Gen 6 Transmission Drain and refill - -Is dealer full of crap?

[dirtrat]

I've been following the forums here on transmission Flushes and drain and refills and decided to just to have a drain and refill done on my transmission for my 2007 Camry SE (V6). I called the Toyota dealer and they tried to talk me out of it saying it wasn't needed until 100,000 miles. I told them I wanted it anyway and he told me it would be $300. He claims that they can't do a flush with this transmission and can only do a drain and refill and they need to use a computer to check levels. Is this true and is $300 a fair price for this. He also quoted me $163 for a Coolant flush which does seem fair. I just turned over 39,000 miles and the car is 4 years, 2 months old.

[touringcamry]

The coolant is supposed to be good for 5 years/90000 mi or something around there. The transmission fluid is supposed to be lifetime use. Not sure if you can do drain and refill or not. Some newer vehicles don't have dipsticks for teh transmission; oil even on some some vehicles.

[laphan]

Originally Posted by dirtrat

I've been following the forums here on transmission Flushes and drain and refills and decided to just to have a drain and refill done on my transmission for my 2007 Camry SE (V6). I called the Toyota dealer and they tried to talk me out of it saying it wasn't needed until 100,000 miles. I told them I wanted it anyway and he told me it would be $300. He claims that they can't do a flush with this transmission and can only do a drain and refill and they need to use a computer to check levels. Is this true and is $300 a fair price for this. He also quoted me $163 for a Coolant flush which does seem fair. I just turned over 39,000 miles and the car is 4 years, 2 months old.

Yes, you have to check the level at certain temperature and you need computer to check the trans oil temperature for V6 transmission.

Here is the TSB on how to adjust V6 ATF level:
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/...on-2009-avalon

I was told that the toyota WS fluid should last 100K. I don't have V6 but I have hybrid and it has the same BS 100K service interval. I suggest you to do it because my hybrid fluid was dark and smell slightly burned at 30K miles.
Went to 3 dealers. One dealer told me that I don't need to do anything to it until 100K miles, other said the transmission is sealed and fluid cannot be changed unless transmission failed or need major service.
Other dealer told me that the hybrid transmission hold 8 quart (while the specification said 4 quarts for dry fill) and it had to be flushed from cooler line to get all the fluid out (hybrid does not have tranny oil cooler line). I told them if my car can double the fluid in 100K miles, I will put all my 401K money in the transmission and it will double my money after I reach 100K miles and I can retire then.
I went to get the factory repair manual online (PM me if you want to know where you can get it) and found out that I can drain and refill all 4 quarts in 5 minutes. I did it myself and the fluid came out DARK (I was at 30K miles and I'm pretty sure at 100K you need fresh fluid with new transmission by looking at the fluid color/smell). I guess $300 is pretty fair price considering it cost me close to $50 for 4qts of fluid and around $150 to flush transmission normally (without any hassle checking the fluid by using computer).

[thrawnis]

I can't comment on the cost of the transmission fluid replacement, but I just get the transmission fluid checked by my local shop and they claimed the fluid still looked clean even though I have 52k miles and I drive the car pretty hard.

If the factory suggests changing the fluids at 100k for the V6, I will be changing it at 80k.

[gdanaher]

No, the dealer is not full of crap. That transmission is as complex as a Swiss watch. If you are worried, a good time to change it would be at about 59k miles, just inside the 60k mile warranty period, or 4 years, 11 months.

[dirtrat]

I have a Toyota Platinum warranty so the transmission has a warranty for 7 years 75,000 miles. I plan on keeping this car for longer so would like to get it serviced before that. The Dealer told me they are the only ones who can use a computer for the drain and refill. I guess a flush is out of the question so I'm off to have a drain and refill done. I think $300 is a bit steep but there must be more involved in this than I thought. Also going to have them replace my Premium JBL stereo. The front display doesn't work when it gets hot outside. Glad I bought my $559 warranty! Thanks for all of the replies.

Originally Posted by gdanaher

No, the dealer is not full of crap. That transmission is as complex as a Swiss watch. If you are worried, a good time to change it would be at about 59k miles, just inside the 60k mile warranty period, or 4 years, 11 months.

[carlo$]

dyi

You Tube

You Tube

[laphan]

Originally Posted by carlo$

dyi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbQ2cHMWzes

That was for older transmission (5 speed AT gen 5.5 camry, U151 for V6 and U250 for 4 cyl)
V6 gen 6 camry has different transmission than gen 5 (new U660, 6 spd AT), there is no dipstick to check the fluid level/color.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_U_transmission#U1xx

It is more like BMW/Audi engine oil check, no dipstick to check oil level, computer will tell you the oil level.
But for this toyota U660 case, only dealer has the scan tool can check the transmission computer readings.

[DOHCammer]

Originally Posted by gdanaher

No, the dealer is not full of crap. That transmission is as complex as a Swiss watch. If you are worried, a good time to change it would be at about 59k miles, just inside the 60k mile warranty period, or 4 years, 11 months.

Do you mean change the trans? There's no way a dealer would change a good trans under warranty just because the warranty was up. All transmissions that are replaced under warranty are thoroughly diagnosed and tested by Toyota's remanufacturing company and if the trans is found to be good then the dealer gets charged back the full warranty repair. I don't know of anyone willing to take that chance.

[gdanaher]

This is all about changing the FLUID!!!!!
sheesh.

[njerald]

It must be a confusing thread.....