hey guys i need some help i got my car with 154k miles on it now it has about 200k . the question that i have is that should i change the transmission fluid. i dont even know if the previous guy changed it or not. the manuel doesnt even mention changing it. should i change the transmission fluid and filter. the reason i ask is because some people that i know got it changed, their transmissions went out shortly after. thanx guys

 

true, you don't want to shock the system by changing all of it at once, just use the drain bolt, and that will only let 2 or 3 quarts come out, which is a small part of the total capacity

this way you are slowly introducing the additives that will clean and strengthen the fluid in there, but at a conservative pace

then wait 6-9 months and do it again, and so on

make sure to only use genuine Toyota T-IV fluid and get a new gasket and drain bolt at the dealership each time (I know, replacing the drain bolt seems unnecessary, but Toyota designs it to be disposable, besides, the combo is only like 5 bucks or less)

 

+1 on the the incremental fluid drain.

I bought a handful of the crush washers from the Toyota dealer for $2.20/per. The Lexus dealer was $5.95 for the washer and the bolt was $6.95. I also have used the synthetic nylon but I don't have a good sense of them when torquing up the bolt. The crush washer you can feel the compression which I like.

 

Change it. You might be surprised to see what color the fluid is now. When i did mine i dropped the pan and put in a new filter. I do a 2 qt drain and fill every 6 months with oil change.

 

Yeah, I too have heard nothing but horror stories about people getting older high mileage cars flushed, just to have it grenade on them very shortly thereafter. And although i have not ever personally known someone this has happened to, i certainly am not experimenting with one of my cars!!

 

To clarify something:

Fluid Flush (aka power flush): done using a machine that forces fluid through the circuit under a fair bit of pressure, this is the process known to be rough on high-mileage transmissions.

Fluid Exchange: Done by running the engine and trans at operating temperature and replacing the fluid coming out the cooler lines with fresh fluid being sucked in through the cooler lines, FAR less pressure, and FAR easier on the trans.

Nothing wrong with doing a fluid exchange.