so i was doing my oil change at a local place. afterwards they said my fluid was looking "dark" and i should think about a transmission flushing. btw 35000 miles. idk what that is. but it was expensive as ____ so i was like nah i'll pass. and of course they showed my their ____astic tire selction that they could help me with too.

so what is a flush? it sounds not cool

 

Every so often on an automatic you need to flush out the dirt/deposits in your transmission (was well as the fluid itself). The process isn't that hard, but what sucks is that usually you use atleast 12 qts. to flush out an automatic transmission, I recommend you do it depending on how much you drive, the more you drive or the more aggressive you drive, do it more often. If you drive conservatively and not much at all you can do it every few years.

BTW: Don't let those ignorant people who claim draining and re-filling will be just as good since you're not really removing any of the dirt/contaminants in your trans.

 

32K is a bit early if u drive it normally, just check the color of it, should b hot pink or close to red,but if its purple u should change it, I heard allowing shops to do a full flush is bad for the seals and they most likely won't use toyota ATF, if u do it at home u need 12 qts, basically drain and refil 3 times after each time drive around for a bit or a day and drain and refill again haha won't get rid of 100 percent but most of it will b new

 

Just do a drain and refill, there is no need for a flush at 35000. You have an auto or manual?

 

I would only let Toyota do it but would rather do the drain and fill method of "flushing".

 

automatic and i do drive agressive for the most part.....how i check to see wat color it is myself?

 

Does it have a tranny dipstick? Pull it out and look to see if the fluid is red (also might want to sniff and see if it has a burnt smell). If you are an agressive driver you should upgrade to a synthetic tranny fluid from Amsoil or something similar.

 

I plan on letting the scion dealer do mine every 50k. That 100k interval is BS as far as I'm concerned.

 

DRAIN & FILL? If the transmission holds 12 qts and only gives up 3 or 4 when you drain it, what good is that? As an ASE Certified person, I can tell you volumes about flushing a transmission. The good the bad and the ugly.

Toyota has installed WS fluid in the Xb transmission. Toyota will tell you that you should only replace the WS fluid when doing transmission repairs. So they do not "recommend" flushing. Reality is that the trans will go past the warranty period with the WS fluid in it so they are covered.

Reality is... a Drain & Fill is like adding a 5 gallon bucket of clean water to a dirty bath. The fluid is still dirty. It also does not get the fluid out of the Torque Converter or the Valve Body. So a drain & fill is useless for an automatic transmission. Multiple drain & fills would be helpful, but still not the correct way to do it.

A transmission FLUSH is done with a machine that attaches to the fluid cooler lines of the transmission. The transmissions pump does all the work with the engine running. As it pumps the fluid toward the cooler it is captured by the machine and new fluid is then put into the cooler. This allows the transmission to be FLUSHED 100%. It gets the fluid from the torque converter & the valve body. It is the ONLY way to correctly replace the fluid in an automatic transmission.

As for fluid... Toyota WS is an interesting fluid. It is a synthetic, but it has some very specific friction modifiers that others do not have. If you are going to have the transmission flushed you should use one of 2 fluids... Original Toyota WS fluid or BG Synthetic fluid. Our shop uses the BG product and it works great. It is also clearly stated on the box that it is compatable with the WS formula. Not sure if Amsoil is compatable or not. I would read up on it before use. I know it does not work of some vehicles...(that's another story). The BG system uses a cleaner to break down the parafin that builds up inside the transmission. I have seen this cleaner "fix" transmission broblems by cleaning the passages that get clogged over time due to dirty fluid.

As to the question of weather a flush is needed.... Why do you change your engine oil? Think about it. It goes in Honey Colored and comes out Black. Same with the transmission fluid, brake fluid, etc. The transmission gets hot like the engine does. The fluid is subject to a lot of stress and over time it breaks down. The junk that is suspended in the fluid changes the color. As the color darkens the lubrication and cooling ability of the fluid is decreased. That leads to added wear, added heat, and so on.

Should you flush the fluid? YES! When? Between 30,000 and 50,000 miles. Mostly city driving 30K. Mostly highway driving, closer to 50K. Good luck.

 

^^^^^^post of the day!

 

Where's the opening where transmission fluid can be poured in?

 

RC-PILOT is right. I'm a Toyota tech (3 years now, Expert certified) and we use a machine that holds 16qts. I wouldn't flush it at 35k though, my xB has 32 and it's still good. I'd wait til about 60k, unless your fluid is black. But it's your money, so you can do whatever you want with it

JNAVAL: the only place you could fill it in is through the dipstick tube. Get yourself a long narrow funnel and fill it from there. make sure you use the right fluid though.

 

Yeah, I was assuming it was gonna be through there. So if you recommend it to be flushed at 60,000 miles, why does the owner's manual make it seem like it's a forever liquid that doesn't need any maintenance?

 

actually how do i know which is the transmission? on the stick, it was yellow then it went to a black alllllllll the way down the stick.

 

Are you talking about trying to find where the transmission is?

 

how to check the fluid. i pulled the yellow stick that said engine oil which was suuuuuper long. but at one point it was this nice yellow. then went to a dark color all the way down. looked black to me.

 

QFT!!! About time someone posted an intelligent comment regarding Auto Trans flushing... I got way too tired of arguing with the ones who fail to listen.

 

The transmission oil dipstick is a black "t" handle dipstick near the battery. It has a blue manufacturing mark on it.

 

Good info here!

I had wanted to "flush" out a tranny on my old Bonneville a while back and learned of a method using buckets and and hoses but it all seemed too messy so I just took it to a shop. Same idea as the flush machine though.

 

Correct, except if it is black, it's WAY past due.
Clean, clear red = new
Dark red, brownish, dirty looking = time to do it
Black = I should have done it a long time ago.

Good post hothotpete. True a machine holds and flushes 16 qts. So if the trans holds 12, think of how clean the fluid is when your finished. Like new! That's the correct way to do it.

Personally, I don't put a lot of miles on my cars because I live like 1.2 miles from work, but I will still do the trans, brake & cooling fluid at 30K because on the cars I do that to, almost all of them reach 200K with little of no trouble in those systems. Clean fluid = clean system & proper operation. Just my experience & opinion for my own vehicles.