Transmission fluid change question on camry or rav 4 2015 year

"for every 10K, I'm not sure it was tester or some transman master mechanic on this site who had 30 years of trans experience and he said his cars/trucks get a trans drop every two oil changes and he did the oil at 3000 miles I believe."

I have been a regular on this site since 2005–or thereabouts–and I can tell you that neither Tester nor Transman–nor any of the other regulars–has ever advocated “a trans drop” (hopefully you mean a trans pan drop) every 2 oil changes. The standard wisdom among the more experienced guys on this site is to do a trans fluid change every 3 yrs or 30k miles (whichever comes first).

Opinions on oil changes do vary, but I don’t recall anyone advocating an oil change every 3k miles. However, if somebody racks up the miles very slowly, it is extremely important to bear the elapsed time maintenance interval in mind.

For quite a few years, Toyota has specified oil changes at 5k miles or six months, whichever comes first, but that may have been altered recently. I suggest that you check your Owner’s Manual for the specifics (in terms of both odometer mileage and elapsed time) for your particular model.

Agreed; Tester and Transman would never recommend 10k miles trans fluid changes. Transman used to hammer the 25k miles interval pretty strongly if I emember correctly.

There might be one exception that could justify the 10k miles interval and that would be if the vehicle in question (say a pickup) was being used commercially to haul heavy loads or pull a heavily laden trailer around on a daily basis.

I’m a subscriber to the every 30k miles schedule; give or take a bit either way.

This is slightly off topic . . .

But some of our fleet vehicles call for a transmission fluid and filter service every 15K . . . under severe service conditions

I’m citing information straight from the manufacturer’s maintenance schedule, by the way

And I’m not talking about a Toyota vehicle

That’s why I said it’s slightly off topic . . .

I have a different view on the OP’s question.

Assuming the OP won’t be towing anything, Toyota says in their maintenance schedule the transmission fluid never needs to be changed. Toyota dealers and many transmission places say don’t even worry about it till 100K miles. Millions of Toyota owners are following that advice without any problems.

Why should the OP change it any more frequently?

If the OP decides to do it himself the best way to do it without the tool is to drain the fluid into a container where you can measure the amount of fluid removed. Then add exactly the same amount back into the trans. This method will work as long as you have no leaks. Use the Toyota factory fluid. The factory tool is still the most accurate but costly for a D.I.Y. job.

sorry, I meant he said to drain the fluid and refill every two oil change intervals. My bad in communication.

yeah, Toyota and other manufacturers say 100K to change or check etc. and say it’s lifetime. I know Toyota didn’t even stock my 2005 Camry trans filter. I had to go to pep boys or similar. Just because Toyota recommends 100K and/or do nothing, and many millions don’t touch their trans fluid ever, doesn’t mean it’s a good practice. I wish I can find that tread where someone (they were a trans master mechanic) said they do 2X oil changes for each trans fluid change. I’m sure it’s here if car talk saved files from 10 years ago or less. My accord used 3 qts. My camry 4 qts. I used the dealer stuff early on (and did it at 25K intervals till after 100K or so and then changed to 7-10K or so). The Castrol was 5 and change a qt and the wally world equivalent 4 and change. So I burnt 20 to 25 bucks ever 6-9 months. It was peace of mind.

As for me, I have a job close to home and might put 6-10K max a year on the car. When it comes time and I do it myself, I’ll measure the fluid out and add that and just a little more to see if it drains out the red tube.

@oilman

Don’t bother going to Toyota for transmission filters for ANY vehicle

More often than not, they don’t carry them in stock

And they also tell you a bunch of BS

Supposedly they’re screens, not filters

Uh huh

And supposedly their own factory trained mechanics don’t replace them. They just clean them

Uh huh

So they’re telling you that their own guys go to all the trouble of removing the pan, cleaning off the old gasket residue. Remove the “screen” and reinstall it, install a new gasket and add fluid

Uh huh

I have a Toyota and I buy my atf at the dealer. But I buy my trans filter kit elsewhere

My best friend (who is my mechanic when I can’t fix something) installed a waste oil burner at his shop last Winter, woo-hoo! Free heat for him (almost) and easy oil disposal for me forever! Rocketman

There is no danger of voiding the warranty by changing the fluid in a Toyota unless you mess it up because there is no requirement to change the fluid.

