this sealed transmission thing... (2006 Tundra)

It kind of spooks me. I'm told the sealed transmission never needs
nuthin', forever... does not even have a dipstick. I'd be inclined
to at least change the fluid at some point!! What the person who
wants his truck to last forever to do?

-jeff

Jeff Olsen wrote:[color=blue]
> It kind of spooks me. I'm told the sealed transmission never needs
> nuthin', forever... does not even have a dipstick. I'd be inclined
> to at least change the fluid at some point!! What the person who
> wants his truck to last forever to do?
>
> -jeff
>[/color]
The transmission isn't really sealed. It has a drain, fill plug,
and a vent much like a differential or a transfer case.

I'd send a sample of the fluid to a testing lab at 50,000 miles.
For about $20 they can tell you the condition of the fluid and
whether any unusual wear is going on in the transmission.


Ken

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1147764098.476147.287050@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> It kind of spooks me. I'm told the sealed transmission never needs
> nuthin', forever... does not even have a dipstick. I'd be inclined
> to at least change the fluid at some point!! What the person who
> wants his truck to last forever to do?
>
> -jeff
>[/color]

What does your manual say about it? Separate book - the one with the service
schedule.

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1147764098.476147.287050@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> It kind of spooks me. I'm told the sealed transmission never needs
> nuthin', forever... does not even have a dipstick. I'd be inclined
> to at least change the fluid at some point!! What the person who
> wants his truck to last forever to do?[/color]


They follow the directions, and leave well enough alone. Assuming they
aren't happy with that, they drop the pan to drain, or pull the plug -- as
the case may be. then, they add new fluid through the fill hole.

I was told the same thing. On my 99. So I did what i was told, and its
fine :)

>They follow the directions, and leave well enough alone. Assuming they[color=blue]
>aren't happy with that, they drop the pan to drain, or pull the plug -- as
>the case may be. then, they add new fluid through the fill hole.[/color]

I intend to keep the truck forever; it will hopefully be the last truck
I ever buy. So the issue for me is, what's the BEST thing to do for
the tranny? I doubt that what is best for the tranny is to run the
same fluid for 200k miles...

I'll probably drain and refill it at about 60k miles. I'm doing the
differentials at 10k.

-ieff

Chances are, the people who designed and built the tranny would know
what's best for it above anyone here.

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1148269913.635110.201640@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue][color=green]
> >They follow the directions, and leave well enough alone. Assuming they
>>aren't happy with that, they drop the pan to drain, or pull the plug -- as
>>the case may be. then, they add new fluid through the fill hole.[/color]
>
> I intend to keep the truck forever; it will hopefully be the last truck
> I ever buy. So the issue for me is, what's the BEST thing to do for
> the tranny? I doubt that what is best for the tranny is to run the
> same fluid for 200k miles...
>
> I'll probably drain and refill it at about 60k miles. I'm doing the
> differentials at 10k.
>
> -ieff
>[/color]

Jeff, what does the service interval booklet say the transmission needs?
Your truck came with this book.

The best thing is to follow the directions.

The transmission will let you know if it needs fluid service long before it
craps out. Change the fluid when the transmissions asks you to, instead of
waiting for parts to fall off on the freeway, and you should be fine.





"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1148269913.635110.201640@j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue][color=green]
> >They follow the directions, and leave well enough alone. Assuming they
>>aren't happy with that, they drop the pan to drain, or pull the plug -- as
>>the case may be. then, they add new fluid through the fill hole.[/color]
>
> I intend to keep the truck forever; it will hopefully be the last truck
> I ever buy. So the issue for me is, what's the BEST thing to do for
> the tranny? I doubt that what is best for the tranny is to run the
> same fluid for 200k miles...
>
> I'll probably drain and refill it at about 60k miles. I'm doing the
> differentials at 10k.
>
> -ieff
>[/color]

> I'll probably drain and refill it at about 60k miles. *I'm doing the[color=blue]
> differentials at 10k.[/color]
[color=blue]
> -ieff[/color]

-Jeff, what does the service interval booklet say the transmission
needs?
-Your truck came with this book.

