Transmission service question....

I have a 2019 crewmax (not asking to get into a debate about the lack of transmission cooler as I will address that when I can afford the kit offered on the site). I have towed for two summers with my travel and utility trailer and have 40k miles on the odometer. I am wondering what type of service I should opt for - a flush and fill or a drain and fill.

I called the dealership service department and they said flush and fill at $298. Is it worth it / effective to simply do a drain and fill on my own? I kind of want to have the shop do it since they could try to void my warranty if something were to happen and I performed the service. But if I can get the drain and fill supplies for half that, I would prefer to save a few bucks.

Here is why I ask.....i am trying to convince myself to bite the bullet and just buy the parts and transmission kit. The $300 service would cover about a third of the cost of the kit. I would prefer to go that route if it makes financial sense. If I have to pay the dealer to install the kit to maintain the warranty then I am going to have to wait until I have some more disposable income. Summers are hardest as I don't want to limit the kids activities and vacation trips......

Just trying to get some advise here

 

I have done it multiple times and I am at 124K with my 08. They go through a lot of fluid to do the procedure.
You can't really drain unless they have changed something. I have not looked at my 21 but have the dealer flush it IMO.

Edit. I have had the DEALER do it.

 

I would do the drain and fill on my own. I wouldn't trust the dealership to put their best tech on transmission flushes.

 

Drain how?

 

I did mine at 45kish... it was under 200 bucks though, at the dealership.

 

Interested in this as well. Did you do a drain and fill or let them flush the whole system?

Have heard conflicting answers on whether the flush is a good idea

 

I would drain and fill three times 1000 miles apart just a few quarts each time. All you need is a way to measure what you drain and a pump or a hose and funnel to replace it. A drain plug wrench and a fill plug wrench. I have bought all the parts independently and added a cooler, but still drain and fill because I run my truck in less than desirable conditions. A few thousand miles and it gets a drain and fill, cheap to just keep it fresh, only takes maybe 20 minutes and about $15, the old fluid becomes bar oil for my chainsaw so it doesn't get wasted. If you let the oil degrade the transmission knows it and the computer tracks it to adjust transmission functions. There is an oil degradation reset method with techstream also.

 

The consensus is that a tranny flush is not a good idea. Simply drain the pan and refill.

 

The dealer called it a fluid exchange. I'm not sure exactly how that differs from a flush. I've ready that the theory is that is ok to do this if you do it with lower miles on the truck and continue to do it with shorter intervals. It's not recommended to do this if you have high miles on your transmission.

 

My guess is they suck the fluid out and then add new fluid. Flushing implies at the very least they they pump additional fluid through the transmission to try to clean out deposits.

 

Service tech that I spoke with said specifically he recommended a flush and fill; they do a drain and fill as well but that would be for "routine" maintenance and no towing.........I am very wary of service advisors and dealerships. I prefer to use a local shop but figured the dealership would have been the best place to start

 

If you can fix a flat tire on a bike, pretty sure you can drain and fill.

 

Yeah I can wrench.....am not intimidated by any means. Just like to know what I am getting myself into before I attempt it. It's my daily driver so I can't screw it up or have down time

 

Remove the drain plug after cracking loose the fill plug.

 

THERE IS NO DRAIN PLUG on my 2008 are you guys saying they adding one to the 3rd gen? I will look when I get home I suppose.
Just sucking oil out of the jet skies sucks. The dealer as I understand hooks it to a system drain and fill and flushes until it is clean according to the machine they use.

 

IMO Dealer only.

 

You should have a drain bolt, check bolt, and fill bolt. Check and drain are on the bottom of the pan, fill is on the driver’s side.

 

If you have a dipstick then you probably don't have a drain plug on the pan. If not add one. That is what I did on my F150s. It made the process a whole lot easier. I would never do a flush. Just drain and fill.

 

08's didn't have a trans dipstick. I owned one.

 

my 08 has drain/fill/ and check plug

 

I did my first D&F at 60k, will continue to do them every 30k. It’s easy and only takes 4 qts at a time.

