ATF is NOT red after flush?

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Now would be a good time to buy yourself a fluid extractor and start doing your own drain-refills on a regular basis. T-4 fluid is cheap by the case compared to the price of a flush and you will be sure it got changed. And yes it is very red in color. I do my wifes toyota trans/diffs/p/s regularly and all are clean.

Way too easy to do it yourself.
 
Sounds like [censored].
T-IV is red.
Toyota PSF is clear and will yellow quickly. But, a full flush will usually use DexronIII which is also red.

Find a different shop to do your service since this one doesn't have any ethics.
 
Go back. Talk with the service manager right off the bat. Explain the situation to him and ask to see what fluids were used to do the flush. THEN show him the color of the fluid in the tranny/PS. See what he says then. I don't care how old the tranny is, or how long it's gone, I just can't see new fluid cleaning enough gunk to turn it brown in only 24hrs. I only did drain and fills on my 1993 Corolla every 30k and the fluid never came out brown.
 
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Originally Posted By: wantin150
Go back. Talk with the service manager right off the bat. Explain the situation to him and ask to see what fluids were used to do the flush. THEN show him the color of the fluid in the tranny/PS. See what he says then. I don't care how old the tranny is, or how long it's gone, I just can't see new fluid cleaning enough gunk to turn it brown in only 24hrs. I only did drain and fills on my 1993 Corolla every 30k and the fluid never came out brown.

He paid for labor "under the table."
 
Was the ATF very dark or burnt before the change? If so, it's probably normal for some of the sediments to tint the new ATF color after a few minutes of driving.

I'd finish the job yourself. ATF drain and fill is VERY easy if you follow one simple rule... Measure what comes out and put the same amount back in. This will save you a lot of time trying to hunt and peck for the right fluid level. The drain/refill quantity listed in most manuals is just a guestimate and can vary a lot due to different conditions.
 
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Sounds like nothing was done to either except maybe a top-off. I've seen fluid that was 100,000 miles old and still red. Even a pan drop and refill of 3-4 quarts would leave the (total amount of) fluid with a red tint one day later. The PS fluid was probably just checked.

There is no way a complete flush of 12 quarts would turn completely amber or brown (or just "not red") after one day unless the fluid started life as brown or amber. I have seen this happen often to family members. The fluid looks exactly the same after the service as before. I was servicing my uncle's transmission at 145k after he'd had one or two dealer services and I found what looked like a fishing "bobber" in the pan. I found out that the "bobber" was attached to the dipstick at the factory when the transmission was built. It surely would have been removed during the first transmission service as it had no purpose after assembly of the trans.

Sadly, the conditions exist for this to happen at an alarming rate. Most customers have no clue about how to work on things while at the same time, shops want to increase profits as much as possible to combat the reduction in service visits (vehicles are more reliable and require less scheduled maintenance). Servicing the tranmission can be a pain, but I wouldn't let anyone do mine except me.
 
Originally Posted By: ConfederateTyrant
The "bobber" would not be removed if the dealer only flushed the transmission without dropping the pan. If the pan was dropped then it would have been removed.


Agreed, but a proper "transmission service" includes replacement of the filter, which would necessitate removal of the pan. If the dealer is charging in excess of $100 for a transmission service I would expect a fluid and filter replacement. That is what they told my mother although the fluid was brown shortly after they "serviced" it.
 
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