Transmission Maintenance

Hey Everyone
So I know from looking through other threads I am probably going to get a lot of different opinions here. However I want to hear from the people that have these trucks and work on them regularly. I have a 2011 Tundra with the 4.6L, 6 speed transmission with about 165000. I don't know what the previous owner has done for maintenance except oil changes.

I am going to do the oil, filters, plugs, belt, differential and transfer case. Which I can comfortable do on my own. The transmission however I want to leave to a shop. I have a local shop that I use and trust. He quoted me around $150 to change the transmission filter and for the fluid. Now I told him what I have read about Toyota not recommending doing a machine flush. He said that that was a Toyota thing and he has done a lot of transmissions with the machine and has not had any issues, but he will do what every I ask.

Should I avoid the machine flush and just have them do the drain and filter replacement?

 

The only issue is the dealerships near me do not have a really great reputation for their service departments. Many of them won't change the filters in transmission they only due flushes.

 

Some machines use the truck’s transmission pressure to push out the old fluid while drawing in the new fluid. Some machines use their own pumping system which I would not recommend. To be on the safe side 2 drain and fills are better than 1 flush.

 

So here is another question. I watched the video on changing the fluid including pulling the line off of the cooler. That all looks pretty simple. However none of the videos show changing the filter. Maybe that is my old school methods, but shouldn't changing the filter especially after 165,000 be part of the process? I know I have read about people being worried about the pan bolts breaking.

 

It's actually a strainer, not a filter, which means it allows the small particles to pass through. After 165K miles, it probably should be changed, especially if any sludge is evident in the drained fluid.

However...breaking off pan bolts is a real risk if you live in a salt treatment climate. That may be why your local dealerships will only do flushes. It will be hard to remember that your original goal was to change the transmission strainer once your up to your arse in broken off pan bolts.

The prejudice against flushes is because shops use the same flushing machine on all types of transmissions, and don't clean the machine after use. Some dirty fluid from the previous flush remains trapped in the flushing machine. There are at least two types of (incompatible) transmission fluid used in Toyota vehicles, more types if you let an independent shop that services all brands do the flush. Dirty fluid from the previous flush contaminates your fresh fluid. If you can change the engine oil, then you can do your own transmission fluid flush using the video.