Toyota ATF intervals ... talk on Reddit
- Thread starter BMW Dom
- Start date
Toyota is correct - in their estimation the fluid should last the life of the transmission. Where our opinions diverge is how long that life is supposed to be.
The real sad thing is that people actually waste time reading Reddit.
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A few Lexus dealerships by me won’t do transmission service they standing by the Lifetime claim . Is Toyota WS fluid the magic elixir we don’t know about ?? And should we trust the Manufacturers when they claiming lifetime fluids ?
A lot of shops won't touch them because if there is a problem they will get blamed.
I certainly don't. How can adding fresh fluid not be better?
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I totally agree
I've been asking for data that shows that changing the Toyota lifetime ATF is beneficial for years. That it makes the transmissions last longer. So far, no data. Just opinions.
The transmission in my old RAV4 blew up at 399,900 miles. I changed out like 2 quarts of ATF in its life. People want to believe what the want to believe.
The transmission in my old RAV4 blew up at 399,900 miles. I changed out like 2 quarts of ATF in its life. People want to believe what the want to believe.
Don't you know the trans is being held together with all the friction material in the fluid!
Who's lifetime? Is it 300k km?
There you go! If you woulda changed it, it woulda gone 800,000 miles.
Either way, it's an un-provable proposition from the normal consumer's standpoint.
I am a firm believer in lifetime ATF. I change it every 30K; usually less. Time to get under the GS, I believe. Stupid straw level process...
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No need save the wear and tear on your back . You already did a service at 30k some debris clutch wear material is out . Now just listen to Lexus and not touch that transmission fluid EVER AGAIN EVER
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Transmission fluid, like every other lubricant, oxidizes, gets dirty, loses its properties over time, etc. This is compounded by driving style, how much fluid the transmission holds, how well it is engineered, and so on. You will never beat automotive manufacturers at their own game, no matter what. However, you can get more life out of your vehicle than the manufacturer planned for by proactively maintaining it. Opting for aftermarket ATF, doing oil analysis to establish trends, and setting a sensible fluid change interval are sensible options, in my humble opinion. People get so caught up in "doing things by the book" per the manufacturer's recommendation that they forget that their second most expensive purchase, after their home, was engineered and manufactured as a disposable appliance with planned obsolescence built in. These "lifetime fluids" are part of that engineered obsolescence, just like many other small things in a vehicle that are meant to fail over time and trigger a larger cascading failure.
Some dealerships won't touch transmissions because they lack competent technicians on staff who can get the job done right. It is time-consuming to do transmission fluid changes correctly in modern transmissions because, again, they're engineered to be difficult to maintain. Again, the transmission is just another disposable component in the manufacturer's eyes.
Some dealerships won't touch transmissions because they lack competent technicians on staff who can get the job done right. It is time-consuming to do transmission fluid changes correctly in modern transmissions because, again, they're engineered to be difficult to maintain. Again, the transmission is just another disposable component in the manufacturer's eyes.
BMW used to tout "lifetime fluids." "Lifetime" as in, "Yup, that transmission blew up at 138k miles but the fluid was original." Lifetime fluid are a marketing ploy, and not a maintenance philosophy.
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When I was a Toyota tech we did change the fluid. I personally change the trans fluid in my Camry every 30,000. Instead of doing the procedure I measure what comes out and put exactly that back in. Don’t have to wait for temperature to come up and monitor on techstream. Very easy. The proper way to do it is to pull main plug, pull straw drain, put straw back in, fill, start vehicle while monitoring temp on techstream, when temp of fluid hits 104 degrees, you should start getting a stream, once it goes to a drip put plug back in done. If you measure fluid that comes out and put exactly back in what came out your good. That’s what we did at dealership. The fluid is made by Mobil and it’s not lifetime. That is a marketing scheme to keep the cost of ownership down. I have seen several that had never had the fluid changed with 200,000 miles but I wouldn’t recommend it. This is not a magic fluid lol
Hey thanks for posting this. I am planning to do our 2019 Rav4 soon - and I was going to do it by weight / mass so you have confirmed my plan should be OK. I have a very accurate scale - so that seems to be a better way so I don't have to rely on eyeballing it because my eyeballs aren't what they used to be. I realize a shop could likely never fuss with weighting everything empty then full, etc - but I think that will make me more comfortable getting everything back perfect.
Kestas
Staff member
If you're refilling what came out, don't forget to account for clingage losses at the drain pan and the bottles themselves.
FWIW, I do what I consider to be failsafe.
Drain n fill some fluid at 75k miles, ~4 quarts.
I use only Genuine Toyota WS fluid and only have a particular mechanic I trust do the work.
See signature.
Drain n fill some fluid at 75k miles, ~4 quarts.
I use only Genuine Toyota WS fluid and only have a particular mechanic I trust do the work.
See signature.
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