[sirhawkeye]

So I was talking to my dealer yesterday about possibly doing a transmission service (as a preventative measure) at 60k miles on my car (so about another 4 months from now probably). he was describing the process to me and said that they do flush the transmission if the car has less than 90-100k (he said beyond 90k or so they won't). But this has me concerned as I've always been told not to flush transmissions, ever (unles the transmission is already having issues, perhaps, as a last ditch effort to try to prolong its life but normally, advised not to and only do a drain and refill).

I would assume at 60k there shouldn't be anything in there that would get disturbed to a point where it would kill the transmission.

Thoughts on this? How did others go about doing this? Is a "flush" OK to do at 60k ,or to dealers just use the term "flush" for drain and refill because it sounds like a more complete job than just draining and refilling and charging people $300. (Again, I know on high-mileage transmissions you would not want to do this, so for my 120k and subsequent services, for example, I would make sure it wasn't flushed, just drained and refilled).

 

[Vicclownn]

At my shop when we do trans flushes we use a machine from a company called BG. A 1:1 exchange of trans fluid. Unsure on how the shop you go to does that process but I have heard/read good and bad things about using the machine. Personally I havent seen the problems. Using the machine we use 12 quarts of trans fluid from the bg company with BG trans cleaner and BG trans conditioner basically scrubbing the trans to remove debris/gunk, what ever isnt used is thrown away but you are still paying for it. It does replace all the fluid in your trans though. Drain and refill drains roughly 3 quarts of fluid so a quarter of the flush. Only replacing some of the fluid within the pan.

To answer your question it is fine to do a flush at 60k miles. Drain and refill is just as fine really depends on how much your willing to pay. I would also like to mention you can do trans fluid with trans filter. This process does roughly half that trans fluid plus you change the trans filter that has all the metal shaving from the break in period and its also nice to have a fresh trans gasket.

 

[Busa789]

At my shop when we do trans flushes we use a machine from a company called BG. A 1:1 exchange of trans fluid. Unsure on how the shop you go to does that process but I have heard/read good and bad things about using the machine. Personally I havent seen the problems. Using the machine we use 12 quarts of trans fluid from the bg company with BG trans cleaner and BG trans conditioner basically scrubbing the trans to remove debris/gunk, what ever isnt used is thrown away but you are still paying for it. It does replace all the fluid in your trans though. Drain and refill drains roughly 3 quarts of fluid so a quarter of the flush. Only replacing some of the fluid within the pan.

To answer your question it is fine to do a flush at 60k miles. Drain and refill is just as fine really depends on how much your willing to pay. I would also like to mention you can do trans fluid with trans filter. This process does roughly half that trans fluid plus you change the trans filter that has all the metal shaving from the break in period and its also nice to have a fresh trans gasket.

There is no serviceable filter to change on our 8-speed transmissions.

 

[EngineerBoo]

I'm my family mechanic and always just do drain and fill on our Toyota transmissions every 5-years, or 50,000 miles and, so far, zero issues. (And we have two 2008's, a 2012, and a 2014)

Personally, I don't let the Toyota dealer work on our vehicles...I've found MUCH better mechanics who either own their own shop, or are paid much higher wages by owners. Toyota seems to hire less-experienced mechanics and pay them less...so when they actually get good they are snatched up by better businesses or they start their own business. (It's a sad state of affairs.)

 

[sirhawkeye]

I'm my family mechanic and always just do drain and fill on our Toyota transmissions every 5-years, or 50,000 miles and, so far, zero issues. (And we have two 2008's, a 2012, and a 2014)

Personally, I don't let the Toyota dealer work on our vehicles...I've found MUCH better mechanics who either own their own shop, or are paid much higher wages by owners. Toyota seems to hire less-experienced mechanics and pay them less...so when they actually get good they are snatched up by better businesses or they start their own business. (It's a sad state of affairs.)

The issue is that the newer ones don't have a dipstick so it's harder to check the level, although there are some videos I found online on how to do it. I might also just take it to a regular shop (actually the shop the Car Care Nut runs [TCCN Automotive] is only about an hour a way from me anyway so I may contact them, since he knows the preferred process and might be a bit cheaper than the dealer plus he has the lift and tools -- and expertise -- on how to do it and I think he is either toyota certified or was formerly certified so it might be the best of both worlds --- cheaper labor and not the overpriced labor at a dealership but still good quality work by a mechanic who knows his stuff).

