Four times drain and fill transmission 2013 tundra

https://youtube.com/shorts/9ao6xV8r4ig?si=dDld0M2Vq4xFBdE7

 

How much did that cost?!?! The ATF is expensive!!!!

 

What made you go that route instead of this? I've done a couple of high milage complete fluid exchanges with WS on a Camry and ATF T-IV on a Tacoma without issues.

https://youtu.be/cB8MdGgwg68?si=N0QsTHyQgXKevGkQ

 

It's about $39 for a gallon jug so $156 plus tax.

 

I guess I heard so many people say not to do a complete flush because it's too shocking to the transmission. So that's why I started out with the drain and fill method I used. Then when I saw the dark color of what I drained the first time, I figured I'd do it again, thinking I was going to do it twice and drive for a while like that. Then I just decided to go buy more fluid and do it 2 more times and that's how I got to 4. Thanks for the video, I watched it, looks good.

 

Ive did a triple last month. It had been 40k miles since my last drain/fill so i figured SOME 136k fluid was still in there. Couldnt hurt.

i did a drain fill. Drove around that day, that evening did another one. Then 3 days later i did a final one before putting the cat shields back on. probably excessive? I believe a drain fill only does 1/3rd of the fluid right?

 

Depends what model you have. Look in your owner's manual for the capacity. Mine is 13 quarts, so takes 4 to get close but each time you waste some. Still, I kind of believe in the drain and fill rather than the full flush method. That's what I'm going with.

 

One thing I learned from this video was about the temperature when doing the final check plug drain thing. I was using an infrared thermometer on the pan and I was looking for about 100-105 F on the outside of the pan which would mean about 110-115 inside. My 4th time and last time, it was hotter than that, I can't remember exactly what, but the guy in the video explains that if you have it too hot, it could drain too much. So I think I'm going to do it one more time and get it exactly right. I probably don't have enough fluid in there right now.

 

That's the whole balance of the drain and fill vs the full flush. Some people have reported that full flushes are too shocking to the transmission and have had problems with it. So if there are no issues with the transmission, some say just do one drain and flush every 10k or 20k. But I went for more because I didn't like seeing that burnt fluid in there. But I'm not sure I would want to go from burnt fluid with probably 121k miles on it to a complete flush new fluid all at once.

 

I don't think it is expensive. I think it is money well spent. I feel good about it. Same cost as the family going out to a nice dinner. No problem. Transmissions are expensive.

 

Old man mechanic did mine that way but only way to get fluid out. I always wondered why I could not just bypass the transcooler and drain in a bucket a fill from another bucket same amount of fluid. Leave the little fill plug out to make sure it was not overfill.

 

Some people say replacing too much at once can shock the system if it hasn't been done and is burnt. And mine was very dark.
Also, I feel that removing a hose could introduce air into the system couldn't it? Then as the air made it's way around, you could end up with less fluid in the pan couldn't you?

 

my 1st transmission service was180000 90 highway 10 city never had issues

 

Hmm interesting. Maybe I missed it, but what does the 4x4 consist of? I've heard of the 3x drain and fill on the old 3.2TL and that brittle transmission. Some would drain and fill once, drive around for 10 minutes, then do a second and so forth until you've done it three times. I had a 2003 and I just did a drain and fill every 10k miles. Had no issues when I sold the car at 160k miles. Shifted just fine and I'm sure the current owner isn't having problems either.

Do these trucks have a sensitive transmission? I would think that doing a drain and fill every 10k miles is sufficient, even if the transmission was on the same level as the ones in Honda V6 products from the early 2000's.

 

This is the video and process I followed when I did this on my 2016 Tundra trans flush and that was 15k miles ago and thousands of miles of towing. I bought 14 quarts of Aisin WS fluid and the process was pretty easy, and I'm glad I had the extra fluid due to some extra loss during the process.

I did this when my truck had 94k miles and I since I bought the truck used and didn't have service history, I had no idea if it had been drained before. The fluid was really dark, but certainly wasn't burnt. But I'll probably just do drain and fills from now on more frequently.

 

I was going to do one drain and then wait 10k, but when I saw how dark it was, I decided to do a second drain and fill.
Then when I saw how dark it was after the second one, I decided to do 2x more.
Then the last time, it was running too hot when I drained from the check plug, so I did it a 5th time.
After the 5th time, I was happier with the color, which started to turn a little red but was still very dark.

I did drain and fill for 2 reasons.

First, because I don't know how sensitive these transmissions are. Second, I've heard for many, many years about not doing a full flush on transmissions and supposed horror stories. My previous mechanic refused to touch my fluid in my 181k CRV. Who knows if this is reality or superstition.

Second, I am not comfortable with the full flush method, because I feel that removing a hose may introduce air and then it may not make its way through the system before the check plug drain. That and I don't want another step of removing a hose and hoping it comes off after 14 years.

 

Fig it's a transmission as long as the fuild is there it does not know if it clean or dirty. It going to pump it either way.

 

Should be timestamped for the transmission fluid part.

https://youtu.be/KSTlNai40Eg?t=453

 

Do you do a lot of towing? That may be why your fluid was still so dirty after a few drain and fills.

Your mechanic was correct. If a vehicle has close to 200k miles and the tranny fluid has never been changed, it could cause slippage. I have heard that on numerous occasions. And yeah, flushing is never a good idea. I
would say that if a transmission was on the verge of going out, maybe a flush would help prolong the life a bit longer but other than that, only drain and fills.

 

This video doesn’t involve a Toyota but the idea is the same remove the fluid through the transmission cooler and add fluid through the fill port of the transmission which a tube can be ran up through into the engine bay. I am not a fan of running the engine to remove the fluid through the transmission I have thought of using a fluid extractor such as a Mityvac instead I just don’t know if the extractor has enough vacuum to draw fluid through the torque converter


https://youtu.be/20wrAcLlca8?si=30E08cUUQRQMhXKJ

 

Good video I would add to not use Toyota WS fluid which is a non synthetic fluid. I would use either Amsoil Signature Series or Valvoline Max Life with the Amsoil being my first choice

 

It's not that that it's SHOCKING to the transmission.
If you go too long before a trans flush, over time, the friction material on the wet- clutches in the transmission wear away, and get suspended in the old Trans fluid. Basically, all the friction material/ grit is in the fluid, and let's the Transmission keep working.
The act of flushing it, all that suspended friction material comes out, and you're left with smooth clutches that have no bite left.

I've heard to not do complete flushes if you pass 100k miles and have never done it before.

If you do it regularly from new, you get the best chance.

Transmissions are weird. I've seen people who service from new and get 300k miles out of their cars. I've seen people who flush and get 150k miles.

I've seen people who never Service and get 300k . And those who never Serviced get 100k

I like the idea of 50% swap out. Keep some of fluid, and add some new. To keep it shifting smooth.