Tranny fluid flush?

[Down2TheC]

The Stealership said the tranny fluid was off color and wanted to "flush" it for a pretty penny. I've learned to say 'no' to anything they ask to do until I check it out. Plus last time I let someone "flush" something it started leaking 2 months later.

15k miles, 2yrs. (cp-e was working on a shift kit so they had it open several times) Should I maybe just drain and fill it myself? With the intake I'm pretty hard on that spongy POS so I could see it needing some attention earlier than avg.

[NRDriver]

well i work at a transmission shop and we charge 119$ for a flush. if you just drain it and refill it, it will only refill about 3 to four quarts of the nine or so it holds. all of the fluid in the cooler, converter and valvebody will remain there and mix making your rifill kinda useless if your fluid is pretty bad. if your fluid is pretty bad i may worry about your transmission clutches burnin up

[PXLpainter]

Well - I just ticked 28K yesterday and went to Oil Can Henry's for an oil change. They showed me the actual color of the tranny fluid (like chocolate)and said it's time - around 30K anyways, so I went for a flush since I know I'm really hard on that POS as well!

Took them 18 qts to flush it pink again, but the guy didn't charge me any extra. So total with full synthetic Mobil 1 oil change/filter was about $160. A helluva lot cheaper than the stealership woulda charged me so the only thing I need next is a tune-up after I'm done messing with the exhaust.

[MCOjerry]

Hmmm...I have just over 32K on mine and I always go to the dealership for service.

Thay have not told me that I needed any type of transmission service, flush or otherwise.

Is it possible that you guys really punish your cars? I don't drive like a maniac, but I cetainly don't drive like a grampa either.

I find it interesting that I have double the miles of D2C and 4k more than Jeff and no one has said anything.

[PXLpainter]

Jerry - I can tell from your posts that you don't drive your car nearly as hard as some of us do. Not saying Grandpa either, but really, I'm not sure it's as hard.

Since I've got more of a lag issue than most seem to, I have to drive in the "sportshit" mode 100% of the time of I will get slammed into in either cross or approaching traffic.

So I punish the living SHIZ outta this bastard trying to squeeze out every last drop of juice it can muster just to get it moving decently. I can't even imagine a 4-banger with a heavy car like this - not without some serious FI involved at least!

I'm gonna keep trying to work this bastard into something remotely drivable until I get too frustrated and trade it in down the line...

[MCOjerry]

^you must go through a TON of gas if you drive it that hard.

I accelerate hard at lights, and step on it pretty hard on the highway pasing cars and entering, etc...

[PXLpainter]

Actaully - I average about 21mpg if I'm doing a lot of city driving mixed with HWY (and depending on how congested my travel is around here). Last trip I made up north I got an average of 27.4mpg @ an 85mph , top-down average.

[Down2TheC]

Sounds good. Thx for the inputs. I'll get it done at the shop that does my alignment when it's time for that. I'm sure they charge less.

[JMSinMaryland]

I myself never drain and fill, I always go for complete flushes. I know for a trans flush we charge $179.95, don't know what your dealer is charging. Every 30k.

[PXLpainter]

I myself never drain and fill, I always go for complete flushes. I know for a trans flush we charge $179.95, don't know what your dealer is charging. Every 30k.

YIKES! That's why I will NEVER take my car to the stealership for regular maintenance "service"! Not only do you have to wait forever to get anything done (that's if you made an appointment and get there @ 7am) but they way over-charge!

I really got a killer deal at Oil Can Henry's then! $160. for the flush with the premium trans fluid AND a Mobil 1 synth oil change/filter... all without an appointment; never even get out of my car the whole time plus they give you coffee and a USA Today to read while you monitor everything the guys are doing the whole time on a closed-circuit TV monitor.

[MCOjerry]

^There's nowhere like that in FL. Just places like Jiffy Lube with with low quality.

[onefiend]

I used to do Tranny Flushes every 30K back with my Gen1, the Tranny Fluid always looks black at around 25-30K miles if you drive it hard.

With my Gen6 Camry, Toyota uses a synthetic called WS (World Standard) Tranny Fluid, according to the manual, it's supposed to go 100K miles before it requires a Tranny Flush, but I'll probably get it done around 50K, for preventative maintenance.
Has anybody done any research to see if you can use Toyota WS ATF instead of using T-IV ATF on your Solaras?

[MrMikeL]

At about 36k miles, my shop said my "tranny fluid was discolored which is common in Toyotas." Hmmm, OK, what to do. These are certified mechanics at a shop with a sterling reputation. Their recommendation was to drain and fill once a year. Yes, only about 1/3 of the fluid is removed this way, but it's a helluva lot cheaper than these flush jobs. I trust their judgement, so that's what I have been doing. No problems so far.

[PXLpainter]

^There's nowhere like that in FL. Just places like Jiffy Lube with with low quality.

Hmmm... you're right - only a few states...

http://oilcanhenrys.com/locations.html

Damn - wish I had a few mil $ to start up some franchises!!

[Sp33d]

i plan on doing a drain and refill but switching over to a synthetic.

my question is, is it bad to combine two different oils being that when you drain and refil, you are only taking 1/3 of the ATF out?