Transmission and running gear service

To start off with I am sure I am going to get bashed saying look up and I have so give me a break. I have a 2019 Tundra TRD with 60K, nothing has been serviced on the Transmission or running gear. The dealership is saying I should get a BG World Standard Transmission Fluid Exchange, this sounds like a flush which everyone says don't do? Should I get it or say just drain and fill?

I am also wanting to get a Front and Rear Differential Service and a Transfer Case Service?

Thanks for any help or suggestions

Shelly

 

Service the diffs and transfer case. Get a transmission drain and fill.

 

The differentials and transfer case are pretty easy to do if you’re mechanically inclined. If you’re not I would get those done somewhere that isn’t the dealer (you’re local independent shop with good ratings) as it’s basic stuff and will be cheaper.

 

If you’re doing any off-roading, towing, or hauling, then the dealer is correct. Manual recommends replace ATF every 60K (Rear/front diff and transfer case every 30 K)

 

I had a similar question for my transmission fluid. I just got the truck & to my knowledge it may never have been changed with 200 thousand km on it. No service records at Toyota or car fax. Some people are telling me at this point it would be better to leave it alone & a drain and fill might cause build up to dislodge / leaks. Others say bring it in for the drain and fill. What are you thoughts on this situation with higher km and no previous service?

 

So the theory behind “don’t touch it if it hasn’t ever been serviced” is that the fluid is toast, but it’s also thick with deposits, like a nice sludge.
Since it’s so thick it’s keeping hydraulic pressure up and making everything work. If you flush the trans it’s going to put all those deposits into the smaller crevices and clog the channels and solenoid's which will, in turn, stop the trans from functioning properly.

Now if you replace the sludge with thinner, clean fluid via a drain-and-fill you will avoid the pressure that forces clogs into the crevices, BUT you will now remove the thick fluid and replace it with thin fluid and it might not like that since it’s been operating with sludge for so long and the reduced pressure may cause issues.

 

Thanks to those that have responded with advice. I do not tow anything, just use a lot of desert/forest roads with 4High. Everything that I see just says do a drain and fill, not the flush, I am far from mechanically inclined but the flush seems also invasive with all the parts and gaskets and such. I have an appointment in two weeks and given my driving or use it sounds like I should just do a drain and replace.

Thanks

Shelly

 

Sounds like a good decision.

 

So you’ve got a 13 year old truck with low miles (120,000). If you want to keep it I would definitely change all the fluids including ATF. Whether you do drain + fill or dealership flush doesn’t matter too much, I’d just get it done. Get some fresh fluid in there.
The dealership isn’t going to do a drain/fill, they’re going to machine exchange it. It’s not going to hurt your rig, that’s an “old mechanics” tale…They do it all the time, and no one’s transmission is ruined because of it (see million mile Tundras).

 

Uh no, it most definitely is not a mechanics tale. You do NOT want to flush at 120K, that is unless you want to start replacing solenoids or have a slipping transmission. My coworker literally just threw in a brand new transmission in his 2018 after his started slipping. Transmission was doing totally fine until right after the dealership flushed their transmission. 109K on the clock and was dancing all over the place between 4th and 5th.

 

The car care nut has some great videos and advice for servicing your truck.

 

Well, well, well…like clockwork, here comes the D&F club. Notice the flushing catastrophes always happen to someone’s cousin, a brothers friend, a co-worker, the guy that works at 7-11.
Ask yourself this, my friend. Do you change only a 1/3 of your motor oil? Brush 1/2 your teeth? Wipe part of your $&@ after going #2?

Safe and effective flush gets you this:


“Drain and fill”, well …..

 

Came here to agree with others. As someone who’s done both, I’d recommend a drain and fill. You have to be very concise about it too, I’ve had the dealership screw it up before and do a full flush.

 

The Toyota dealership said they do not do flushes, they only do the drain & fill for this model year. Now this was the person behind the phone, not the mechanic so I'll do some more research but thank you for the feedback. The truck is just doing small drives once a week for now to keep things moving so iv got time to decide.

 

If I went 100k miles on engine oil, then yes, i'd probably only change 1/3 of it. You're other examples have zero similarities.

 

I also offered my direct first hand experience on it, to combat this “my cousin did this” claim.

Had a 110k mile Lexus GX460 that I wanted a drain and fill done on. Ran just fine, did it as maintenance.

Dealership misunderstood and did a full flush and I developed a very hard cold shift from 1st-2nd gear, instantly after the flush. Don’t know if I eventually failed, but I dealt with it for 6 months and then sold the thing. I’ve done drain and fills on similar mileage trucks and had zero issues.

 

Exactly. Is it going to happen every time? No probably not but who knows.

3 Drain and Fills over a few months of time is a good common way to replace most of the fluid smoothly. I'm in the process of doing it with my wife's honda accord. I never did the trans fluid until 103k miles when I did the timing belt. at 116k I did a second drain and fill and then before winter I'll do one more. I'll sleep completely fine tonight.

 

Yep. The fact that he is actually claiming that fluid replacement on a transmission is the same as other systems shows how little he actually knows about them. He's the perfect dealership customer.

 

I just did our first transmission drain/fill on our Sequoia. It was overdue and the ATF degredation counter is maxed out. Drained about 4qts, which is what the pan holds, added fresh WS back and kept on. Zero shifting issues. Will probably do that again in another 30K-60K or so.

 

Drain and fill is fine, though if you're doing a lot of off pavement driving in 4 wheel drive might consider doing it every 30k. Those conditions generate more heat than highway miles as the torque convertor only locks up in 4th, 5th, and 6th gear.