I'll look it up (RTFM, I know...) The salesman at the dealer said it
was a sealed unit that "never needed servicing". That just sounds like
a bad idea. It's possible the salesman was being an idiot. I've only
got 5K miles on 'er so far so there hasn't been any reason to look
ahead in the maintenance book...

-jeff

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1148790730.182381.257610@y43g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
> I'll probably drain and refill it at about 60k miles. I'm doing the
> differentials at 10k.[/color]
[color=blue]
> -ieff[/color]

-Jeff, what does the service interval booklet say the transmission
needs?
-Your truck came with this book.

I'll look it up (RTFM, I know...) The salesman at the dealer said it
was a sealed unit that "never needed servicing". That just sounds like
a bad idea. It's possible the salesman was being an idiot. I've only
got 5K miles on 'er so far so there hasn't been any reason to look
ahead in the maintenance book...

-jeff
++++++++++++++++++++

Wrong. The time to look at the service book is around midnight on the day
you bring home a new vehicle, and you're finished walking all around it in
the driveway, smiling and petting it and asking complete strangers if they'd
like to touch it. I mean, think about it: What if you missed a bunch of
service necessities and it caused a warranty problem? If the dealer asked
where you got the idea that the kerframmis didn't need grease for 25k miles
and you said "the web", don't you think he'd be entitled to laugh his ass
off?

I want to know what the "propellor shaft" is! Apparantly that's a
frequently-serviced item. Didn't even know my Tundra HAD a propellor,
and usually I'm pretty good at noticing such things!

Anyway, I looked in the dang manual... I never did see where it was
changed under normal duty but then I only looked out to 120k miles.
However, under heavy duty usage, it called for a drain and refill at
60k I believe. From that, I infer that there's nothing WRONG with a
drain and refill- it won't hurt anything. And as far as never changing
it, I think the manufacturers have been playing a bit of a game as to
who can stretch service intervals the longest; it's almost like saying,
our vehicle is so reliable you don't have to do anything to it. In
some instances car makers are backing away from some of those long
intervals. For myself, if if says to drain the tranny at 60k under
heavy use, then I will certainly do it at 60k whether the use has been
heavy or not. I'll sleep better at night, etc.

"But that's just me!" :-)

-jeff

"Jeff Olsen" <handywired@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1148880696.457328.253360@j55g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I want to know what the "propellor shaft" is! Apparantly that's a
> frequently-serviced item. Didn't even know my Tundra HAD a propellor,
> and usually I'm pretty good at noticing such things!
>
> Anyway, I looked in the dang manual... I never did see where it was
> changed under normal duty but then I only looked out to 120k miles.
> However, under heavy duty usage, it called for a drain and refill at
> 60k I believe. From that, I infer that there's nothing WRONG with a
> drain and refill- it won't hurt anything. And as far as never changing
> it, I think the manufacturers have been playing a bit of a game as to
> who can stretch service intervals the longest; it's almost like saying,
> our vehicle is so reliable you don't have to do anything to it. In
> some instances car makers are backing away from some of those long
> intervals. For myself, if if says to drain the tranny at 60k under
> heavy use, then I will certainly do it at 60k whether the use has been
> heavy or not. I'll sleep better at night, etc.
>
> "But that's just me!" :-)
>
> -jeff
>[/color]

I don't recall the names of the lube points I'd never heard of before, other
than the propellor shaft that you mentioned. But, when I showed the service
booklet to my mechanic (for my Tacoma), he said those lube points added ten
bucks to the cost of a regular oil change. "Ya wanna wait, or do it later?"
I had him do it. Used some sort of Pennzoil synthetic stuff.

Ten bucks. Not sure what the dealer would've charged.