Transmission Flush

[vibe Freak]

Well boys and girls I got the transmission flushed today at Pep Boys. It made a really difference in the way the car pulls and shifts like butter now. If you are do I would say get er dun. I will be putting the B&M transmission cooler in the next week. They use some kind of additive to make there transmission fluid work with are transmissions.

[ColonelPanic]

It's good that you got the flush, but I've never heard of adding an additive to make it the "proper" fluid... That part scares me. I wonder why they didn't just use T-IV? Aside from it being an expensive, proprietary fluid. If the tranny dies, I'm not sure that GM will be willing to replace it if you're still under warranty as the correct fluid wasn't used. 'course I'm always thinking the worst, I'm overly sensitive to transmission issues after mine died when I owned the Vibe. Hope everything works out for ya!

[vibe Freak]

Thanks, I called around to a couple shops and Pep Boys told me that they have the additive for all the different transmissions. It is cheaper then going with the T-lV. Also the shops that had the T-lV would only do the service not the flush. Well if it f&cks up Pep boys will be buying me a new transmission.

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by vibe Freak »Thanks, I called around to a couple shops and Pep Boys told me that they have the additive for all the different transmissions. It is cheaper then going with the T-lV. Also the shops that had the T-lV would only do the service not the flush. Well if it f&cks up Pep boys will be buying me a new transmission. Hummm. I have to agree with the Colonel 100%. Ask Pep Boys if they will put it in writing, about their "additive", just to be on the safe side.

[ashleymc_38]

I hear a lot about this T-IV fluid for the tranny. I need a flush reallllyyy bad...well, I just dont want to be wearin down my tranny at an early life. Would it be safer to take it to a Toyota dealership or any kind of dealership for this or should I just take it to a Pep Boys, etc., etc., but make sure i know what i'm talkin about, like these "additives" they used? I just wanna make sure i'm giving my car the best of its life.

[ColonelPanic]

You can take it to anywhere you want... But being that the fluid is proprietary, they likely won't have any fluid of that type in stock. Types of fluid do exist that meet multiple specs exist but I don't know how well they'll match up against the factory fluid which was deisgned for only one application.Worst comes to worst, go to a Toyota dealer and buy enough fluid necessary and bring the fluid with you wherever you go to get it changed. Don't try to get it from GM, it's too expensive.

[vibe Freak]

Well so fare the car has never shifted or pulled away from a traffic light like it dose now. There is no feeling of shifting just acceleration. I have all the paper work and it shows the additive and a brake down of what they did. I was concerned as well but so fare so good. The Pep Boys rout is like 100.00 the dealer is going to be more like 200.00.

[vibe Freak]

OK I looked at the paper work and it is listed as a Modifier not a additive. They told me that it has a chemical reaction and makes it compatible with the transmission. We will see

[tnpartsguy]

I personally would not let anyone use a fluid that is not specified for my car, no matter what their 'warranty'. I've read those warranties, and they do say they will repair your car, but they get to choose who, how and when; which could leave you walking for weeks, or more. I posted about a year ago the suggestion that a freind of mine (A Toyota Service Manager) made to me; using the drain bolt, drain out what you can, and refill. You'll need 2~3 bottles of T fluid. Do this every 12K miles. You'll never change it all out, but you will be changing out a 1/3 of it. The T fluid is very dark red, almost black to begin with, because it has so much friction material in it.IMHO, YMMV, ect

[ColonelPanic]

Even at $200, that's still cheaper than what the transmission costs new, over $4,000.

[vibe Freak]

How did you blow the transmission.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by vibe Freak »How did you blow the transmission. Pretty much just by driving it. I wasn't even as hard on it as many here are on theirs. Started shifting rough somewhere around 50-something and then it just stopped shifting by 60K. The pump blew up, sharpnel was flying around everywhere in the transmission. Wasn't pretty, they couldn't salvage anything in it.

[vibe Freak]

That sucks so did you have to pay out of pocket. 4000 that's a lot of money. Is there any JDM or junkyard transmissions you could have gotten.

[mikey00]

I been on Toyota discussion boards for a while now mainly with my other vehicles. Toyota automatic transmissions are under discussion a lot and 2 important points are: never use anything but Toyota T-IV fluid and don't get a flush, just a drain and fill. Did you wonder why the guys who have Toyota T-IV refuse to do a flush? A flush machine is a big moneymaker for those who have them. You may get away with the compatible fluid and flushing but you are just looking for trouble here.

[ashleymc_38]

Quote, originally posted by mikey00 »I been on Toyota discussion boards for a while now mainly with my other vehicles. Toyota automatic transmissions are under discussion a lot and 2 important points are: never use anything but Toyota T-IV fluid and don't get a flush, just a drain and fill. Did you wonder why the guys who have Toyota T-IV refuse to do a flush? A flush machine is a big moneymaker for those who have them. You may get away with the compatible fluid and flushing but you are just looking for trouble here.You know you just reminded me that i heard something like this too. Its something amongst the lines that by doing a "flush" it pushes through things or pushes things out that aren't supposed to. I heard that by doing a "drain" it doesn't necessarily drain it all but its safer than a flush. Along with just a drain being the "safer" way, is it also a cheaper way?