My experience with a full fluid exchange has also been fine. My method does not involve a machine; unhook the return line off the cooler and run it into a bucket, idle the engine, and add fluid as it's pumped out. Last one I did was on my T100 that currently has 275k on it, the fluid was getting a little dark but wasn't burnt. Truck shifted much smoother after a fluid exchange. I've also done this method on a GM 4L60E with 100k miles and a Ford A4LD with 120k miles on the fluids and the results were positive. Both of those transmissions are known for low mileage failures if not maintained. While I'm not sure about the 4L60E as I sold the truck, the A4LD in the Explorer is still in the family at 200k and running just fine. I've also done this on a 2018 Subaru with a CVT, but that was at 60k (low miles) and a fluid analysis showed the OE fluid was still in excellent shape. On the Subaru I'll just be doing a drain and fill every 30k (probably overkill, but it's a simple procedure) from here on out.

Going back to the Tundra my first service will be at 30k. I'll be doing a drain and fill and sending a sample to Blackstone. If the sample comes back good, I'll keep doing it every 30k as it's a simple procedure. If fluid is showing signs of wear, I'll be doing a full exchange using the above method. With my external transmission cooler, should be pretty simple with the worst part being pumping fluid into the transmission fill port.

Did you ever do a fluid level check procedure? I'd trust the dealer lube techs to get that done right about as much I'd trust a fart after having Taco Bell. Additionally there was a TSB on the early GX460 address this exact same issue.

 

At 120k with original transmission fluid, I WOULD NOT flush it, @2011Tundra200thousandkm. A full flush is done under pressure. This can be a strain on seals and leave behind solvents. It can also cause media to get stuck. Brand new fluid plus any solvents left behind is a recipe for slippage in higher mileage vehicles. At 120k on original fluid, you’ve got clutch packs that are potentially showing a bit of wear and actually need some of the dirt in the older fluid to hold onto.

My 4Runner (as in mine, not my cousin’s or my brother’s 2nd wife’s yoga teacher’s husband’s) started slipping at 130k miles when trying to shift into 5th gear (it has a 5 speed transmission…4 gears like our Tundras except only 1 OD gear). CURIOUSLY ENOUGH, it happened after a full pressurized flush by a Toyota dealership in Nashville.

The analogy to engine oil doesn’t work because transmission fluid and engine oil play different roles. Not even going to go there with your teeth and your ass…

Your engine oil is not forced through an impeller into a torque converter (read: fluid coupler) which causes a turbine to spin. Also, when you fully change your engine oil, it is not flushed under high pressure in an attempt to clean the varnish off the internals of the engine.

 

Same with the accord. I had some hard shifts before the second D&F. The accords are known for hard shifts anyway. Afterwards things smoothed out.

 

Great explanation for people that don’t understand the difference between D&F and a flush (not a jab at people who prefer a flush, just saying for general knowledge of the process)

 

@mverkaik It's time for an educated opinion free of feelz

 

@Tileguy is at 500k on his Tundra - ask him about transmission service.

 

Would you believe a guy that owns a tranny shop?:

“Here’s a list of reasons why the transmission flush myth exists:


•The myth is propagated by people who claim to be experts. I have even heard of transmission repair shops who contribute to the myth in the hopes of scaring potential customers into having their transmission overhauled rather than maintaining it.

•There are thousands of “internet experts” who promote the misinformation- it’s truly a case of “monkey see, monkey do” on steroids!

•There may have been a time in the early days of automatic transmissions when failure after a flush was more common, perhaps because of antiquated friction material and transmission fluid technology during the 1950’s and 60’s but this was before my time so I’m not able to truly discuss the legitimacy of the possibility. I can, however, say with certainty that it’s not an issue with 99.9% of the vehicles in service today. If your owner’s manual is in the glove box and not painted on the wall of a cave, you are probably good to go.

•“Sludge” is all that was holding the transmission together and when it gets cleaned out the trans in going to fail immediately. Guess what? If you have sludge in your transmission, it’s already bad and in need of a repair.

•Once in a while a flush is performed, usually at a quick lube operation, and the transmission is not refilled correctly- resulting in failure soon thereafter. Of course the incorrect fluid level is not recognized as the culprit- the transmission flush is! Many automatic transmissions have fairly complicated fluid level checking and filling procedures that are best left to a transmission repair expert to perform.

•People have unrealistic expectations. A transmission flush is no more likely to fix a failing transmission than an engine oil change is to fix a major internal engine problem. Both of these things are great to do regularly but they are maintenance- not a fix for a problem.

•The reality is that most people don’t think about their transmissions until the day that they have a problem. Jim’s transmission was on borrowed time- it was going to fail anyway but now that it has, he is going to perpetuate the myth. If he ever hears someone mention a transmission flush, he’s going to proclaim, “I had that done and my transmission blew up within a month!”

I have been in the transmission repair industry since 1987 and can honestly say that I can’t recall a single time where I saw a healthy transmission get a flush or a fluid change and subsequently have a problem. A transmission flush is the best maintenance that one can do to extend the life of your automatic transmission, don’t miss out on the benefits because of the nonsense that exists surrounding changing your transmission fluid!”



John Lombardo is co-owner of www.importperformancetrans.com (IPTperformance Transmissions) and has been in the high performance industry for over 20 years.

 

Depends, is that your cousins brother?

You aren’t changing my mind. D&F for life, just as Toyota prescribes.

 

I remember reading that was a thing, but I never bothered. I bought the GX in 2019 and in 2021 the prices had skyrocketed and I was wanting back in a truck anyways, so I took my nearly 40% profit (no joke) and went and bought a Tacoma. Then I got t-boned in the Tacoma early this year and upgraded to my Tundra. Happy with the Tundra and at 50k miles on it, I’ll probably do a drain and fill in the next 10K.

 

My cousins brother, would be my cousin, I think.
Well, none are so blind as those who choose not to see.
I’ll untie myself from this whipping post, then.