LSUMatt1514

I've always had the flush and any drain/refills done at the Toyota dealer, because I'm pretty confident they are using genuine Toyota fluid. I'm going to be sooooo busy this weekend, that I don't think I'll have time to go by there and sit and wait on them to do it.

I've got to go to a Firestone Service Center and do my typical PM stuff (oil change, tire rotation, lifetime alignment check, etc.) and I'd like to get them to do a tranny flush, but I'm skeptical.

Do service centers such as these use the same quality tranny fluid that they would use at a Toyota dealership? By all means, I don't want to jeopardize the reliability that I've had out of my truck for the sake of a few hours saved. Thanks guys.

Matt

ebelen1

Can you just bring your own tranny fluid if you don't trust theirs? I did a flush almost six months ago and brought my own tranny fluid to the shop b/c I wanted to have synthetic and they normally buy barrels of regular tranny fluid to use on customer cars/trucks. They had no problem doing the service for me w/ their machine. Just my experience...

4Runner4Christ

Matt, I think it would be a safe bet that your local dealer has been using the Toyota brand ATF. You would have to ask Firestone what kind they would put in your rig (I would bet $ it is not genuine Toyota fluid).

If it were me I would not rush something this important. Maybe you can swing by the dealer and buy the 20 quarts of OEM fluid it will take to flush out the 15 old quarts, then take your rig to another place you trust that has a pump inlet flush machine to flush it the right way. Make sure they also drop your tranny pan and give it a thorough inspection (this is very important) and make sure they dont try and install a cork gasket but use the correct seal packing material (Gadget turned me on to Permatex "Right Stuff").

terryjmatthew

Matt,

Firestone uses Kendall transmission fluid and Everwear transmission flush products.
It is a premium quality product, but definately not OEM fluid. There are very few autos that actually require OEM fluids (BMW, Mercedes, etc). We do anywhere from 3-10 transmission flushes per day and have had absolutely no trouble out of Kendall products.

BTW, I have been running Kendall fluids in my truck since I bought it and have had no issues at all.

LSUMatt1514

Thanks for the tips guys. I called them the other day (Firestone) and they told me they wouldn't even do a tranny flush on an vehicle with that many miles on it (150k+). They told me that I've have to go to a transimssion shop to have it done due to liability reasons because of the age of transmission. I trust the service manager at this Firestone place, but this totally caught me off guard and sounds absolutely ridiculous. I'm just going to have them do the basic PM stuff (oil change, rotation, alignment, etc) and I'll get by the dealer next weekend to let them do a drain and refill since it was just flushed at 90k. The only reason I was going to get Firestone to do a flush instead of a drain and refill was because I did not want dis-similar fluids in there. Anyway, thanks guys.

Matt