 

[Vicclownn]

The issue is that the newer ones don't have a dipstick so it's harder to check the level, although there are some videos I found online on how to do it. I might also just take it to a regular shop (actually the shop the Car Care Nut runs [TCCN Automotive] is only about an hour a way from me anyway so I may contact them, since he knows the preferred process and might be a bit cheaper than the dealer plus he has the lift and tools -- and expertise -- on how to do it and I think he is either toyota certified or was formerly certified so it might be the best of both worlds --- cheaper labor and not the overpriced labor at a dealership but still good quality work by a mechanic who knows his stuff).

LEGENDARY toyota guy

 

[Tim883]

The dealer should drain it if you tell them that's what you want.

 

[slighter]

The dealer wants almost $500 for a flush. Never do that. I just did a drain and fill myself for my 2024 Camry LE at 22K miles. The ATF degradation level was about 1200 before the change. The drained ATF was really dark even with some fine particles. After the change, the transmission has become much smoother. You want to do it sooner than the suggested interval for sure if you want your car to last.

 

[EngineerBoo]

I love Ahmed (The Car Care Nut)....and jealous you're only an hours drive! I'd be bringing all my vehicles to him if I had a job I wasn't comfortable doing.
Oh, for folks who have car questions, he posted that he's going to schedule a live stream where folks can ask him things. (When he was first starting off, he did that often and I learned a ton of stuff from them.)
He is, still, a Master Toyota technician and keeps up with the Toyota training on the newer vehicles.

 

[sirhawkeye]

I love Ahmed (The Car Care Nut)....and jealous you're only an hours drive! I'd be bringing all my vehicles to him if I had a job I wasn't comfortable doing.
Oh, for folks who have car questions, he posted that he's going to schedule a live stream where folks can ask him things. (When he was first starting off, he did that often and I learned a ton of stuff from them.)
He is, still, a Master Toyota technician and keeps up with the Toyota training on the newer vehicles.

I didn't realize his shop was so close until I rewatched some of his videos where he said the shop was. Initially I had thought he was farther away. I stil have yet to contact them (as the trans fluid isn't realy "due" to be done for another few months). But I think if he does good work, I may start taking my car there when the warranty runs out (which will be in the next 6 months or so). While I have no real complaints about the dealer I've been going to (Which is much closer, like 30 min away) I do know that a lot of these dealers hire potentially uncertified mechanhics to do some of the work (although I think they do still have some ASE/Toyota certified techs go around and double check work at least for major jobs, but still, I know some people who work at dealerships and the calibre of some of the talent some dealers has is scary).

I remember a friend taking his car to Wal-Mart (of all places, even though I told him not to) for an oil change and someone accidentally drained the trans fluid instead of the oil... luckily they caught it before it was even started, and he got a free trans fluid change I guess (using whatever fluid they had for that vehicle) but long story short, he still had to take it to the dealer to get the OEM fluid put back in, which they also paid for thankfully but it was a headache, and just goes to show that not everyone is skilled and they will hire whomever is cheapest in some cases (now this is obviously Wal-Mart and I advice people to NEVER take their vehicle there, not even for a tire rotation).

 

[Sweet'18]

We have two toyota 8 spd. transmissions...one in our 2018 Camry XSE with 265K, and the other being a 2019 Sienna with 165K. I performed a drain and fill on each every 50k miles and both are working fine. OP, I don't disagree with the dealership's approach....flush when young, drain and fill when old.....but as others have said, you would do just fine with regular drain and fills. Good luck with whichever you choose....just don't over think it.

 

[sirhawkeye]

We have two toyota 8 spd. transmissions...one in our 2018 Camry XSE with 265K, and the other being a 2019 Sienna with 165K. I performed a drain and fill on each every 50k miles and both are working fine. OP, I don't disagree with the dealership's approach....flush when young, drain and fill when old.....but as others have said, you would do just fine with regular drain and fills. Good luck with whichever you choose....just don't over think it.

OK, I just remember everyone telling me never to flush a transmission, but maybe that was just a higher-mileage one (one with say 100k or more or that is showing signs of issue). They at least did tell me they won't flush a transmission that has over 90-100k miles so at least they realize the danger in doing so at such mileage. So I'll probably just have them do it then, and I don't think these flushes are really aggressive and shouldn't be any debris that might get dislodged that would cause issues as it seems to run fine as it is (but am doing this as part of preventative maintenance and staying up/ahead on maintenance).

 

[EngineerBoo]

Yep, I never flush my Toyota's. My son-in-law has a VW Jetta (turbo) and wanted to do an engine flush with Liquid Molly so we did that but, to be honest, it really didn't seem to look much dirtier afterwards. Every 6-months or 5,000 mile oil changes is the secret to folks who have 15-year old cars with 300,000 miles!