[CAN-AWD-VIBE]

when you flush you change all the fluid, torque convertor and pan- but you run the risk of stirring up any metal particals that maybe in the tranny or convertor. When you do a pan drop (service) then that risk is almost gone, but you only change about 30-35% of the fluid.I think if you flush regularly then you would be fine... but if you havent serviced for a long time and the fluid is black... a few pan drops would be the better way to go.Regardless of what you method is... the correct fluid is required. I don't believe in one fluid being used then using an additive to make the correct fluid.

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by vibe Freak »That sucks so did you have to pay out of pocket. 4000 that's a lot of money. Is there any JDM or junkyard transmissions you could have gotten. The only costs I incurred were for gas in the loaner Torrent while the Vibe was in the shop for a week. A year before, despite many here saying to not bother with it since this is a Toyota, I went ahead and bought the GM extended warranty. I lucked out bigtime, this one failure paid for the warranty twice over and there were plenty of other things I had replaced under that warranty.

[vibe Freak]

Guys, thanks for all the input. When I get the transmission done again how many quarts of fluid will I need. I would like to go with the full synthetic.

[vibe Freak]

Well next will be the transmission cooler from B&M.

[1zzfe_808]

you know how you guys are saying just do a drain, what if you do a drain then start the engine and let it run a bit, do another flush.wouldnt that get a little more dirty fluid out??

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by 1zzfe_808 »you know how you guys are saying just do a drain, what if you do a drain then start the engine and let it run a bit, do another flush.wouldnt that get a little more dirty fluid out??Yep.

[Petrucci914]

I had mine flushed with AMSOIL Universal Fluid. Was expensive but I like to take care of my cars. Since I don't know how the prior person took care of it I did a flush. Now I'll do a drain and fill.

[vibe Freak]

You guys were right I talked to a Toyota certified mechanic to day who just started working at the shop. He said to only run Toyota T-IV fluid in the transmission. So on Monday were are re flushing the transmission. I got some Valvoline AFT that is T-IV compatible. Has any one run this in there transmission ?

[goodvibe]

I'd just get the rght stuff from Toyota.

[frank@toronto]

Apparently T-IV is synthetic, ,which would make it an excellent choice.

[xing512q]

Hello, i just got my transmisson oil change today. i use Castro ATF+ oil, fits T-IV application.. $6 a bottle, 4 bottles total. only drain the oil and put in the new one. hope that will help.

[vibe Freak]

Well I did get the right stuff from Toyota for only 4.75 a quart. My mechanic and I did the flush at his house. Since I have a Tranny cooler it made it very easy to flush the old fluid out. Now it has bran new Toyota tranny fluid. It drives and shifts great.

[Ol' Timer]

Quote, originally posted by 1zzfe_808 »you know how you guys are saying just do a drain, what if you do a drain then start the engine and let it run a bit, do another flush.wouldnt that get a little more dirty fluid out?? I would NEVER run the engine just to get an extra "few drops" out of it. You run the risk of damaging the transmission internals. Don't do it.Ya know, in all the years I've been servicing my cars and their transmissions, I've never had a problem by just doing "routine" servicing. That means not getting too exotic. With the GM cars, I dropped the pan, cleaned the pan and the magnet, installed a new xmission filter, buttoned it up and added new Dexron fluid. With the Toyotas, I just did your basic drain and fill and used the Toyota Xmission Oil. I replace the xmission oil between 25K and 30K miles. Your results may vary. I sleep very well at night.

[TJinPgh]

Quote, originally posted by Ol’ Timer » I would NEVER run the engine just to get an extra "few drops" out of it. You run the risk of damaging the transmission internals. Don't do it. Guess I misunderstood what he was asking. I assumed that he meant do the drain, refill, run the car for a bit and then drain it again.I've heard some say that if you do this 3x it's basically the same as doing a complete flush. Dunno.If so, how long should you run it between refills and redraining?

[vibe Freak]

OK the transmission flush was preformed by a 15 year fully certified Toyota technician . I did not do it he did, and the car has been fine ever since. So this is just my 2 cents. Dominic

[zionzr2]

Just had my Tranny flushed and filled as well as my Differentals drained and filled. I'm good for another 40K miles

[truckdriver402]

I'm glad this was brought up because I had a few questions about it. I have looked into doing this as well. I have been given a different answer from every Pontiac dealer in the tri-state area! The most perplexing is the one that says Vibe's take "special" tranny fluid that is well over $10 per quart...Some have said there's no need to change the tranny filter because the machine they use cleans it. Some do change the filter. Which way do I go with this? Who is right?

[Petrucci914]

Your answer is in the topic you started.