105k 2010 Camry--change to synthetic tranny fluid?

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I have a 2010 Camry with 105,000. Bought at 85k and was no history of transmission maintenance. My local repair shop changed fluid (2 quarts) at 90k with the factory WS fluid. They recommend staying with that fluid forever, and said that the fluid they drained out didn't look bad at all. Hope their idea of not bad is close to mine. If I'm interested in longest life, should I keep with WS fluid or start the change to synthetic now. Am planning to change fluid again this next week. One concern I have and a main reason for another change of fluid is that even after the first change, on very, very steep grades, it slips a bit once in a while. Am hoping another change (with whatever fluid) will help with that. If syn is the rec, do I go with Redline D6 or Amsoil Low Viscosity? All input will be much appreciated. My local shop strongly believes I should stick with Toyota WS fluid and are pretty uncomfortable putting anything else in. I generally trust these guys, but am still interested in what people here think about this. Transmission runs and shifts good with exception of already noted extremely occasional slip on a very, very steep grade at low speed.
 
I wonder if changing out the filter is a good idea? I know they typically arent changed..maybe clean off the magnet.. are you sure its the transmission "slipping" ? I would change out the fluid with the WS stuff a few times over the next few oil change intervals and see how it goes.. I dont like the sound of any slip in a transmission with low-ish miles. I am sure alot of folks run synthetic fluid. Essentially what is being done is only a drain and fill.. if this were mine, id drop the pan, clean the magnet and replace the filter and refill with Fresh WS. If all goes well, I would eventually switch to a synthetic option. My Corolla takes the T-IV fluid and I have just done drain and fills with the Toyota T-IV, I havent thought of switching to synthetic though.. not sure I wana play with somethhing that aint broken! (not to say anything bad would happen, Im just planning to leave it well enough alone).
 
So this car doesn't have an atf dipstick? Changing the fluid and getting the level correct is a bit tricky. Of course you can drop it off the night before so the temp of the fluid coming out is similar to what is going in.

+1, on changing the filter, plus that will get a few more quarts of fresh atf in there. Prob another 3 qts.
 
I would recommend staying with the factory spec fluid. Why use some aftermarket one size fits all Lube? Use what Toyota designed the transmission to operate on. Isn't that fluid considered a "lifetime fluid"?
If it's slipping due to worn out components, new fluid obviously won't fix it.

I've always had great success with fresh fluid in transmissions. Always shifts MUCH smoother then with whatever "lifetime" Lube was in there from the factory.
 
I say drop and clean the trans pan, replace filter and fill with whatever u like best. Personally I would go with oem. Then just do drain and refill every 30k to 50k miles until u get rid of it
 
Well,do you want the trans to slip even more with the more slippery synthetic? Stay with the Toyota oem fluid
 
Both of my Toyota's in my sig have received a Transmission Fluid exchange using Valvoline Maxlife Full Synthetic ATF and I never looked back.
It has been recommended by many a Toyota owner on a lot of Toyota Forum's.

On the 06, I really didn't notice a change in the shift quality and it was done solely for long term preventative maintenance.
On the other hand, the '99s difference was like night and day. I immediately noticed a "crisper" feel when the transmission was engaged and the quality of both the upshifts and step-downs on acceleration was smoother. Definitely worth the time to do.

Now that slippage you feel on the uphill acceleration is of concern to me.......I would replace/exchange the fluid just for that reason alone.
Maybe add a bottle of Lubegard Red, just to be sure.
 
I have owned a couple of Toyotas and you really cannot go wrong with the WS. I know there are some alternatives and they may be as good as or better, personal preference, but I have never had a trans issue and always just use the factory fill fluid recommended by OM even if it costs a bit more from the dealer. Its not like it has to be changed very often, I do it about every 60K to 70K and have had zero issues.
 
I had the 2007 Solara which is the same platform as yours. Wife drove it 10 miles round trip to work for most of the 100K miles and it started slipping. It had a dipstick but no drain plug (like most) and is called a NON serviceable trans in these cars. This is what I did . .

I bought a few qts of Lucus trans fix in the bottle, the one that tells you it is for slipping issues. It was summer so I left the Lucas outside so it was the same temp as the cars AFT. I pumped out as much as I could though the dipstick hole while taking note of the amount. A little over a quart is what I got out and I replaced it with the VERY thick Lucas with the exact amount. Ran the car a week and noticed the slipping was almost gone. Next weekend I did the same process. This reduced the slipping but did NOT fix the car. The next weekend we took it to the Nissan dealership and traded it for a Rogue.

This is a very "slippery slope" if you will pardon the pun once they start to slip. I wish I had used common sense and had serviced my non serviceable trans every 30k miles but if you do a search this is a very common issue with the trans that was in the V6 cars, not so much in the 4 banger motors. Dif Trans.

PS. I do want to note that on the V6 cars that it is difficult to get the pan off to get to the "filter" which is a screen in these cars. Research it, if you cant get the hard bolt out FIRST I would not attempt to drop the pan, ask me how I know!
 
Originally Posted By: BJD78
I have owned a couple of Toyotas and you really cannot go wrong with the WS. I know there are some alternatives and they may be as good as or better, personal preference, but I have never had a trans issue and always just use the factory fill fluid recommended by OM even if it costs a bit more from the dealer. Its not like it has to be changed very often, I do it about every 60K to 70K and have had zero issues.
This^^^^^
 
There are a few opinions if WS is all that great.

I try my best to stick to OE fluids while under warranty, once out, use what you feel comfortable (with research).

I have 4 Toyota's to maintain, and each has Maxlife ATF in them. No problems to report.

As a few have said, if it's already slipping, then a change in fluid isn't going to help much.
 
"This ^^^^." What is that supposed to mean?? I gave my opinion and my experience with Toyota, nothing more. That is what this blog is, mostly opinions.
 
Originally Posted By: BJD78
"This ^^^^." What is that supposed to mean??............


I think it means he agrees with your opinion.........
smile.gif
 
The OEM Toyota WS isn't really that great of an ATF. Either Redline D6 or Maxlife ATF will work very well in your Camry with no problems
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: incognito_2u
Originally Posted By: BJD78
"This ^^^^." What is that supposed to mean??............


I think it means he agrees with your opinion.........
smile.gif

This^^^^^ Lol
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
The OEM Toyota WS isn't really that great of an ATF. Either Redline D6 or Maxlife ATF will work very well in your Camry with no problems
smile.gif



You are making a big statement - pl. chime in your wisdom for coming to this conclusion.
 
Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
The OEM Toyota WS isn't really that great of an ATF. Either Redline D6 or Maxlife ATF will work very well in your Camry with no problems
smile.gif



You are making a big statement - pl. chime in your wisdom for coming to this conclusion.


Slacktide takes every opportunity to advise folks to install aftermarket parts onto their vehicles. He seems to think that OEM parts are pointless and overpriced. I hope that people reading his posts are not taking his advice blindly- or else they will be turning their cars into a heap of junk.
 
I've had the ATF and filter/screen changed (drain & fill) in my wife's '11 Highlander, U760E 6-speed auto, three times since new, with Amsoil LV ATF. It's now at 126K, and shifting fine. My transmission shop owner said that I could probably lengthen the service interval from 30K to 50K, based on the lack of gruck they're seeing in the replaced filters and on the fluid pan magnets. I'm hoping that 300K is do-able without serious internal transmission work.

My '02 Camry's 4-speed auto (U140E?) is still shifting well at 266K miles with MaxLife ATF and filter changes every 30K miles since we got it from my MIL at 114K miles.

In sum, Toyota ATFs may be fine, but others work well, too, IMHO.
 
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