Don't get me started on shady oil change places like Walmart Automotive. My son-in-law used to be an Assistant Manager in one of ours and told me stories if the guys forgetting to replace oil drain plugs or putting in way too much oil and stuff like that. Then, I saw "Help Wanted" signs at Walmart Automotive so asked him where the techs went.....our TOYOTA dealership hired them!!! (Hopefully, Toyota has good technicians to train them but I NEVER just drive my vehicle away when getting anything done...check the oil level as soon as I get the keys.)

Trust but verify.

 

[Domin8r]

The issue is that the newer ones don't have a dipstick so it's harder to check the level, although there are some videos I found online on how to do it. I might also just take it to a regular shop (actually the shop the Car Care Nut runs [TCCN Automotive] is only about an hour a way from me anyway so I may contact them, since he knows the preferred process and might be a bit cheaper than the dealer plus he has the lift and tools -- and expertise -- on how to do it and I think he is either toyota certified or was formerly certified so it might be the best of both worlds --- cheaper labor and not the overpriced labor at a dealership but still good quality work by a mechanic who knows his stuff).

I am kind of nearby to him as well, I called to get a quote on service before and never got a call back. Apparently he's super busy with his regular customers and you have to squeeze your way in. He's not cheap either from what I've heard, which is fine, good service is not cheap. Just don't expect his work to be less than dealerships. I'm not being negative about his shop, I watch many of his videos and I'm sure one day I'll get some service done there. Just a heads up about getting in there.

 

[IKar]

I'd recommend doing drain and refill. It's not that difficult. Take a look how I did it. In this video I explained the procedure step by step in accordance with the service manual. Good luck!

 

[Indy John]

The issue is that the newer ones don't have a dipstick so it's harder to check the level, although there are some videos I found online on how to do it. I might also just take it to a regular shop (actually the shop the Car Care Nut runs [TCCN Automotive] is only about an hour a way from me anyway so I may contact them, since he knows the preferred process and might be a bit cheaper than the dealer plus he has the lift and tools -- and expertise -- on how to do it and I think he is either toyota certified or was formerly certified so it might be the best of both worlds --- cheaper labor and not the overpriced labor at a dealership but still good quality work by a mechanic who knows his stuff).

I am SOOOO envious that TCCN is only an hour away. I'd take it to him in a heartbeat. As his videos explain, he advises only a drain and fill (absolutely NO chemicals) and says that even if it had a serviceable filter, he's never seen one that needed replacing. If you're reasonably handy, you could level the car on jackstands or ramps and jackstands, and just replace whatever amount of that fluid drains out at room temperature, after removing the "straw", with that precise amount of new WS fluid. You'll need a 6mm hex for the straw and a big (23mm?) socket for the fill bolt behind the left front fender liner.

 

[bastards]

The dealer wants almost $500 for a flush. Never do that. I just did a drain and fill myself for my 2024 Camry LE at 22K miles. The ATF degradation level was about 1200 before the change. The drained ATF was really dark even with some fine particles. After the change, the transmission has become much smoother. You want to do it sooner than the suggested interval for sure if you want your car to last.

I have a 2012 Camry, i do my transmission drain, i usually get2 and1/2 quatts out, then i replentish with same amount, i will repeat process3 more times in a 2 wook period. That way the old fluid has been diluted with the new WS toyota type fluid. Every3 years i have removed pan and changed the filter. Then i perform a temperature test go get proper level. Few yrs ago i installed a Hayden transmission cooler. I feel its better than the stock cooler. I live in Florida, intense heat here in summer.

 

[bastards]

The dealer wants almost $500 for a flush. Never do that. I just did a drain and fill myself for my 2024 Camry LE at 22K miles. The ATF degradation level was about 1200 before the change. The drained ATF was really dark even with some fine particles. After the change, the transmission has become much smoother. You want to do it sooner than the suggested interval for sure if you want your car to last.

I have a 2012 Camry, i do my transmission drain, i usually get2 and1/2 quatts out, then i replentish with same amount, i will repeat process3 more times in a 2 wook period. That way the old fluid has been diluted with the new WS toyota type fluid. Every3 years i have removed pan and changed the filter. Then i perform a temperature test go get proper level. Few yrs ago i installed a Hayden transmission cooler. I feel its better than the stock cooler. I live in Florida, intense heat here in summer.

Excuse the spelling, my i phone does this!

 

[Silver Ghost1]

EngineerBoo has the right answer. My Toyota dealer ONLY does flushes, would not do a drain and fill, so l took it to another shop with Toyota fluid for the drain and fill.

 

[slighter]

EngineerBoo has the right answer. My Toyota dealer ONLY does flushes, would not do a drain and fill, so l took it to another shop with Toyota fluid for the drain and fill.

More profit. That's why they only do flush.