hmm interesting.. when i check my tranny dip stick its never brownish color.. should i flush anyway? like i said before i just drain and fill (usually 5qts) every 15-20k miles..i was told if its red leave it alone or drain and fill.. if its brownish, have it flushed..

 

Power flush is what you want as it cycles out the old fluid, then circulates in a cleansing fluid to break up deposits, then refills with new fluid. Recommended on my F350 every 50K miles. $150 well spent IMO as proactive maintenance is the key to a vehicle's life span, not reactive (when something breaks).

 

Right on. I'm just going to pay the $150 to have it flushed, at least I know it'll be done correctly with Toyota OEM fluid and the dealership should stand behind their work.

 

WOW... just got off the phone with my toyota service guys and they DO NOT RECOMMEND flushing! i was surprised.. they recommended to just drain and fill and clean the screen and or replace the screen. they said if (just like what i mentioned earlier) if you drain 3-5qts every 15-20k miles you will NEVER have to have it flushed.... they dont use those machines bc of a few reasons

1. the machine and most places that use them use detergents to clean the tranny out.. they said BIG MISTAKE and in the long run that will hurt the tranny

2. something about the pressure that could build up on the seals and etc in the tranny.. granted i am not a mechanic but these guys are very reputable in NC. they have the best prices and no bull sh$t work ethics.. i dont like dealerships but i love this one..

anyone want to chime in??


i say save the $.. unscrew your tranny pan plug and let it drain for a good while and replace as needed.

 

Some folks like ketchup on their fries...some folks like mustard.

 

On point #1) I agree, and I just tell them NO on the cleaners and conditioners, just add the ATF. If you've ever seen the inside of a tranny just are very clean inside and I don't want any extra solvents that aren't needed anyway and could possibly hurt the seals.

On point #2) I disagree, the flush machines only redirect the flow pressure from the tranny ATF pump, there is no extra power added from the machine that would boost the pressure up and do damage. It's basicly just a tank with a divider bladder that uses the pressure of the dirty fluid to push in the clean fluid. Or so I'm told anyway.

 

well these guys drive tacomas and tundras. a few with tacomas over 200k miles and they never flushed. just drain and fill.. one guy i know treats his like dirt and slams through mud, creeks and etc and thats all he ever did and his has over 230k miles on his auto tranny.. i think if they thought that the flushing machines were worth they would have it.. they have the $ for it for sure

 

I just had the flush done about two months ago w/ 150k miles on my truck.
It didnt shift funny or anything I just figured it was time. I can really tell the difference now though.
An indy charged me $110 for the flush.

 

I agree with mt_goat on this one. The tranny uses its own power to get the fluid through. There is no extra pressure pushing the fluid through.

 

Do a full flush yourself. Easy to do (relatively), you'll get to see the condition of your transmission's interior first hand, and you'll know it's fully cleaned when you're done. See this thread to get you started.

 

local dealer just sent out a coupon for $129.00 power flush

 

great write up man.... the only thing that would remotely concern me is cranking the truck up 12-15 times and its time costly.. but great write up and very easy steps also.. props to ya

 

Thanks. Yeah, it is a bit time consuming. You could probably cut the number of start/stops down to half by doing two quarts at a time instead of one, but I want to make sure I don't starve my tranny pump too.

 

yeah i understand but i dont think 2 quarts for that short of time would hurt

 

Just make sure it doesn't run dry and keep in mind the pump could start sucking air well before air shows up in the cooler line. I'd maybe feel ok about going 2 quarts at a time if the pan was over-filled by 1 quart.

If you could time it right its possible you could have a filling mechanism that would fill with new ATF at about the same rate as the tranny pumps it out. I'm thinking now a 5 gal bucket hanging over-head with a small rubber tube stuck down into the fill tube and gravity feed with a valve to adjust the flow. You could watch the 5 gal bucket fill bucket level and compare it to the 5 gal drain bucket level and try to keep them close to the same. Having a friend ready to kill the engine anytime the draining got too far ahead of the filling.

 

Hehm....Sounds like a theory to try Dale....

 

Actually I've used something similar once, but I made a pressure vessel out of a 5 gal bucket with a special screw on lid and mounted a strater valve on the top and varied the air pressure by cycling a MV-50 compressor on and off. I had a tube connected to the bottom of the bucket with a hose barb fitting for the ATF to exit. I tried to keep the pressure around 15 psi so as not to break the plastic pressure vessel and blow ATF all over the shop, lol. I was pushing the ATF into the pan through the cooler return line on this experiment. I found it to work a little too slow and my helper had to shut down the engine a few times for it to keep up. That experiment was on a 95 Taurus. I then found out later that filling through the fill tube was much faster and took very little pressure, so I think the gravity feed system may work and be safer.

 

$150 at the dealership isn't sounding all that bad. If only they'd drop the pan for that much!

 

LMFAO

 

Okay so I went to the dealership today. $158 total for the flush. I asked if they dropped the pan and cleaned the screen, and would check and clean the magnets. Of course no, but I went ahead with it anyways cuz it never hurts to have a nice clean flushed tranny.

Oh and I just bought an aftermarket cooler, and oil temp gauge so Im gonna try to hook that stuff up asap.