Does ATF color mean anything?

In the absence of UOAs, I think it'd be cool if we....
A) Got a bunch of identical, small (5-10ml) clear sample bottles
B) Sampled our ATF at 10K intervals
C) Lined them up in order to see the progression of filth AND IGNORE IT BECAUSE COLOR MEANS NOTHING
D) Wait for symptoms like, "...a difference in shift quality,{indicating} too long without a service" as Greasymechtech mentioned above
E) THEN change the fluid. We all know it's better to change transmission fluid a little too late than a little too early because it's so expensive and your grandmother from the 1950's says never to change transmission fluid in the first place, right?
F) Post the mileage and picture of the vile preceding the onset of symptoms. Include a subjective designation of mild-to-severe service
G) Wait to be scolded by someone who thinks.....whatever

I like clean fluid. The cost of keeping it clean albeit inefficiently, far outweighs the cost of waiting for trouble to pop its ugly head up.
 
Fanboys of Toyota usually because Toyota factory fill of WS oxidizes very fast. I changed mine (RAV4) at about 68k miles and it was dark black/violet.
That's not acceptable IMO, my older Fords that used Mercon V never did that.
Washed it out with some drains/refills of MaxLife. My fill now is ASIN WS, full synthetic, I really don't trust too much the MaxLife hype.
Also you might want to check transmission temps. Last summer, in 98F outside temps, stop-and-go traffic, my transmission reached 215F. Also the factory air intake was sucking heated air at 105F while withing at stop lights.
I added an auxiliary cooler.
I was going to mention something about the Toyota tranny fluid too, it does turn dark very very fast. Mine turned almost black in my Avalon at 50,000 miles. 2-3 drain and fills and a pan/filter drop, and it's just now turning violet.
 
IIRC some auto manufactures say things like using a quart of oil in 500-1,000 miles is normal too.
They made the piston rings less tight to the cylinder walls, to lower the friction losses. Better gas mileage.
On the flip side, now the oil is not scraped from the walls as good, and exhaust gases can escape easier into crankcase below.

That's the increased oil consumption, the need of special oils that won't create too many carbon deposits when sucked trough the PCV system...
It's all good, we shouldn't keep the cars more than warranty period anyway. What are we, monsters, to deny them the profits from selling cars and the "green" feel good propaganda?
 
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I don't believe that result. Error in oil sampling? Different oil altogether? Fresh oil or additive added in between?

The Calcium, Boron, Phosphorous levels went up. That's not possible without fresh fluid, there is no source for those elements inside the engine.
 
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I don't believe that result. Error in oil sampling? Different oil altogether? Fresh oil or additive added in between?

The Calcium, Boron, Phosphorous levels went up. That's not possible without fresh fluid, there is no source for those elements inside the engine.
I can’t follow this. It’s a different ATF from the first sample, and only ran 38k. Am I missing something?
 
I can’t follow this. It’s a different ATF from the first sample, and only ran 38k. Am I missing something?
I thought that's the same oil or at least same oil type&brand.
Sampled at various times (fresh red versus used black), to prove that the fluid's faded color either means something or means nothing.
Because that's what we were talking about here, see the title of the thread.

IMO this is not is not about how nice are dropping the wear materials after an oil change with a different fluid type.
 
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I thought that's the same oil or at least same oil type&brand.
Sampled at various times (fresh red versus used black), to prove that the fluid's faded color either means something or means nothing.
Because that's what we were talking about here, see the title of the thread.

IMO this is not is not about how nice are dropping the wear materials after an oil change with a different fluid type.
No the first sample was changed at 94k. Factory fill. This was the next fill, but was super dark when I changed it
 
I wasn’t impressed with the DW1 in my wife’s 19 Pilot. At 15K the fluid was dark red. Come to find out the VCM creates havoc on the transmission causing slippage. Installed a factory cooler, used Amsoil SS blue cap atf and deactivated the VCM system. Hopefully that should take care of it.
 
I wasn’t impressed with the DW1 in my wife’s 19 Pilot. At 15K the fluid was dark red. Come to find out the VCM creates havoc on the transmission causing slippage. Installed a factory cooler, used Amsoil SS blue cap atf and deactivated the VCM system. Hopefully that should take care of it.
I’m looking forward to see how the amsoil SS holds up in here!
 
I can’t really comment on other car makes, but when Honda’s fluid turns from pink to red-dark red you can tell the difference. New fluid always makes the shifts more crisp, that has been my experience anyway. With my current Accord I’ve averaged a drain and fill once a year so it’s always clean. It has not exhibited any significant shift quality degradation because of this.
 
My 03 accord had perfectly clean fluid when I bought it at 100k miles, but must’ve been the wrong fluid. Shifted weird, sloppily. Flushed it with z1 at the time and all was well. Kept up with drain and fills of z1 or dw1 when it changed over and never had issues....I drove it to 250k. Just drained and filled yearly-ish, maybe a little more often, as I always had extra Honda fluid around from trans replacement jobs.

my 11 sienna is dipstick-less, so I never serviced it till recently. I believe around 90k I began drain and filling it. First few times I just measured fluid out for fluid in, using Toyota world standard or whatever it’s called. Last time I got it in proper trans temp range to pull the level plug and let it level off correctly. I must have gone through 10-12 quarts of 1.5-2 quart drain and fills over a couple years and I still can’t get this trans clean, but it works fine so I don’t worry.

my 17 Mazda I drained and filled at 30k (I’ve owned it since new) and will probably keep up with 30k drain and fills with the Mazda fluid that’s recommended. It didn’t come out dirty, barely any dirtier than what went in, and I’d like to keep it that way. Besides how the dealer has handled my issues with the Mazda, I do like it and think I can turn it over to my 7 year old when she begins driving!
 
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