Transmission Screen ,, Lifetime???

Im going to start servicing my transmission soon on my 2016 5.7,

I have read and even heard from the local dealer that the transmission filter (screen) is good for lifetime , because its a screen and not really a filter that can get clogged

So, is it a waste of time and money to drop the transmission pan to replace the screen and install a new gasket during a drain and fill?


your thoughts and experiences

 

My local dealership likes to say crap like "lifetime fluid."

The service manual says at 50k-60k you drain and refill the fluid, and 100k-120k you pull the pan off and replace that filter and the gasket.

I know which one I trust more.

 

Show me - please.

 

We’ve had members here change the screen around 200k miles and conclude it was a complete waste of time and money. @Sumo91

 

Its not a screen, it's a filter similar to a vacuum bag placed inside a plastic housing. This is what it looks like when broken open. Whether you should change it or not more so depends on the condition of the bolts holding the pan on. I snapped one on my truck with 33k miles on it because I live in the north east. Im not sure why its still a misconception that its a screen, even the first gen Tundra used the same type of filter, it was never a screen.

 

Toyota calls it a strainer…

I think the point is if it’s full your trans is toast so I’m not sure changing it does anything.

 

They call it a filter 4 words after the word strainer lol my point was is its not some metal screen that cannot be serviced like many people seem to think.

 

So strainer, screen, filter - what’s the difference? I was trying to offer an explanation as to why people call it what they call it that you seemed to take issue with.

 

No need to change the filter. If you wanna go crazy install an inline magnafine filter or similar.

The factory filter is just a fiber type material. Screen, mesh, strainer, filter, or whatever you wanna call it, it will happily do its job for the life of transmission.

If your transmission filter gets full of enough material that it needs to be replaced, than you have bigger issues than a transmission service.

 

It’s a $43 dollar part. From the replies here, no one knows what it does and if it should be replaced. Nor are any of us the engineers that designed the transmission. Also, if it did nothing and never has to be replaced then why did Toyota put it there. Filter, strainer, screen, etc. they have a purpose and they do get dirty/clogged. Also, a transmission does have wear parts that deteriorate, where does that deteriorated material end up at? When I hit 60k I will change it. We have spend $43 on useless shit, why not spend it on a filter? Also, it’s not a screen, to the OP.

 

Wanna see my original filter cut open with almost 200k on it? The filter is a lifetime part. I was the first person on this forum (and any other forums I know of) to post a picture of a tundra filter cut open with high mileage, and finally was able to prove the long argument about whether the filter was an actual metal screen or not, which prior to me cutting mine open, everyone believed it was a metal screen.

If you wanna change your filter at 60k, go ahead. Just have everything on hand to extract broken bolts and install heli Coils just in case.

 

Did you have your filter tested for contaminants? Did you look at it with something else besides tour eyes? How do you know it’s a lifetime filter? As for you being the first to open one up on the forum means nothing. I can open up an oil filter and say anything I want about it. Unless it’s tested, you don’t know what’s in it or how clogged it is. You can not say with 100% certainty that your 200k filter flows the same as a brand new filter.

I have changed out a filter before on the tundra, no broken bolts. At the same time I have also dropped and installed a shift kit in the tundra valvebody.

 

How do I know the filter wasn't clogged...I have eyeballs. And 23 years worth or mechanic experience.

Why didn't you check the filter when you installed the shift kit in the valve body

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2014-transmission-maintenance-question.57617/page-3#post-1530072

 

LOL. So you have super x-ray magnification eyeballs. I guess with your 23 years of experience you also know if an oil filter is clogged or not so you can change it or not. I did check my filter when I was in there, but my 20 years of being an industrial plant mechanic means crap since I don’t have your super duper eyeballs.

Like I said and you ignore, how do you know with 100% certainty that your 200k filter flows like a brand new one. Be the first on the forum to send one out for flow testing and contamination.

 

If you really think flow rate is affected then i honestly believe there is no hope for you. Ray Charles could see how much surface area that filter has, and anyone with a brain can tell you that flow isn't reduced by any significant capacity, how much fluid do you think that trans pump moves? You're a troll, have fun my dude.

 

If the filter restricts sump drainage enough, the oil pump starts sucking air, and by the time you've concluded something is off with the transmission, it is basically gone.

That coarse filter catches only large particles, like casing or friction steel chunks. Frictions themselves are like paper, they are too thin for the filter, and end up clogging solenoids and passages in valve body.

