Automatic Transmission Fluid

[Dewey44]

Great topic. At 93,000 miles do I need to have the transmission flush or just do a change?

[jc]

Great topic. At 93,000 miles do I need to have the transmission flush or just do a change?

You can get away with just a drain and fill. How dark is the fluid? If you pay a shop to do a flush it may cost you around $200. You can buy a lot of fluid for $200.

If the fluid is a dark colour you could do a drain and fill and then do two more drain and fills a week apart. This is easy to do. If you want to learn about flushing a tranny check out youtube. There are a few good videos on the subject.

Regards, JC.

[Dewey44]

I bought Castrol Transmax Import Multi-vehicle. The bottle says it meets T-IV Toyota requirement. My Service book references the T-IV as well but then goes on to say use only Toyota ATF WS.

[rovi]

Check your transmission dip stick. Right above the hot mark will tell you what type fluid to use.

[jburner]

I picked up a 2007 sienna LE with 112K mi on it. Transmission fluid has never been changed as far as I can tell in the records. It shifts fine, lots of hwy mi in the last two years 80K put on it. I noticed a low rumble at lower speeds when tranny in 5th gear. Felt it under the driver's seat. Is that going to be cleared up with changing of transmission fluid, or is that how they generally operate? I plan to change fluid anyway. Drain, fill, drive, drain, fill, drive, drain, fill drive...Rather than a $180 flush at the stealer

[jc]

Yes do the drain and fill a few times. By dropping the pan you could remove a lot of the film that sits in the pan. Last time I dropped my pan, I added a few rare earth magnets to it. I will see what they pick up the next time I opened it up.

You will see a huge difference in the shifting with new fluid.

Once I switched over to Mobil 1 tranny shifted like it was brand new. I've since changed over to Valvoline max life for my 98 and I use it in the Wife's Civic as well. It is compatible with the Type I-V fluid spec as well.

Regards, JC.

[Scilane71]

Toyota also has no recommended change interval for the T-IV trans fluid in my 06, which IMHO is nuts for a non-synth ATF. I agree that Toyo know their cars better than me, but for peace of mind I'll spend the $25 for a DIY drain/refill every 30K-40K miles.

I don't see any ATF change requirement in my 06 Sienna manual. I had Camry and never change ATF during its 236,000 miles life. My 06 Sienna LE has 60,000 miles. So far so good without ATF change.