Never Do THIS To Your Toyota and Lexus Transmission | Do's and Don'ts For Transmission Fluid

so when should you change your transmission fluid on your Toyota and Lexus when should you not change your transmission fluid I get this question every single day at the shop on emails on comments from you all about this particular subject wait what about the transmission filter what about this what about that so I decided to make this video to put every single piece of information you need to know about your Toyota and Lexus transmission service and everything in between in this one video let's get started so when should you change your transmission fluid first of all there's two kinds of transmission fluids that Toyota use throughout their entire lineup first one is Ws fluid which stands for World standard that is the newer fluid started right around 2007 in majority of models but here's how you actually tell if you have no dipstick or you have a dipstick for the transmission but the lever of the dipstick is black you have WS fluid then the second type of fluid is Toyota T4 which is right here this fluid is the older fluid and it has different properties all the cars that have that fluid will have a dipstick and you'll know you have it if your dipstick is red in color it's very simple and I'm gonna say it in the most basic terms if you have WS fluid in your car you change your transmission fluid every 60 000 miles or six years if you have T4 you change the transmission fluid every 30 000 miles or three years that is as simple as I can lay it no questions asked no nothing you get six years and your car have 20 000 miles change the fluid you get to three years with T4 and your car has 10 000 miles change the fluid the end of this discussion on when you should change them so what fluid should you use I get asked this question every single day but wait I know you though you'll say the original fluids are better but what if I use this fluid they say it's better and it's synthetic this and it's guaranteed for this month folks let's keep it simple period you want your transmission to last use the original fluid you bought a Toyota that I hope the number one reason you bought your Toyota is because they make reliable cars they're well engineered conservative maybe not fun but they are reliable cars so don't start trying to improve on them because I see people oh I want to use this fluid but they say it can go 100 000 miles don't do that stick with the original fluid the prices of the fluids are not that big prices change up and down with times but that is the bottom line This is not very expensive and trust me when you count the cost of doing every 60 000 miles on WS or 30 000 miles on T4 When You Reach three four hundred thousand miles you're nowhere close to even covering the cost of Labor to replace your transmission it's not worth it don't risk it buy the originals from the dealership don't buy them online from an unknown source because counterfeits are plenty be careful but wait what if you are already over way over these miles and now you're concerned what do I do well here is something that I will share with you from experience it's not an exact science but this is the general recommendation if your car has well over a hundred thousand miles or basically over a hundred thousand miles it is around 10 years old you're on the original fluid my recommendation to you and this is the same recommendation I'll make if you walk in my shop and you ask me should I replace my fluid don't replace it if you get to the smiles and the original fluid the reason for that we'll talk about a little bit in later in the video If you are at a hundred thousand miles you're 10 years old and you have not changed the fluid don't change it leave it alone take the better lesser risk of potentially things will happen later down the road which we'll also talk about but some of the possible problems that will be introduced if you change your fluid too late are slipping harsh engagements torque converter shutter and extreme delays when you put it in drive and reverse I see this over and over and over in the shop in my current shop I do not accept cars over a hundred thousand miles the first thing we ask you when you come in the shop is how many miles do you have if it's 60 70 80 or okay 120 130 140 has this transmission been serviced before if the answer is no then we will flat out tell you we will not service your transmission and we're not doing this because we're afraid or for your own good and we will talk about this right now so you know why so why is automatic transmission fluid like this why do you reach a certain mileage where you shouldn't replace it anymore well there are many many theories about them and some people say this is wrong and this is right here's the gist of it and the bottom line transmission fluid is there for cooling for lubrication but it also acts as a hydraulic fluid that's how automatic transmissions work well in the normal operation of the transmission you have debris collected that gets generated from the clutches from if you have a transaxle from the various gears and everything that is normal Transmissions will create debris now this debris eventually will start clogging the valve body so what is the valve body well the valve body is the is kind of the hydraulic unit that controls where the fluid goes to engage which clutch to make all the shifts happen and all the magic happening this valve body will have different names all over the industry Toyota land is called a valve body this valve body have very tiny passages where the fluid goes and engages things these tiny passages and the solenoids and everything get clogged with the debris over time and that's when the problems happen typical problem of a valve body is light shifting sometimes slipping in extreme cases but the most common stuff is late engagement harsh engagements kind of the shifts are not smooth like the transmission jutters before it shifts these are the common things with the transmission fluid getting contaminated best answer is to keep the transmission as debris free as possible Right well that's actually wrong and here is why see equally to the fluid needing