I have a 95 Toyota Landcruiser with 130K miles on it. I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic fluid at 93K miles with a complete transmission flush that replaced all the old fluid with the Mobil 1 synthetic. Normally I would change the automatic transmission fluid every 30K miles with a complete flush (no filter in the LC transmission just a wire mash) but I figured I could go 60K miles between changes with the Mobil 1 synthetic. Question is would I be better off going back to the regular transmission fluid and do a complete flush every 30K miles or is the 60K mile change and flush with the Mobil 1 just as "good". Toyota recommends 30K mile changes for severe service and never changing for normal service. I use my LC more like the normal service. Thanks for your advise.
Automatic transmission fluid question
- Thread starter Pitbull
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What about wear metals? They are part of the oil and will not cause any harm, what you would be worried about would be your TAN(total acid number) your oxidation number and the the correct viscosity, as well as the presense of any water, or particulate matter.
My Advice is to stick with the mobil 1 or similar fluid, run an oil sample at the 30K mark to be sure and don't worry be happy.
I'd rather use a better fluid and change it less often than one that might not even make it to 30K(this happens all the time) The Mobil 1 fluid should be able to handle more extreme temps and give your transmission a longer life.
BTW Amsoil recommends that the their fluid can be used up to 3 times longer drains than a conventional fluid in the transmission, I don't know if the mobil 1 stuff would or not, I suggest that you contact GeorgeCLS at avlube.com for follow up.(I'd talk to him before I call mobil 1 tech)
Most auto-transmissions have magnets installed anyway to control circulating ferrous metal contamination. If your trannie has a real drain plug, you can also get a Superplug neodymium magnet type replacement for it if you want to bother. They're pricey for what you get though. (nearly $30.00)
I'm going to go ahead and do another complete fluid exchange next week using Mobil synthetic, takes 14 quarts for the exchange but I can get it for around $5.00 per quart. Total cost will be around $100.00, guess that is not bad for 30000 miles. Figured since I changed all of the synthetic in the engine, diff's and transfer case so I might as well go all the way. My baby has 130K miles on her and I want her to last to 250K at least. Thanks for the help.
The problem imo is there is no filter so the oil may last longer but what about the wear metals ? Changing the oil is good. Change the oil M1 with out the flush that should keep the %of crud low.
[ October 15, 2003, 12:29 PM: Message edited by: Steve S ]
[ October 15, 2003, 12:29 PM: Message edited by: Steve S ]
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