Automatic Transmission Fluid Change?
 

What fluid do you guys recommend for AT? I'm at 69k and the owner's manual calls for the ATF to be changed at 60k so I'm a bit behind on schedule.

I'll be taking the car to a shop because changing the ATF is apparently a big PITA. I'll be getting it changed and not flushed (is there a difference?) and I'm afraid and don't know where to take it to get serviced because it seems like a big job and I don't want anyone to mess up.. would a dealership be a safe place to take this? I heard that you have to shift gears multiple times to drain the fluids completely.

I would just go to dealer for that

Use only Toyota OEM AT fluid. Do not flush, only drain and fill. Flushing can cause more damage such as bending fins in the transmission. The dealership will be able to do it per the manual but at a higher cost.

I asked @Moto-P about using different AT fluid vs OEM and he kindly pointed at that our ATs are very finicky and that they were finely tuned to run off of the OEM AT fluids only.




Perhaps he can chime in.

Redline D6 seems to hold up to abuse better. I have ran it for over 100k miles and it tends to last about 50% longer then OEM before shifting gets a bit finicky (rough shifts at times usually). This is track time and long canyon drives that put a lot of heat into the transmission. I do a change somewhere between 30k-45k miles. A few other users have noted similar.

If you just DD or abuse it only occasionally OEM is fine. And the dealer can do that no problem.

I am using Motul Muti ATF https://www.amazon.com/Motul-MTL1057...ords=motul+atf

like others said however, DO NOT HAVE ANYONE FLUSH IT, it will cause damage if they use a machine on it, what I did was drain and fill till it became red again., mine was black..... then one last drain and fill and some lubesgard o it. I also put a huge trans cooler on it as well :) and well, it drives fantastic, and hold up to my abuse. tbh I would recommend draining the pan and refilling every 20k as these cars do have much in a way of a filter :/

What trans cooler did you put on?

I too run Redline ATF fluid. It's been holding up well to the abuse of FI.

When you take it to the dealer, they may just do a single drain which gets about 1/3 of the fluid actually changed. I'm not sure if that's how they do it all dealerships, but that's how they did it at mine. Preferably they would drain and fill until the fluid is completely pink/red.. which is about 3 times or so.

Id have to go look it up, but its a hayden cooler with 6an fittings, its like 12x12"

No worries, thanks.