to stay relatively clean so it wouldn't clock the valve body you actually need some debris in this transmission to help the clutches engage as they age see the clutch material starts wearing down all this debris that is suspended in the fluid actually ends up getting pushed against the clutch and actually helps it engage so this is the delicate balance with Transmissions you don't want too much debris where it starts clogging the valve body but you don't want no debris as your clutches wear down and they get older now they have no help nothing to help them they're just on their own and eventually it starts slipping and we have problems so this is the point where you have to really understand leaving the transmission alone you could have some issues but you have to mitigate your risk with them that's why you get to a certain point where it's better to leave it alone at least you might have a few symptoms here there but you won't have complete failure especially at higher miles so should you flush your transmission or should you just do a drain and fill well there are many theories on this but here is the bottom line a fluid flush is basically something you connect to the transmission lines and it'll take all the fluid out of the transmission and add no fluid instead so it replaces almost all the capacity of the transmission so most people say well that's the best option and in my opinion it is okay as long as you're using original fluid because majority of places that sell you a flush they'll put 12 quarts 14 quarts 10 chords whatever capacity of the transmission is and they'll cycle that through the transmission but the problem is majority of these places will want to be competitive with each other so they're not going to use original fluid and that's a problem that's the first thing and the flush is too aggressive on older Transmissions because again remember what we talked about you take all the debris out of this transmission that is older now we might have new problems that's the thing with the flush now people will say a drain and fill just drain what's in the pan for Toyotas add new floor it set the level life is good people will say that that does not replace enough of the transmission fluid to keep things clean but that's exactly the point see this is the tricky balance with transmission fluid you don't want to replace too much of the fluid where now you have no debris to help the clutches but you don't want to not replace it either you want a middle solution which is a drain and filled which is actually what I recommend do use rain and fill at the intervals we talked about you're not going to have issues because at that point you're only taking some of that debris out keeping the valve body area clean but keeping the rest of the debris to help the clutches plus when you add new transmission fluid even at a small capacity when you do a drain and fill you're actually adding enough transmission fluid that the additives in the transmission fluid are renewed and life is good there's a cleaning agent detergent in the transmission fluid that's going to actually clean things up in the valve body in life is wonderful but you didn't add too much of that cleaning agent where now it's going to start attacking the clutches and we have problems especially actually in older Transmissions so should you keep changing your transmission fluid until it is bright red folks don't do that this is a mistake and because it never will to a point people have this fascination of the clean fluid folks WS fluid as soon as you put it in a transmission drive it for a few thousand miles it'll turn darker by nature and remember that transmission fluid color is just a colorant we're not about making your transmission fluid bright right people will make this mistake and then I I recommend you do not do they will triple quadruple change the transmission fluid in a row just to get it to be beautiful red fluid that's actually not a good idea I highly recommend you do not do that because that is actually very harmful for your transmission overdoing your transmission fluid is also not good so what should you do if your car has high miles well over a hundred thousand miles and you're on the original fluid and you just watch this video the most important thing is please don't change your transmission fluid now analyze your risk there is a higher risk when the transmission is older and has a lot of miles with the original fluid there is a higher risk of it developing issues than it would if you leave it alone Believe It or Not here's the potential issues that could arise when you all of a sudden you're at 170 000 miles and you watch this video and all of a sudden you decided wait let me change my transmission fluid here's what could happen first you could have all of a sudden abrupt shifting harsh engagement delayed engagement so you put your car in Drive there's like a 5-10 second delay until it engages but otherwise it'll work fine when the transmission is cold things will be very bad very rough shifting delayed shifting not changing into gears that transmissions don't like when they're called Toyota transmissions in specific do not lie cold that's just how they are don't change the fluid eventually it will get to a point where you might develop slipping and the reason for that is the valve body is so clogged it is not able to supply enough pressure to engage these aging clutches and now they start slipping here is the bottom line on this now you're worried your blood pressure is up transmission is a very expensive what do I do now here is the bottom line transmission fluid that is original on a Toyota or Lexus you're likely not going to get to 300 000 miles with this transmission again you bought a Toyota to put high miles and drive it relatively reliably you're possibly not going to get there is it possible that you will it is it depends on many factors but are you going to get to 150 000 miles without a single issue that you feel yes but then I go drive your car all of a sudden I feel things that you have gradually gotten used to but you go drive a car that's been serviced now wait a second this transmission is so much smoother why isn't mine like that