2002 Toyota Tundra (V8). Factory Fill. 25K Miles

[Laminar Lou]

Had to replace the transmission on the truck at 22K miles. Check engine light had come on, took it to the dealer and dealer said it had metal shavings in the pan. They replaced the transmission with a new transmission. Current transmission has about 150Mi of towing 1 motorcycle 200mi. Other then that mostly city and rush hour driving. I flushed with Amsoil ATF after this UOA and will report in 10K.

code:

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Toyota Tundra
4.7L V-8 (2UZ-FE)
Vehicle miles: 47,650
Transmission Miles: 25,064
Miles on oil: 25,064
Life of oil: 25 Months

Lab: Blackstone

“This is the first sample from the unit, and from
what we can tell at first glance, it appears to be
in good shape.  Wear levels were fine for a
wear-in sample and show no obvious problems.  You
can expect high wear at first, as new parts break
in.  Everything should drop next sample.  The lead 
is from making compound used at the factory.  You 
should not have any problems running the next oil 
a normal interval.  Check back to monitor.  Sorry 
to hear you had to have the transmission 
replaced!”


                Actual	        Universal Average

Aluminum	7		14
Chromium	0		0
Iron		26		30
Copper	        34		67
Lead		26		13
Tin		2		2
Moly		0		1
Nickel	        0		0
Manganese	0		0
Silver	        0		0
Titanium	0		0
Potassium	12		1
Boron	        59		45
Silicon	        23		18	
Sodium	        5		4
Calcium	        81		536
Magnesium	7		29
Phosph	        257		387
Zinc		25		264
Barium	        3		3

Sub Viscosity @ 210	= 	44.8
	Should be		42-51

Flashpoint		=	390
	Should be		>335

Water			=	0.0
	Should be		<0.1

Insolubles		= 	TR
	Should be		<0.1

 

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[TR3-2001SE]

Looks very good for 25,000 miles. You should have good luck with this one. I think about 30,000 mile changes are good in almost any transmission.

 

[Laminar Lou]

quote:

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Originally posted by TR3-2001SE: Looks very good for 25,000 miles. You should have good luck with this one. I think about 30,000 mile changes are good in almost any transmission.

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When you say 30K is a good change interval, do you mean a pan only drain or a full fluid replacement? Just curious what your opinion is. Since I put very low miles on this truck and it never sees the freeway, I will probably do a pan drain every 15K. That will probably take 3 years before I need to do that. It's good to see this transmission wearing correctly. I don't know if it is because there is new fluid in it or if it is the Amsoil, but the shifting is way smoother. I purposely didn't ask the wife to pay attention to the shift quality and she voluntarily made a comment that the truck is shifting a lot better a few days ago. So I know it is just not me.

 

[flathead6]

While I don't use Amsoil's universal ATF, it is synthetic and enjoys an excellent reputation. My Tundra is an '03, so it requires T-IV, which is likely not synthetic. Therefore, I pan drain mine every 15,000 miles, which is likely excessive, even with a non-syn ATF. Your new transmission almost certainly has the improved planetaries. However, you got burned with that original transmission, so it is understandable that you want to use whatever you consider the best ATF, and change it every 15,000 miles. While I agree with the above post that it's oftener than likely needed, you are doing exactly what I'd do in the 15,000 mile changes, if I'd had the earlier transmission failure. Although I use Mobil 1 in my vehicles requiring Dexron III, you have chosen wisely in the synthetic you've chosen, in my opinion.

 

[Laminar Lou]

quote:

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Originally posted by flathead6: While I don't use Amsoil's universal ATF, it is synthetic and enjoys an excellent reputation. My Tundra is an '03, so it requires T-IV, which is likely not synthetic. Therefore, I pan drain mine every 15,000 miles, which is likely excessive, even with a non-syn ATF. Your new transmission almost certainly has the improved planetaries. However, you got burned with that original transmission, so it is understandable that you want to use whatever you consider the best ATF, and change it every 15,000 miles. While I agree with the above post that it's oftener than likely needed, you are doing exactly what I'd do in the 15,000 mile changes, if I'd had the earlier transmission failure. Although I use Mobil 1 in my vehicles requiring Dexron III, you have chosen wisely in the synthetic you've chosen, in my opinion.

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Thanks for the opinion. Even though the last transmission was covered under warranty, it is still disconcerting. I am not sure how long this replacement transmission is covered under warranty, but I don’t want to keep replacing transmissions. I didn’t get the opportunity to drain the first transmission before it blew up, so maybe I just got a lemon tranny. I agree 15K is probably excessive, but it’s not going to break me with the few miles I put on the truck. At least my transmission has a dipstick to make it easier (If I recall, they removed the dipstick when they went to the T-IV fluid). I also installed a magnafine filter when I did the flush. I am interested to see what it picks up (if I can figure out how to open it – that thing is plastic but it is built like a tank). Amsoil states that it meets the T-IV spec for what it is worth. Now Toyota is on a new spec “WS”, so they appear to be trying to find a sweet spot with fluid. I don’t have any reservations putting Amsoil ATF when they spec out a generic Dexron III fluid, but if I had the T-IV tranny like you I would probably stick with the Toyota fluid like you are doing. So they improved the planetary gearset eh? I’ll have to search the net to see if the part number changed (to see if I have a “good” one now). Thanks for the info.

 

[TR3-2001SE]

A complete change at 30,000 will make most transmission last a long time. We had a transmission repair guy on this site and this is what he recomended. If you are doing a drain every 15,000 you should be close to the same as a full replacement every 30,000. This is what I started on my Honda Accord but I found it could go longer without wear metal build up thanks to UOA so I do the drain ie about 1/2 capacity every 30,000.

 

[JohnBrowning]

Laminar Lou, You only get 3-4 quarts out of the pan when you drain it. IT is wise ti drain the pan and refill every 15,000-18,000 miles! It is too easy to pull the drain plug and add 3-4 quarts back in. Toyota Tech told my Dad to do this and that we would have no problems. So far so good. We use Mobil-1 DEX III. Here Tundra called for Dex III from the factory though. Heres is a 2002 Tundra TRD 4x4. To be honest though any synthetic fluid that meets DexIII standards or better works just fine in Toyota transmissions baring CVT type transmissions. So Amsoil Universal,Redline Dex III,Mobil-1 ATF, Royal Purple ATF, Valvoline Maxlife all do just fine in any Toyota transmission calling for T-IV or Dex II,III.

 

[unDummy]

Looks good. IMO, few OEM fluids should go over 30k without a flush. Add extra filtration and work that Amsoil.

 

[Steelers]

I'd drain and fill each oil change with Mobil 1. Good fluid at a good price and a very easy procedure.