Drain and fill @ 30K, overkill?

Hmmm….interesting…the guide doesn’t say anything bout ATF at 100K

 

big paper clip

bent accordingly

 

I'm at 35k and plan to do it at 50k. I don't have a cooler but adding one this summer

I don't think it's overkill

 

I just rolled 100k and have done 4 drain and fills

I’m not the biggest fan of removing the cat plates

 

Page 3 of TSB 0006-11 which applies to all Toyota vehicles with WS ATF including tundras/seqoias. Note this is a minimum maintenance as the manual does not include this note since it is TSB update.

 

How does one go about inspecting it?

 

Cool. So we are safe to assume that Toyota considers the life of WS ATF to be 120k miles. Please see my previous post with spreadsheets to illustrate transmission fluid life if using 30k mile drain and fill interval.

 

And there's the rub... It's a "sealed system" though not really sealed, just means there's not a dipstick and its actually vented to atmosphere. So you would need to drain off a bit and/or perform the level check procedure to verify fluid level. If it's low, then you would need to drain a fill anyways, so might as well flush it at 120k regardless, or perform a drain and fill at 100k miles. If you are doing drain and fills, might as well start them early - that's why Toyota gives a drain plug and check plug, which is one thing that drove me crazy about nearly every other vehicle I've owned: you had to drop the entire pan to change the fluid which caused liquid magma to stream down your arms into your pits, all over your chest, up your nostrils, in your hair, blinding you as it simultaneously attempts to drown you as you open your mouth to scream in agony...

 

Spreadsheets are interesting, and they make sense for the D&F club.
But if you simply followed Toyotas recommendations, you’d have a system chock full of brand new ATF every 60,000 miles.
That’s what those southern gentlemen did, and went over 800,000 miles before needing any tranny work at all.
Why not get fluid exchanger flush per their advice?

 

You'd also have a transmission nearly devoid of good additive at 59,000 miles assuming 120k is regular life and 60k is severe duty. If you assume 120k miles is severe duty, you are throwing away half the good fluid. So two sides to that coin. And you have to trust that the kid working the flush machine knows what he's doing, which I honestly don't. A master tech, sure. A certified tech, most likely. But not the kids they have running the fluid exchanges. That's just me. I'd rather do it it myself in my garage. If I screw it up, I know where to point the finger.

 

Those were the days!! Plus the broken pan bolts and the inevitable run to the auto parts store for easy outs that don’t work and then the 10pm pizza run. By 2am you’re all half cocked, but the joy is as palpable as the exhaustion, because after the third broken cheap tool and the 4th run to the part store, the car is finally finished. By “finished” I, of course, mean shoddily put back together with a spare bolt or two rattling around the cupholder.

 

I do a drain and fill every 10k when I change the oil. Probably overkill, but it's cheap and doesn't take much time to do it.

 

Wow, that tranny's gonna' outlive you!

That's interesting you do drain and fills much more often than most , but you go 10K on oil? (Not saying that's bad, but it's longer than most)

 

He can’t respond to you right now.

(Busy changing transmission fluid …again)

 

Drain and fill do not require pinning the trans cooler thermostat if you are removing and adding the exact amount of fluid into a transmission you know is at the right level.

Doing a full exchange of all of the fluid using the trans cooler lines as the intake and outlet of fluid does require it for moving the fluid as well as the leveling procedure.

 

Per the drain and fill TSB from Toyota, they require pinning the cooler thermostat. It takes 30 seconds to do - why not?

 

Lol...yeah, it should last a while.

As for the oil change, I have seen zero reason to change it any sooner. 4 oil analysis all say it's perfectly safe to go 10k.

 

Just did it this past weekend...lmao.

 

You mean the FSM?

 

Yup. That thing.

 

Agreed, he’s making a good portion of his take on the WS markup. With current pricing listed on Amazon, he’s making a 45.44% margin on the fluid. That’s dang near double the price. For 6 quarts, he made $68 profit plus the labor.

Not saying he is overcharging you! Just saying the labor look cheaper by marking up the parts more. Standard practice.

 

Yep, he's in business to make money.

When I had him put the 5100's on my 1st gen he quoted me the parts price and I was like "That's more than I can get 'em for down the road at the off road place, can I buy them and just have you put them on?"

He said flat out "You can, but I'll make it up in labor... I have a certain margin I need to make."

At first I was like "WTF?!" but then I thought about it and realized most places would do the same, they just wouldn't be up front and honest about telling you.

I actually like that he's a straight shooter whether you like the answer or not.

I've read of people on here being quoted $250-$300 for a drain and fill, so $135 for something I don't really want to do is okay every year or two.

 

People gotta eat. I think we (I) forget that sometimes. I was also quoted $200+ for a drain and fill a little while back; I didn't request the service, I was just given a list of services my vehicle was in need of... based on mileage, not on whether or not they were actually needed... I declined as I do it my self. But, honestly, $135 is pretty darn cheap for a shop to perform the service. I'd take him up on it.