Hey, just wanted to hear some thoughts on this...

I had a remanufactured automatic transmission put in my truck in Aug. 2006 at approx. 178,000 miles. I got a 1 year, unlimited mileage warranty on parts and labor with it. I recently had my oil changed at a place I have gone to for a few years. The tech showed me the trans fluid and said it was starting to look brown and should probably be changed. Right now I have approx. 190,000 miles on the truck. Should the fluid be brown and not looking good with at most 12,000 miles of service??? Since the remanufactured trans I have only done some light wheeling and towed a 19' boat approx. 25 miles or less total.

Does a remanufactured transmission have a break-in period where it will go through fluid quicker in the beginning?

It seems a little early to me to need new fluid, but maybe if the shop used poor quality fluid..... I don't know. Looking into a fluid flush, not anticipating running into any problems due to a basically new tranny, but I will talk to the guy at the shop first.

Just want to know what you guys think about this and what you would do. Thanks a lot.

 

auto or manual?

 

sorry, automatic. edited above.

 

it shouldn't need a change. is it required for the warranty?

cars come from the factory and dont get auto trans fluid changes for a long time.

If you're towing or doing other heavy driving with it it should be more often, but its typically a 100k mile item in most cars

 

I would go ahead and change it. More importanly, smell it. If it smells even a little burnt? Get a big tranny cooler, I would get one anyway. They also make synthetic trans fluid now. It should take the heat much better.

 

I agree. It shouldn't need it but change it so then you shouldnt need to for another 30K. thats what the factory says. What year and truck is it? The newer trucks/4runners use a special Toyota type T-IV

 

its a 94 4runner 4wd.

Yea, i am planning on changing it, and probably going to synthetic. i've read that the factory calls for fluid change after 30,000 - thats why i'm so surprised that i need new fluid after only 12,000 or less.

 

ok. dextron III is what it takes. A drain and fill will take 5 qts. The 2nd gen auto trannys arn't all that great so do what you can to make the most of it

 

anyone else seen trans fluid only last 12,000 mi?

 

Nope, maybe there is something wrong with the tranny causing it to run hot and toast the fluid.