over and suggest that to anyone asking to leave an over 100k with unknown history alone.

You could open the fill and use a pump to remove a small amount and send a sample to Blackstone to see how new it is.

 

My wife’s sequoia had 194k on it when we got it

I have drained and filled several times no
Issues.

This year I used the fluid exchange method by unhooking the trans cooler lines and refilling multiple times until all was new.

 

Did you have history of the Sequoia transmission fluid being replaced?

I got a 120k Sequoia in April with history it was replaced at 60k, I installed a Tundra cooler & thermostat & r&rd the fluid 3x. I plan on pulling the pan at 140k, replacing the filter and installing more Amsoil Signature Series Fuel-Efficient Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid
Quart Easy-Packs (ATLPK-EA)


https://www.amsoil.com/p/signature-series-fuel-efficient-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-atl/

 

Did a full fluid exchange on mine at 175k, no issues and shifted better afterwards. Fluid was dark but still had a red tint to it. Just make sure your are meticulous with the procedure.

 

I found no history of my sequoia being changed but did 1 drain and fill per oil change

 

Makes sense. I'm planing to do drain and fill soon and will definitely avoid pan drop. Thanks

 

There have been too many stories that I’ve heard over the years- and the shops/dealerships have probably had personal experience with transmission failures after a high mileage oil change. I personally had this happen on a 98 BMW 540ia. A couple thousand miles later it failed.

That being said, I rolled the dice on my 07 and did a drain and fill at 163,000 miles (with no documentation of trans service history). 2 years and 181,000 miles now and all is still good, knock on wood.

 

I just did mine a few months back at 220k?? I was having issues 2 months ago, but I am still probing since its intermittent.... its been gone awhile after new tires... once my rotors come in I will dump my tired suspension and see if that was the problem... My transmission was serviced at 20k, due to seals failing and leaking all over the place...

 

So was the transmission on it's way out and would have failed regardless of oil change? We'll never know but I would have a need to know and probably drop pan to inspect content and while in there change filter. You now know and can start a maintenance program. I just did mine at near 100k that had no metal and just discolored oil and have plans to change oil only every 20k miles for next 100k miles and call it good that will have me starting on 300k miles thinking it will be done.

 

I'm kind of in a similar situation but more with regards to the age not the miles. I bought an 07 with 53K on it from a one-owner older gentleman. In the stack of records he gave me, no mention of a trans service.

It's only got around 57K on it now but also don't know if I should leave it be with it being as old as it is or do a drain & fill? I've done all other fluids already.

 

I'm old school and changed all fluids (transmission, differential, coolant) at 100k miles mostly because that was recommended by manufacturer. So once serviced you know where your maintenance program is and can schedule accordingly. If you want recommendation, I would change oil especially due to age of truck and while at it, why not change filter and inspect for any metal and condition of transmission. I plan to change oil every 20k miles which is about once / year but not filter, nor take the pan off. So the next 100k service would be in about 5 years that would have me at 200k miles working on 300k. I would think it lasting 300K is questionable so at some point would just wait on failure or rebuild it if problems develop. If no problems just keep going.

 

I would just do 1 drain and fill

then if no issues do another drain and fill at the next oil change

and repeat thereafter until it’s all good and new

 

I just did my 3rd of 3 drain and fills on mine. I’ve got 175K on the clock and couldn’t find where the previous owner ever changed it. I waited until after a couple hundred miles and cracked the drain plug to let a few drops out and was quite pleased how much newer the fluid looked. It didn’t look brand new, but there wasn’t any brown in it. More importantly, there wasn’t a burnt smell when I did first one. Had the fluid smelled burnt, I would Have put the old fluid back in. I can say it does shift a little smoother, not that I had any issues prior. I do plan to do it again after the next 25K which may be a awhile since I’ll mostly be driving my company car 90% of the time from now on, especially with the price of gas climbing.
One thing I did after draining the fluid each time was to pour a quart of clean to flush out whatever was in the bottom of the pan since even after draining it a few ounces remain in the pan because of the way the plug sits up.

 

Would drain and fill be the best route to take? Perhaps the slow change? Update: I had a mechanic inspect the transmission fluid and they said it was dark with a little red

 

At the time of our sequoia purchase I saw nothing related to any transmission service

 

A simple Drain and fill is what I would start with.

 

Same.

 

At 275Km I experienced the dreaded SMOD in my coolant. Pressed for dollars, I rolled the dice and went with a used transmission. No history. After the exchange it had TC shudder. Faced with a large bill for replacing the TC, I decided to try a flush. Dealership charged $300 for 15 litres of ws atf Took 800km (500 miles) for the shudder to go away, but It did and didn't come back! That was 11K ago and the trans shifts like new. No issues.

 

So I have my Tundra with 275k on it. I didn't know any history on the transmission service. I tried to do a drain and fill but when I cracked the drain plug of my tranny the fluid was red cherry as every. So very likely the tranny service is already done, I didn't do mine.

Saying that Lookup CarCareNut channel on Youtube - He is a cert Toyota tech. He recommends doing a drain and fill - In fact he also did a pan drop and fill. But I think a drain and fill is more than enough every 50k miles or so. BTW CarCareNut says do it at every 60k miles for the tranny. Even for the lifetime service tranny's. Check out the first video for trucks. 2nd one is for Cars.

BTW I had a 2006 Toyota Tundra with 350k miles and I did a Trans drain and flush on that without any issue. The older fluid was black..so good that I did that.

Also did a Trans Pan & Filter drain and flush on my 1997 Toyo T100 with 390k miles on it and had no issues either. Also black in this case.

Also for the newer 2005+ Toyota Tranny's (5-6 speeds) there is a special fluid. Its the Toyota WS fluid. So make sure you get that from Toyota dealer or trusted parts supplier.


ALSO ON THE NORTHERN TRUCKS - DO NOT DO A PAN DROP AND REFILL.... that will be a costly mistake. Just do a drain and fill because of how rusty the bolts get on the transmission pan.

Here's a reference to CarCareNut videos.

On the trucks -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUAuGmDGntY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRxSu4-4ojo&list=PLeFzfl0Q8rQWZjE9-i2oNRoEnBwQso5Bk