- Joined
- Dec 24, 2013
- Messages
- 614
lol you shouldn’t be getting anywhere but the pan.
Toyota ATF intervals ... talk on Reddit
- Thread starter BMW Dom
- Start date
Every year I do a partial fluid change on my F150.
Doing about 15,000-20,000 kms a year, once per summer I drop the pan, and let it drip for an hour or two. Every 2 years I change the filter and pan gasket.
As I'm changing only a part of it, most likely some oil in there is several years old.
Doing about 15,000-20,000 kms a year, once per summer I drop the pan, and let it drip for an hour or two. Every 2 years I change the filter and pan gasket.
As I'm changing only a part of it, most likely some oil in there is several years old.
You don't need "data" on such a basic common sense point. Having fresh fluid is good for any mechanical piece of equipment, period.
Whatever data that may exists, you'd need a large sample set and pretty much no one person or company would have the financial incentive to do so other than the manufacturer of the vehicle or the transmission. They're obviously not going to release this info publicly. We hear alot of anecdotal evidence from mechanics, but what you really want are comments from the insider engineers that directly work on these products.
What likely is happening is that they looked at the data and determined that the increased lifespan is not worth the extra risk in warranty claims (from techs or DIYers screwing up), or because they may have to include this service as part of the original maintenance package. Stretching maintenance intervals or avoiding items entirely allows them to sell the idea of lower costs of ownership. This is also why you'll never see a maintenance interval for brake and power steering fluids. Unfortunately we live in an era where optimizing the numbers from an accounting/legal perspective trumps engineering best practice.
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2013
- Messages
- 614
No need to change the pan gasket on any f series truck, they are reusable.
Makes me feel better.
My 9.5 year old F150 has had 0 leaks from anywhere.
I see way too many leaking vehicles all over parking lots.
Hopefully it last me 20 or more years, so I don't mind taking good care of it.
Kestas
Staff member
Short aside here. Some guys at work would change their oil in the shop. I would pull out the six bottles from the trash and give them an overnight drain. I could easily get another $1 worth of oil from them.
Kestas
Staff member
It bears repeating what happened with Mercedes' recommendations on transmission fluid maintenance. For a while they too subscribed to the "fill for life" recommendation. After a number of years they changed their recommendation to "change at 40K, then it's filled for life (or every 100K)". This is a good example of a manufacturer acting on data from the field, and underscores the importance of draining fluid to remove break-in debris.
- Joined
- May 9, 2023
- Messages
- 271
I drain and fill every 30k
Have been doing it for almost 40 years with automatics. I’ve never had a automatic trans fail to date
Have been doing it for almost 40 years with automatics. I’ve never had a automatic trans fail to date
Haha. Well, yeah. You transmission *will* die after the fluid gets burned up. Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Like saying the air in your lungs is lifetime air. Technically....it is if you don't keep breathing. It's just that your "lifetime" is over in the next 30-90 seconds.
I changed my GX460's ATF out at 111k due to sloppy, delayed shifting and occasional hard engagements even under light throttle (and fully up to temp). Factory WS came out *BLACK*. Just pitch black. Smelled awful.....very burnt. After fluid exchange (using ATF's pump to pull from a bucket), everything is infinitely better. Back to brand new levels of shift quality.
And, yes, the local Lexus dealers (the two largest dealers in the world, they say; I live near Lexus NA HQ) adamantly refused to change the fluid. 3rd Party shop full of Lexus Master Mechanics was happy to do it for a very nominal fee.
Like saying the air in your lungs is lifetime air. Technically....it is if you don't keep breathing. It's just that your "lifetime" is over in the next 30-90 seconds.
I changed my GX460's ATF out at 111k due to sloppy, delayed shifting and occasional hard engagements even under light throttle (and fully up to temp). Factory WS came out *BLACK*. Just pitch black. Smelled awful.....very burnt. After fluid exchange (using ATF's pump to pull from a bucket), everything is infinitely better. Back to brand new levels of shift quality.
And, yes, the local Lexus dealers (the two largest dealers in the world, they say; I live near Lexus NA HQ) adamantly refused to change the fluid. 3rd Party shop full of Lexus Master Mechanics was happy to do it for a very nominal fee.
I changed my GX460's ATF fluid and filter out recently (60k miles) using Toyota WS and it also made a noticeable difference, the biggest being downshifting on grades- much smoother now. I still find it can have the occasional hard engagement at light throttle but I guess that's just how the transmission operates.
Yeah my 2022 Dealer Loaner GX460 still occasionally shifted firmly for seemingly no reason. Nearly always at light throttle. I suspect, like you, that it's just being a truck-ey transmission at that point.
My loaner had under 3k miles on it.
i drain and fill with toyota or aisin type ws fluid. i dont do the temp method. i just do the drain, take out tube to drain more, then fill back what i drained out.
I have seen way too many 3.5L V6 powered Toyotas (mostly Avalon, closely followed by Camry/ES350, and a few Highlanders mixed in) chew up their transmissions with that lifetime WS fluid. Have also seen many V8 Tundras chew up theirs. It's great fluid, as those cars usually make it 100k-150k miles before a failure. (Did witness 1 V6 Camry chew up it's tranny at 60k miles, but most last longer.) But it's certainly not a "forever" fluid, and severely shortens transmission's lifetime if it is treated as "forever" fluid.
A simple Drain & Fill goes a long way to increase the life time of the transmission.
Yup, light throttle going back and forth between 1st and 2nd at low speeds can sometimes catch it off guard- good to hear mine isn't abnormal.
Every internet site is full of "opinions".
And most "opinions" on reddit are by people that would not know how to take the splash shield off their rav4
- Joined
- May 9, 2023
- Messages
- 271
Only the manufacturers have this kind of data and its probably private info.
However, I don't need data to be convinced that the transmission will work better, and wear less with new fluid than 100k mile or 200k mile fluid.
I can also feel the difference when its changed.
Whether your particular transmission will fail prematurely. There is too many variables to answer that. But it will perform better and there is less chance of failure if you get it changed.
Last edited:
Similar threads