 

Wow bigger than ssstuff, sure enough. I guess I ASSumed they didn't since no dipstick.
Even on a lift pumping that much fluid in must be a biotch if your using a sta lube type pump.
Plus your TC will still have considerable dirty fluid in it just to mix with the new.

 

I just did this job. Drained the ATF, dropped the pan, replaced the filter and refilled. Did this at 43,000 miles on my 2017 after towing a 7500 lb camper about 6,000 miles. I ended up replacing about half of the total ATF capacity. Had much discussion on this forum about potential of breaking pan bolts when removing but did not have an issue - removed dirt on the top of the pan lip with compressed air, applied PB Blaster allowing to sit overnight and used my 3/8" Milwaukee M12 Stubby impact gun at the lowest setting. Reused original pan bolts and coated with anti-seize before reinstalling. Purchased filter and pan gasket on-line from McGeorge Toyota. Could have reused the old silicone pan gasket but replaced it and saved the old one. Used OEM Toyota WS ATF. I think I added 7 quarts and ending up draining maybe a half quart at the end doing the ATF level adjustment procedure. Did the job over two days - took my time. Maybe a total of 3-4 man hours. Procedures attached. Regarding determining ATF temp during level adjustment procedure, used my Torque Pro App to view trans temp sensor output. Also used a non-contact IR Temp gun on the bottom of the pan and found that the temp measured on the bottom of the pan at the front agreed with the sensor output.

 

Got a 21 here, been thinking about a high performance valve body for towing at some point. You just gave me a good little bit of info., think I can remove the pan bolts right now while new one at a time, apply never seize, then reinstall so they will not get broken off when I get around to replacing the valve body. Thanks for your information on your procedure

 

This subject was one of the question I had with the mechanic at the dealership when we purchased our '21. Although a transmission "Flush" can and often does do more harm than good, it seems flush may not be the correct term to do what Toyota does to change the fluid. I was assured they do this procedure as Toyota recommends. Since I'm a trust but verify person I will contact different dealers and possibly Toyota before blindly trusting a dealer. My Honda Element gets the partial fluid drain every 30K after the initial 60K. Honda's recommendations are to do exactly that. So, my Tundra will get exactly what Toyota recommends not the dealer.

 

According to Toyota, it’s good for life unless you fall under “extreme use”. @Tileguy is well over 400k on the factory fill. Not saying that’s what I’d do (it’s not) but when you say you’re going to do exactly what Toyota recommends… there you go.

Welcome and congrats on your retirement!

 

I had an '04 Honda Accord and the transmission was finicky - definitely just did the drain & refill. Lots of those tranny's failed (Honda is great on engines but not so much on transmissions) but that car is still running strong at 215,000 miles. Based on that experience, I have done the same for all the cars I maintain. It think it is most important with a higher mileage transmission where the ATF has not been changed previously. If the fluid has not been changed (or I am uncertain) and the mileage futher increases, there comes a point where I would not change it at all....if I would have to break into that tranny, I would drain the fluid into a clean container and put it back in as it could contain a lot of the friction material from the clutches - remove that and tranny failure can be just around the corner. Toyota tranny's are strong in my opinion but I am still careful.

 

It would make me very happy to read in the owner's manual that trailer towing isn't considered extreme duty. This Tundra is being purchased as a TV for a 6,000# Gulfstream Vintage Cruiser 23RSS. Just bought the TT yesterday and my new Tundra is still estimated to be a month out. Going to pick up a WDH with sway tomorrow.

 

The warranty/maintenance manual in my '17 tundra lists Special Operating Conditions as "driving while towing, using a car-top carrier or heavy vehicle loading." It does say that you should "perform the additional services only if you drive primarily under the conditions indicated." The services they identify are changing the fluid in the diff's and the transfer case every 30,000 miles and replace the ATF every 60,000 miles. The ATF replacement procedure details a drain & fill - see attachment to post #23 on this thread.

 

Central Ohio? I'm east central Ohio. Kershoctin Co. I bought the VC 23RSS in London. Used to live there until 2007 and moved to West Lafayette for work.