There are many stories of transmissions failing shortly after a flush. I believe they are mostly high milage transmissions (over 100k or 150k miles) that were never previously serviced. It must dislodge sediment that ends up clogging up some fluid passages and then that’s it.
In your case it should be all right, but I think drain and fill every 15k miles would actually be cheaper and be better in the end.
If you look at the pan in a 150k mile transmission that has never been serviced, it’s common to see 2 to 3mm of sediment from the cutch plates and whatever sitting in the bottom.
So if you have a high mileage transmission, just remove and clean off the pan if you can, spray down the metal filter screen with brake parts cleaner if it has one, then drain and fill 3 times a couple thousand miles apart.
I did this on a 4 speed transmission that had a few drains at fills in the past, but no pan removal.
190k miles removed over 1/16" of sediment and put in 2 quarts of fluid.
195k miles removed a thin film of sediment and put in 2 quarts.
200k miles there was no sediment on the pan anymore. Put in 2 quarts.
It has a slow shift problem going in to 3rd but it seems to not be quite as bad as it was at 190k. There is probably still build up in other places in the transmission but the fluid is gradually clearing it away.
210k I will find out soon.
Said before but all I ever did was drop the pan and change filters on my riviera. I never did it on a regular basis because I hated the job. Winter was coming and I had started covering the whole state of minnesota. Not wanting to get stuck up north at 20 below, I had the trans overhauled at 350,000 miles. I asked them how it looked and he said it really wasn’t that bad. A lot of highway miles but still, nothing wrong with pan drops. I just pay fir it now every 30,000.
The one at the auto parts stores for Toyotas has a much larger mesh. From the dealer it probably costs a fortune. The Toyota dealer here just sprays them clean.
Hello everyone. I returned to this topic to read every single comment for educational purposes. Many thanks for the information shared and the advice.
I had the car serviced at Lexus and the price came about the same as what Toyota quoted me. I was a bit disappointed because the Lexus dealer quoted me a price over the phone that was much different than I was charged. However, it was fun playing around in the showroom and sitting in their Lexus LC500.
I’m going to delay servicing the transmission until 65,000 miles. I’m currently at 59,000 miles.
Side note: They wanted an extra $500 for the following services which I declined:
Tire rotation. I declined this based on the advice I received on here in the past. My wheels are staggered.
Engine filter and cabin filter.
Brake fluid flush ( I already did this at Toyota at 42,000 miles )
100% Agreed, even at $100 ($150) each for both filters, that is $300 ($200) for a brake flush?? Tire rotation should be a no charge cause they are already removed the tires for the brake flush…
You can rotate non directional staggered wheels/tires side to side, just not front to back…
I paid about $100 for brake fluid change at the Acura dealer. I do my own filters and free tire rotations from Goodyear. Otherwise I think it is $40 for a rotation.
It was a tire rotation and they told me it was recommended for my car despite the wheels are staggered. They would rotate from side to side. But I remember we had a discussion on here about doing so and the advice I received was that doing so wouldn’t be beneficial financially.
A diy’er could do it all for a considerably lower cost, but $500 doesn’t seem out of line for a dealership doing the entire job, soup to nuts. Seems like it would take a couple of man-hours @$200 per hour, $400 just for the labor. $200 per hour seems pretty steep for car repair, but they have to charge enough to make it worth their time to stay in business. Shops have a lot of unbilled time they have to make up for.
The worst thing about owning a vehicle is when you as the owner is disabled and don’t have a mechanically inclined member in the family. People like me have no choice other than to face the horror of visiting the dealership.
My close friend has CP ( cerebral palsy ) and his condition is quite severe. His sienna, which he bought new from Toyota, had to be specially built for his needs, where they installed an auto lift which accommodate his motorize scooter. The accelerator of his van is also customized to accommodate his left foot as his right foot is completely useless. Then the steering wheel has a nob on it for him to steer the van.
He too, like me, has no choice other than to face the horror of visiting the dealership, and we are faced with really steep prices for vehicle maintenance.
I expect that’s one of the reasons for the many volunteers here; the cost of vehicle repair and maintenance work is quickly becoming a serious budget problem for many families, and the volunteers here want to offer up a little help, if only moral support, at least.
Car owner’s have the option to purchase extended warranties and may be able to purchase some type of repair insurance. Worth looking into I expect.
Yea. I told the employee I’d do it myself. After the service he told me both engine filter and cabin filter were in good condition and didn’t need to be changed. I guess this is because when I took the car to Toyota for the foul AC smell they decided to change out the filters.
I notice in the picture you posted it states rotation is only for models with the same size tires. So this tells me the dealer was pushing to make some extra money off me.
This is why I come to CarTalk for advice before doing anything.
What was the purpose of the prices if the filters were not needed?
The service writer was probably reading from general maintenance check list, service writers work in an office, they don’t know what size tires are on your car, they rely on the technicians for that information.
When I brought the car in, the writer showed me the work they would be doing including the total cost.
I informed him that my wheels were staggered and he said it didn’t matter as they would rotate from side to side and he recommended doing so.
I told him I would replace the filters myself, brake fluid already done at 42k miles and that I didn’t want to rotate the tires.
I signed for spark plug and oil change.
Upon completion, writer handed me a sheet showing the health status of my car which showed the filters were good. I asked him if he actually checked the filters and he said yes, and said they never needed to be changed.
I’m just commenting but seems like if they go to all the work to pull the filters to check them free, but then charge to replace when it would be just as easy to out a new one in as checking them. I understand you should have to pay for filters but on mine you have to remove the glove box for the cabin filter. Just thinking if I were the dealer I might want to say we only charge fir the filters not the labor, and earn some points.
