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When to change trans fluid

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4K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  deadrx7conv  
#1 ·
I have a 05 4runner v6 and I do not see any reference in the maintenance schedule about when to change the transmission fluid. When should this be changed?
 
#5 ·
Some say 60k while others say only at 60k if you're towing otherwise 100k. I have the same transmission in my tacoma with 115k on it and it's never been touched. It shifts fine but i'm going to drop the pan, clean the filter and pan, and top it off. I'll repeat this a few times over the next 20k miles to eventually get all the fluid flushed out. Flushing by machine on high mileage transmissions is asking for trouble in my experience. This doesn't take regular Dexron fluid either. It's a special toyota WS (world standard) fluid. Unless your transmission shop doesn't have a flush machine dedicated to this fluid don't let them touch your truck.
 
#6 ·
These transmissions are different than others. I would not do one of these myself. I have done dozens of others, but I will not touch this one. It has to be at a certain temp to get the correct amount of fluid in it.
Do not just dive into this like it was any other transmission, read the manual first at least or bring it to a shop.
 
#7 ·
Avoid the shops. Most don't know what they're doing. And, I'd also be careful when picking dealers, as I've seen just as many hacks at the dealership as I've seen in a quickylube.

ATF is good for about 30k. You can prove this yourself with a UOA of the ol' ATF.

So many here on tsolutions and tnation complain about shift quality and failed transmissions. Most of those issues can be prevented with a little PM.