xA Manual Transmission Oil question..
 

xA is at 35,000 miles

I was down at the local Jiffy Lube to get an oil change. The mechanic down in the work pit asked me to come down and show me a cool little demonstration on how bad is my manual transmission oil is.
The transmission oil come out of my xA is very loose, brown and water like (almost like hot kitchen grease). Then he dripped another drop of fresh oil next to it on the plate. The fresh oil is very thick, golden and lot of viscosity.

He asked me to change it. I said I'll be back.

I wonder if Toyota spec a different kind of manual transmission oil. Do they use gear oil as most other cars? Kinda wondering coz the xA is still practically new, I should have to change the gear oil at this point, should I?

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I say go for it. The maintenance guide recommends replacing at 30 000 if driving while towing, but it also says not to tow with this car. I replaced the manual transmission fluid in my car after 1 year and about 10 000 miles. It certainly can't hurt, and since you've got a fair few miles, it will probably even be good for the car.

If you are going to change the tranny fluid then use Redline MTF. Way better than normal fluid and will make to tranny shift nicer.

http://www.redlineoil.com/products_g...sp?subcatID=18

Thanks, I'm gonna keep that in mind when I change my wife's Matrix tranny fluid. Any recommendation for some good MANUAL tranny oil?

Well I would recommend Redline MTL or Manual Transmittion Lubricant.

Redline also make ATF.

Does it seem like you had any problems with shifting your car with the tranny fluid that's in it now? If not just get it replaced with the OEM fluid at the dealer.

I'm not sure what that Redline fluid costs, i'm sure it's good, but i'm curious to know if you would even see that big of improvement.

I just changed mine at 10,000 miles with the redline 75w90 (the weight that the manual says to use) and it made a noticeable difference when I shift from 1st to 2nd

How did he show you your oil without changing it? He filled it back up with the old oil?

i'm betting from the fill plug to check the oil

I know it is years on but please tell me you did not do it! My xA is a 210,000 mile one owner car and I had Toyota change the transmission oil at 100,000 miles I have no idea what it looked like when they did it but they didn't say anything and my local dealership loves to up-sell and fear monger. When I had the car on the rack for the 210,000 engine oil change and rear brake job I checked the transmission oil level. The oil that came out was golden and smelled like it was right out of the bottle. I'm guessing if Jiffy Lube showed you brown oil you either had a major problem, or they dipped your plug in waste oil before showing it to you.

Jiffy Lube should be avoided in general if you actually care about your car. If it's a rental or a lease or something of that nature sure Jiffy Lube is fine, but if you actually want the car to last go elsewhere, and I say that for everything not just Tranny Oil.