that's when you notice so the bottom line is service your transmission on time but if you've unfortunately we're not informed believed in the sealed transmission which by the way that is absolute nonsense change your fluid and you won't have issues if you got caught in this situation don't panic hope for the best prepare for the worst is the only thing I can tell you it's not going to happen overnight it's going to gradually get to that point but the best thing is prevention not waiting and hoping for the best change that transmission fluid folks what about the transmission filter well this is another question that I get all the time and here's the bottom line if you change your track your Toyota and Lexus transmission fluid on time 60 000 miles or 30 000 miles whichever transmission fluid you have you should not need to replace your transmission filter here's a short clip of a transmission filter that we took apart just for to see what's what at 93 000 miles on a 2012 Toyota Camry that we pulled the transmission for a torque converter here's how that filter looks like after 93 000 miles original fluid doesn't look half bad does it it's actually perfectly fine if we replace it just because we're right there but normally the cost of replacing a transmission filter is a lot higher than just replacing the fluid and it's a complete waste of money if it helps you sleep better at night sure but just know you're totally wasting your money and I don't recommend it change your fluid on time the filter will be fine there are very rare cases where the filter will actually need the replacement if you have severe contamination you put the wrong fluid and something gelled up or whatever the case may be you put the complete the wrong fluid like you put engine oil for example or antifreeze then you got to take everything clean it down and replace it but otherwise there's no reason to replace it folks it's a total waste of money that is a god honest truth so here are the final recommendations folks and please I would rather see you every six years on a transmission fluid than see you for a transmission replacement the math doesn't add up transmission fluid drain and fill does not cost a fortune you do it every six years or sixty thousand miles on the newer Transmissions older Transmissions every year but the fluid costs less it's simple math you will never even if you get to a million miles you will never recuperate the cost of your transmission by not replacing the fluid it's a lot cheaper to change the fluid so do it but at the same time that you're doing the fluid don't overdo it I hear people go oh I'm going to just change my transmission fluid every oil change that's actually not good for your transmission and those folks unfortunately at some point they're going to find out why do I have transmission problems I've replaced it every 5000 miles that's excessive so here's the bottom line on on replacing the fluid the criteria on WS fluid don't change it less than 30 000 miles that's the earliest you should change it if you want to do it early on T4 transmission fluid the earliest you want to change is fifteen thousand don't overdo it this is the important thing and the most important thing is don't change the transmission fluid on an overdue transmission or severely overdue well over a hundred thousand miles original fluid leave it alone that is a better risk to take than change in the fluid folks I hope nobody ever have to deal with the bill of a transmission things happen but don't make those things happen because of lack of knowledge or not knowing or simple negligence that is something unfortunately some Toyota owners are guilty of oh I bought a Toyota I can neglect the maintenance it'll still be fine that is not the case folks and just just like Toyota's are reliable their parts are well built their parts are extremely expensive when you get into engine rebuild and transmission replacement things get extremely expensive and kind of takes out out of the window you pay overpaying for a Toyota because they're reliable it just takes it out of the window it doesn't make sense if you're not going to take care of it there's no point of buying a Toyota because it's reliable be careful folks and last but not least and possibly something very important you will hear the term sealed transmission sealed for life you know what the only thing that is guaranteed for the seals for live transmission is failure because can you define the life you know that's like a little marketing thing there what is the life forever they never said sealed forever there's no such thing as forever sealed for Life what is that life the warranty period 120 000 miles is that why you bought a Toyota you only want to keep it till 80 90 000 miles or 150 no you bought a Toyota because you want to drive until the wheels fall off right so there's no such thing as seal transmission the only thing that CL transmission means is it doesn't have a dipstick but guess what you could still replace the fluid I have a video on that many others do here's my link to my video if you want to know how to do it it is not difficult does required a little bit of understanding of how that works but it's doable and many folks have done it life is good folks I hope this video was helpful informative I hope you learned something new if you like it consider giving it a thumbs up if you're not a subscriber consider subscribing to the channel check out some of my other videos and until the next video folks may the Lord bless you and keep you and you have yourself a wonderful day

Channel: The Car Care Nut

Views: 702,163

Keywords: toyota, transmission fluid, transmission fluid change, how to check transmission fluid, how to change transmission fluid, lexus, toyota transmission, lexus transmission, toyota sealed transmission, lexus sealed transmission, never do this to your toyota, toyota transmission problems, toyota transmission fluid, toyota maintenance, toyota repair, toyota care, take care of your toyota, the car care nut, car care nut, scotty kilmer, chrisfix, car wizard, 2024 toyota tacoma

Id: jJr30r6RRgw

Length: 18min 49sec (1129 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 08 2023