It kind of spooks me. I'm told the sealed transmission never needs nuthin', forever... does not even have a dipstick. I'd be inclined to at least change the fluid at some point!! What the person who wants his truck to last forever to do?
-jeff
The transmission isn't really sealed. It has a drain, fill plug, and a vent much like a differential or a transfer case.
I'd send a sample of the fluid to a testing lab at 50,000 miles. For about $20 they can tell you the condition of the fluid and whether any unusual wear is going on in the transmission.
Ken
What does your manual say about it? Separate book - the one with the service schedule.
They follow the directions, and leave well enough alone. Assuming they aren't happy with that, they drop the pan to drain, or pull the plug -- as the case may be. then, they add new fluid through the fill hole.
I was told the same thing. On my 99. So I did what i was told, and its fine :)
I intend to keep the truck forever; it will hopefully be the last truck I ever buy. So the issue for me is, what's the BEST thing to do for the tranny? I doubt that what is best for the tranny is to run the same fluid for 200k miles...
I'll probably drain and refill it at about 60k miles. I'm doing the differentials at 10k.
-ieff
Chances are, the people who designed and built the tranny would know what's best for it above anyone here.
Jeff, what does the service interval booklet say the transmission needs? Your truck came with this book.
The best thing is to follow the directions.
The transmission will let you know if it needs fluid service long before it craps out. Change the fluid when the transmissions asks you to, instead of waiting for parts to fall off on the freeway, and you should be fine.
-Jeff, what does the service interval booklet say the transmission needs?
-Your truck came with this book.
I'll look it up (RTFM, I know...) The salesman at the dealer said it was a sealed unit that "never needed servicing". That just sounds like a bad idea. It's possible the salesman was being an idiot. I've only got 5K miles on 'er so far so there hasn't been any reason to look ahead in the maintenance book...
-jeff
-Jeff, what does the service interval booklet say the transmission needs?
-Your truck came with this book.
I'll look it up (RTFM, I know...) The salesman at the dealer said it was a sealed unit that "never needed servicing". That just sounds like a bad idea. It's possible the salesman was being an idiot. I've only got 5K miles on 'er so far so there hasn't been any reason to look ahead in the maintenance book...
-jeff
++++++++++++++++++++Wrong. The time to look at the service book is around midnight on the day you bring home a new vehicle, and you're finished walking all around it in the driveway, smiling and petting it and asking complete strangers if they'd like to touch it. I mean, think about it: What if you missed a bunch of service necessities and it caused a warranty problem? If the dealer asked where you got the idea that the kerframmis didn't need grease for 25k miles and you said "the web", don't you think he'd be entitled to laugh his ass off?
I want to know what the "propellor shaft" is! Apparantly that's a frequently-serviced item. Didn't even know my Tundra HAD a propellor, and usually I'm pretty good at noticing such things!
Anyway, I looked in the dang manual... I never did see where it was changed under normal duty but then I only looked out to 120k miles. However, under heavy duty usage, it called for a drain and refill at
60k I believe. From that, I infer that there's nothing WRONG with a drain and refill- it won't hurt anything. And as far as never changing it, I think the manufacturers have been playing a bit of a game as to who can stretch service intervals the longest; it's almost like saying, our vehicle is so reliable you don't have to do anything to it. In some instances car makers are backing away from some of those long intervals. For myself, if if says to drain the tranny at 60k under heavy use, then I will certainly do it at 60k whether the use has been heavy or not. I'll sleep better at night, etc."But that's just me!" :-)
-jeff
I don't recall the names of the lube points I'd never heard of before, other than the propellor shaft that you mentioned. But, when I showed the service booklet to my mechanic (for my Tacoma), he said those lube points added ten bucks to the cost of a regular oil change. "Ya wanna wait, or do it later?" I had him do it. Used some sort of Pennzoil synthetic stuff.
Ten bucks. Not sure what the dealer would've charged.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.