So if the filter becomes clogged, something for sure is going on with the transmission.

The best filtration method is ATF drain&fill.

 

Oh, I am having lots of fun, with your comments. Once again, do you have testing to prove your statement? Till then it’s hear say, even a deaf person can hear that. Just because a trans doesn’t move gallons of fluid per hour doesn’t mean anything. This statement goes to show your ignorance. All Equipment with pumps have different flow rates, period. Reducing said flow rate, whether 1/2 gph or 50 gph, will damage said equipment.

 

At this point we are all going off assumptions. No one know the micron filtration, so you can’t say it only catches large particles. But you are correct that if it becomes clogged to the point that the trans fails, then there was something already going on. Still, it doesn’t mean that the filter is clean or a lifetime filter. Once again, nobody here was the engineer to this trans filter, so no one can say with 100% certainty that this filter doesn’t need to be changed. I have yet to see a filter that never needs changing or cleaning.

 

When the resumes come out things usually go down hill fast. Sometimes it's nice being first, but no golden ring here. Toyturbodiesel started a thread in TundraTalk sometime in 2012 with pics of the filter opened. I did my filter change at 51K miles. Did it need to be changed...probably not...but I wanted to do a fluid change and clean those magnets.

 

Time to page @Tileguy

He has about 500k miles on his - surely he has changed the screen.

 

It does a gallon/minute or more through the cooler port alone on a cold day. Much more on a hot transmission. The overall flow rate through the pump is way-way more. The AT oil pump is 2-3 times bigger than the engine's oil pump that drives that transmission.

 

Your assumption is something Toyota has no service interval for needs constant maintenance.

 

OK, I can't find anything, at all, where toyota says to change the filter. I have only found the opposite, lots of diagrams in the service manual where the filter is not listed as a non re usable part.



Another thing. I was not able to find anything about sending transmission filters off to get flow tested. I would love to see @pursuit2550 send his off for flow testing when he removes it, since he knows about this kind of thing. You send that off and I will buy a new filter and send it off for testing as well, then we can compare results.

*If* you don't know of a place to send filters off for the flow testing you have described, I believe any statements regarding flow restrictions and testing that you have made can be ignored, because then you will have zero evidence of detrimental flow restrictions. Just opinions.


Also, according to @pursuit2550 , reduced flow rate will damage equipment. After break in, wear is pretty linear, so each mile would produce X amount of wear, which would get caught in the filter, reducing flow rate, so....for every mile flow rate is reduced. So that means, for literally every mile, your filter is damaging your transmission by restricting flow. It's just crazy how many blown tundra transmissions there are from lack of filter changes causing fluid flow restriction

 

I've rebuilt my car transmission (made by Aisin) that ate a full clutch pack and started to shudder/disengage in two highest gears. At ~220k miles the screen filter was empty, though I saw metal shavings on magnetic speed sensors and black soot all around the casing. It had enough wear in casing to clog any fine oil filter. But there was nothing inside the filter.

Actually, at 160k miles I've replaced the valve body, because it was worn, by all the particulates suspended in ATF. I even had a Magnefine filter installed in cooler return line since 79k miles when I got that car used. I've changed the inline filter 9 times through these ~145k miles. Changed ATF 22 times. The transmission ran pretty clean through all of my ownership, yet inside it was covered with magnetic clutch soot. Never filtered out by the transmission filter, not a bit.

 

Transmission filter is not like an engine oil filter, it's not sitting inline in the main feed. It sits atop the sump and filters ATF that drains to the sump by gravity. If the filter is clogged enough, ATF starts to build up above the filter, the oil pump sucks all the ATF available in sump and then starts picking up air. Only at this moment the ATF pressure drops. And the transmission is burnt momentarily.

Until the sump dries up, there's no pressure loss.

 

I wouldn’t mind sending one in but the burden of proof is on you. You stated that at 200k the filter still looks good. I say no one knows 100%. So since I am in the middle and think that what is $43 for a filter every 60k, then I could care less about testing. Also, according to what you found about it not being on the non reusable list means that if the trans gets repairs for just worn clutches then you can reuse the same filter. Yeah I want a newly built trans with a used filter. So, do as you please with your maintenance and I do mine.

 

Having fun dying on that hill?

 

So, why have a filter then? Because if nothing was in it and if particles big enough mean the trans is toast, why even filter the oi if it does nothing.