I have communicated with Toyota about my 2012 and asked them about the warranty book saying the transmission has to be checked every 30,000 miles. I asked them how can I check it without a dipstick?

The reply they emailed me explained the 30,000 check is just a visual check for signs of leaks. They went furthed and said there are sensors in the transmission that monitor the viscosity and temp of the fluid and the car will tell me if the tranny needs service.

I paid the dealer $90 for my 09 Camry transmission service. Seems like a deal compared to buying the OEM fluid, filter and the mess.

This is an old thread and the OP has left the building . Let it die.

@“oldtimer 11”

“They went furthed and said there are sensors in the transmission that monitor the viscosity and temp of the fluid and the car will tell me if the tranny needs service.”

I sure hope you didn’t believe “them” . . .

ASFAIK, there are no vehicles out there that do what “they” told you

Some cars, such as Honda, will monitor the mileage and will call for a trans service at set mileage intervals. But there is no message that says “Hey you, it’s time for a trans service.” What happens is that a maintenance needed light will illuminate, along with a letter and/or number. Then you look in your owner’s manual, to decipher exactly what is due.

as long as you have records, you don’t void the warranty. The “lifetime” one is voided if you do that but to keep that up, you need to visit the dealer every 3 months and give them your wallet to pay for the lifetime warranty.

I typically trade my cars every 3 years. I perform no maintenance other than oil changes. The car is maybe washed once,just before I trade it. I have zero concern for the next owner of the car. Let the buyer beware.

Mr. Oilman this is a 4 year old thread and I am not even going tp see what I wrote 3 years ago.

The “home” and “end” keys are your friends. Quickly look at the original post and date. Still I think anything older than a couple years should have a red flag or something. Same as all those “ask someone” one line voice to text or whatever it is where the person never comes back. You’d think at least one of “them” would come back once in a while.

I just dd today, as of 23rd -May-2019, on a 2015 Rav4 sport@ 70k miles.
.1 Turn your steering wheel all the way to left,
2. Pull a few plastic pins out, remove the plastic sheet cover, expose the 15/16 bolt and unscrew it.
3. After that, unscrew the nut underneath the drain pan (there will be some, but not all, fluid come put, after that,unscrew the little plastic tube inside the drain hole, so that to completely empty the drain pan.
4. Measure how much you have drained, and put same amount back(I added a tiny bit more to account for the loss, believe me, it is not like rocket science like toyota claims).
5. Did a test drive, seems (maybe my psychological) the gear switches smoother than before. stop the care check for leak. If no, you are all set.

I just did the 2015 RAV4 Trans fluid change at 70K miles. The fluids is dark (close to dark brown, but not black), color does not mean anything, it might be still good but I prefer the red /pink color of trans fluid.
It came out about but less than ~2L, (anyone can confirm got about the same volume? please).

when I changed my 2015 Rav 4 for the 1st time (remember it doesn’t have a dipstick to measure fluid), I opened the pan bolt and fluid came out (about a quart, maybe a little less). Then I took out the overflow tube and the rest came out. In total it was 2.5 quarts. I was under the impression that the overflow tube was there to drain excess fluid but in the factory, they didn’t follow that rule. So now I always drain it and put in 2.5 quarts. It’s got 49K now and I’ve done it about 6 or 7 times already. No problems so far. I just changed my wife’s Kia Optima at 21K and it was a slightly darker red than the pink red Valvoline max life I put in. Not sure why Toyota didn’t allow the excess to drain but it hasn’t hurt the trans since I’ve owned it.