Hands tied re: Trans Fluid change? Advice needed

[jdlamoreaux]

Thanks! You clearly are 1000x more handy than me if you can do these things yourself. I might find out if anyone will do the "drain and fill" -- maybe if I do that a couple of times within a period of time I'll be better off, but without the drastic change of fluid that a flush would provide?

[tmontague]

Originally Posted by jdlamoreaux

Thanks! You clearly are 1000x more handy than me if you can do these things yourself. I might find out if anyone will do the "drain and fill" -- maybe if I do that a couple of times within a period of time I'll be better off, but without the drastic change of fluid that a flush would provide?

yes, having a shop do a drain and fill would likely suffice. Done a few times and most of the fluid in your trains will be new, but it won't be cheap when you factor in a few drain and fills. You likely could just do one drain and fill and around half or so of the trans fluid would be new, in a year or so if you have the cash do it again.

This all comes down to how much cash you have topped with how long you want the car to last and what you are willing to put into it to make it last and be reliable.

Could you leave the fluid and never change it, yes, many do. That said, many people also don't keep cars upwards of 300k km and will never see a failure of the trans in a Toyota. At your mileage if you want the car to last you as long as possible and trouble free I would recommend you do a drain and fill.

I have read all over online about how a flush could "possibly" lead to issues in an old trans yet I've never actually heard someone speak from first hand experience. Toyota trans in my experience do not have issues at your mileage with doing a full flush with all new fluid. I have done this to 3 Toyota's ranging from 260k km all the way up to 360k km and never had a trans act up after a full flush performed by myself.