21 Tundra with 27k Miles--Maintenance?

Hey Y'all,

Just picked up a 21 Tundra Crewmax 4WD with 27k miles last week.

I am making this post as someone who is NOT a truck/engine/automotive expert.

It still has the original factory warranty on it and has a 1 yr/12k mile bumper to bumper warranty on it from the dealer as well as a 100k powertrain warranty (I bought a gold certified).

I am wanting to have the transmission fluid drained and changed as well as the transfer case and differentials.

Am I better off having a transmission FLUSH or just have it drained and filled back up?

Can you recommend what fluids to replace them all with? Should I use what the shop has on hand or spend the money for a better product (Amsoil, etc.)?

I want to bring the truck to my local shop that I trust.

Anything else I should consider having replaced or looked at? What interval should I have the oil replaced at? 3,5,10k?

Thanks!

 

I wouldn’t touch any thing at 27k miles, especially flushing the transmission. That is absolutely not necessary unless it’s shifting completely erratically while driving.

 

^ nothing wrong with this.

if you want to go over the top, drain and fill the diffs and trans. I wouldn’t touch anything else for a couple more years.

I go 5k miles OCI.

 

If you're under 3 years and under 36K miles I strongly recommend you get the extended warranty from Jerry, money well spend.

 

Transmission - drain and fill, no flush. Use Toyota WS (preferred), although any name brand fluid that claims compatibility to WS should be fine.

I like Amsoil for gear oil, but any name brand is fine. The Valvoline (and Amsoil) soft containers are much easier to fill with, no hand pump needed.

 

Trans drain and fill/ level check. You can wait until 50 or 60 k. No harm done if you do it now If it's done right. Just use Toyota WS.

Do engine oil at 5k(short trips, towing, idling)to 10k (alot of long highway miles). I do 5k but mine is my work truck and I idle alot. Pick decent brand of oil.Toyota, Mobil, Penszoil ect. I use 0W 20 as Toyota recommends. Many people on here say to use a thicker oil, but I think some of the million mile Tundras has the 0W 20 oil. But alot if guys on here will say use 5w30.

I would wait until 50k to do trans. Do an oil change. Check and or replace cabin and engine air filters. I also just use Toyota brand oil, engine, and cabin filters that I buy from dealers.

I paid for a 100k extended warranty. Haven't had a penny of work needing to be done in 70k. Starting to think I wasted alot of money.

 

If you use it like a truck more than just occasionally, Toyota recommends 5k OCI. They call it "special operating conditions" which is funny to me. Things like driving on a dusty road, loading the bed, towing, etc. Isn't that exactly why one buys a truck??

I swapped oil in the diffs and TC at 30k, started trans drain and fill at 60k (will do all of it every 30k). My brakes still look good. Will probably look at spark plugs at 100k.

You might check your air filters (engine and cabin). I like the charcoal filters off Amazon for the cabin. Keeps things fresh.

Congrats on the truck! Now post a dang pic!

 

Just stick with the maintenance manual schedule as everything else advised here is just overkill or waste your money. Do it yourself or do it at reliable Toyota service place. If you do things more often than required you may run into some idiot filling your transmission with regular oil. True cases and horror stories shared here. So just stick to the book and you will be fine.

 

A wast?!

 

Total wast.

 

You don't know the history, so I'd check the ATF thermal degradation counter to get an idea of how the transmission was handled/loaded, especially since the truck doesn't have a transmission cooler .

Drain and fill only.

 

How do you do this? Never mind tech stream needed so like 500$

But maybe he just needs to change the trans fluid then.

I test drove a 2021 crew max 4x4 with 27k on it a few weeks ago, and I got it stuck in a field so I just pushed the gas to the floor and slammed the transmission back and forth from D to R while the engine bounced off the rev limiter! After and hour and a half I got myself unstuck. Told them I wasn't interested in the truck as the transmission and engine over heating warnings were both on. They said they had a buyer lined up and didnt want my money anyways. It was out of state in GA also.

 

I use my Launch tool to see it, but I believe the OBD Fusion app with the vPeak BLE+ tool from scAmazon can also see it with the in-app Toyota purchase. Either that or Techstream.