Trans fluid change on 2005 Camry XLE

In viewing Toyota's maintenance schedule for the 2005 Camry XLE, I do not see any transmission service in there, specifically changing fluid. My wife's 2005 Camry has 43k on it and it's never been done (she's not the original owner). I'm kind of concerned as15-20k is usually the standard mileage for a trans flush. Does this sound right to you guys?

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

Reply to
Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]
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No. 15-20K sounds way to frequent for me. 50k miles sounds more like it.

Some cars are buillt with "lifetime" fluid in the transmission, I don't know that Toyota is among them. but the owner's manual should tell you what the service interval is, or it should tell you that the fluid is lifetime. If the fluid is "lifetime", I'd go ahead and have the trans serviced. It turns out, they don't do a very good job of telling you what lifetime means -- the life of the car, the life of the trans, or the life of the fluid.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

That car should take Toyota WS fluid, yes it is usually listed as a lifetime fluid, and yes it would be good to have it changed, but not flushed. never let a shop use a trans flush machine on a vehicle, if the fluid is burnt then after you change what is in the pan you can unhook a cooler line, start the engine, and let the trans pump the old fluid out while pouring the new in to replace what is in the torque converter. When the fluid coming out becomes the same color (or close to it) as the new shut off the engine and hook the line back up.

Reply to
Daniel who wants to know

Yes, I can see how lifetime means one thing to Toyota and another thing to the rest of us. I printed the manual but it doesn't specifically say Replace Transmission Fluid at certain mileage milestones. It does say to *Inspect* trans fluid at every 30k. But again, I know from experience that trans fluid has to be changed at some point. There is no such thing as trans fluid that never, ever has to be changed. Dare I call up a dealership and ask for some info? I assume they'll say bring it in just to make a buck. Cheers.

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

Reply to
Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

If I was a mechanic, what you said would probably make more sense to me but I get the gist. It's not something that I want to mess with myself. For tans stuff, I almost always go to the dealership since they are more knowledgeable than a chain shop. But at 43k, I am thinking it's about time, just to be safe. I suppose I can dig under the hood and see if there's a trans stick or something so have a look at the fluid color but I don't know what clean fluid looks like versus dirty fluid. Bit out of my league and I just want to be safe rather than sorry.

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

Reply to
Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]

You could call them. Or, you could change the fluid at 50-60k miles like they did in the olden days.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

Clean fluid is red and smells good. Burned fluid is not red and does not smell good.

Lots of cars today have a 100,000 mile change interval, and many have no change interval specification -- the fluid is not changed on any interval. I tend to reject the notion of "lifetime" fluid, and my limited experience is that lifetime fluid lasts until the transmission does not work right -- shifts badly or not at all -- and then it is okay again when the fluid is flushed. The problem with this is that the burned fluid leaves tarnish on various valves that makes them sticky, and this is why the transmission stopped working. If the fluid is changed, then the abrupt refusal to provide reliable service can be averted -- which seems to be your question...

You can safely wait to 50k, that is half of what most cars call for. If you don't want to wait that long, then at least wait for better weather so you can go to the park or the beach and work on your tan while the guy changes the transmission fluid.

Reply to
Jeff Strickland

"Lifetime fluid" is a self-defining term.

When the product stops working, its lifetime is over. You then get a new product with new fluid inside.

I don't believe in "lifetime fluid" either. I just had the fluid replaced today on my 07 Prius--there is no specified interval or method, and I accepted the dealership's established method of running it with a line detached to drain out the old while they put new in (they actually call it a "transmission refresh", costs $120). Funny thing, it takes the Toyota service computer to do something as part of this procedure; my shop up the street couldn't do it, as much as he wanted to. What, I can't do a simple drain/fill without involving a computer to reset something??? At least Honda makes it simple: beyond a simple drain/fill, their method of "more complete replacement" [not flush] is three cycles of drain/fill/drive. Easy, works great, you can do it at home, no proprietary service computer required.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

You got hosed, the Prius (1997-2009 at least) does not have a trans fluid cooler or any ports for one, but the inverter coolant system does have a loop on the PSD transaxle, there are 2 drain plugs on the bottom of the trans, one drains coolant, the other drains the fluid. In addition the NHW11 model (US 2001-2003 years) has a pan that can be removed to clean the magnet and pickup screen.

Since the Prius has no hydraulic components nor a torque converter it just has a small fluid pump for bearing lube duties, and it is driven only by the ICE (internal combustion engine), hence if the ICE is off there is no fluid being pumped, this is part of the problem with PHEV kits, excessive running on only battery could damage the bearings.

Reply to
Daniel who wants to know

What about requiring the service computer as part of it all? Even my local service guy, who has always taken care of me, said that was required--and he was having problems borrowing one from his buddy who owns a tranny shop.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

Nope, the scan tool is required to change the brake fluid but not the trans fluid, the car has the aforementioned drain plug on the bottom and 2 fill plugs, one on the front down low and one on top under the inverter. In this way it is more like a transfer case, manual trans, or differential in that it just has the drain on the bottom and the fill on the side. See this video for the lower one:

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You can either use a pump as the guy in the video did or just a funnel with a long hose on it to put in the new fluid.

On the NHW11 model it is advised to drop the pan to clean the magnet and replace the O ring on the pickup tube.

Reply to
Daniel who wants to know

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