unchanged transmission fluid

[tge2000]

Hi, I own a 2000 Toyota Camry CE and had not changed the transmission fluid for quite some time, may be once, the car has aprox. 132,000 miles I was going to change it now but a mechanic and other people told me that changing the fluid with new fluid in a car that fluid had not been change as frequent as it shoud be could cause the transmission to slip, I just check the fluid and is like dark gray, the smell is not quite as burned oil and measured between cold and hot in dipstick but the car was sitting like an hour after coming back from the road.

I read different advices in the web site but some contradict the other, I would like to know what is the proper way to go in this situation, the transmission seen to be running fine but I do not want to wait untill is to late and costly to repair if there is a problem.

Thank you,

tge2000

[JohnGD]

Yeah it's a tough call. Nobody wants to change the ATF and then have the transmission fail. How about siphoning 1 qt out of the dipstick tube and replacing it with 1 qt of new dino Dexron III fluid (nothing fancy, simpler the better in this case) from Walmart $2.9/qt? Do it once a week for 1 month and see how the transmission behaves. (Yes, I checked, there is a Walmart in Puerto Rico )

Then replace the differential fluid, use SuperTech Mercon-V in there or a fully synthetic like Mobil-1 (but not the thin Dexron VI (6)):
DIY : Differental Fluid Change

Use the MityVac brake bleeding cup and a long 5/16" PVC hose from Lowes (~30 cents/foot or something like that). You don't even have to crawl under the car.

[JohnGD]

Yeah it's a tough call. Nobody wants to change the ATF and then have the transmission fail. How about siphoning 1 qt out of the dipstick tube and replacing it with 1 qt of new dino Dexron III fluid (nothing fancy, simpler the better in this case) from Walmart $2.9/qt? Do it once a week for 1 month and see how the transmission behaves. (Yes, I checked, there is a Walmart in Puerto Rico )

Then replace the differential fluid, use SuperTech Mercon-V in there or a fully synthetic like Mobil-1 (but not the thin Dexron VI (6)):
DIY : Differental Fluid Change

Use the MityVac brake bleeding cup and a long 5/16" PVC hose from Lowes (~30 cents/foot or something like that). You don't even have to crawl under the car.