Transmission service

Coffee Grinder wrote:
Anybody getting any decent gas mileage. My tundra in the hilly stuff ( not steep) as I'm in Texas and got 8.5 mpg on the tundra, concerned what Colorado will be like

Towing MPG?

Or empty MPG?

Makes a difference..

If that is towing MPG your are pretty much on the mark normal, typically towing really drags down the mileage and typical range is 8 MPG to 11 MPG for most vehicles..

If that is empty mileage I would scrap the thing, that would be horribly pitiful..

To put into perspective, my current truck is a 2013 F250 4x2 Super cab with 6.2 and 3.73 gears.

Empty mileage is 15.0-15.2 mixed highway and city driving.

Towing a 26ft TT loaded we are around 6500 lbs, gets me a low of 9.1 MPG and high of 10.1.. Rather hilly driving often grades from 5%-8%..

Perhaps it is time to quit playing with "toy trucks" and move to a bit bigger.

Anybody getting any decent gas mileage. My tundra in the hilly stuff ( not steep) as I'm in Texas and got 8.5 mpg on the tundra, concerned what Colorado will be like

powerstrokeaaron wrote:

Coffee Grinder wrote:
Any options on transmission service: draining vs flushing. I know draining doesn't get the torque converter. Have a 2016 Tundra and the dealers have varied opinions on service as well as mileage intervals. Some say 100,000 mi. Any info will be appreciated.

I am a tech at Toyota and our dealer recommends a drain and fill with filter replacement at 15k and then every 30k after that. One of the few dealerships I have ever seen that don't try and sell you on the flush. The whole lifetime fluid thing is a sales gimmick, while synthetic fluid lasts a lot longer it doesn't last forever and better to be safe then sorry.

Lifetime lubricants are a marketing ploy. If the fluid didn't break down and lose some of it's effectiveness, it would still be carrying trace metal and dirt, the largest contributors to wear.

I thought I was the only backyard genius just dropping the pan fluid and replacing every few thousand. I guess not. For my '03 Ford 4R100 tranny, it is recommended not to change the filter/strainer during scheduled fluid change. I'm replacing about 7 qts. out of 14 qt. capacity. This thread reminds me it's time to change, again. I have 188K on the clock.

The only time I ever has a flush done was after the trans in my Chevy conversion van overheated badly while towing. Limped into the nearest campground, then found a shop the next day and had it pumped out. The stuff had the look and consistency of black coffee, and stunk to high heaven. Had to have the tranny rebuilt when I got home, but at least I made it...

Coffee Grinder wrote:
Any options on transmission service: draining vs flushing. I know draining doesn't get the torque converter. Have a 2016 Tundra and the dealers have varied opinions on service as well as mileage intervals. Some say 100,000 mi. Any info will be appreciated.

I am a tech at Toyota and our dealer recommends a drain and fill with filter replacement at 15k and then every 30k after that. One of the few dealerships I have ever seen that don't try and sell you on the flush. The whole lifetime fluid thing is a sales gimmick, while synthetic fluid lasts a lot longer it doesn't last forever and better to be safe then sorry.

Thanks SoCal.. I can see and touch the lower rad hose, but it's not like any hose I've worked on before.. No traditional hose clamp.. It has a plastic elbow and the hose part just attaches to it.. Then it splits off with 2 smaller hoses to the oil filter adapter (integrated oil cooler as such).. My 97 F150 had the same setup, but it used good ol' hose clamps on the ends!

I'm sure it's some quick connect type of deal and I do have a shop manual for it, so I should read up on it and that might just be what I have to do to drain it! :)

Mitch

I follow manufacturer's recommendations to flush (or whatever) until the warranty is over. Then it's just drain and fills. Power flushing just seems too violent, especially on an older transmission that is operating fine.

I welded a plug into the pan. My 07 F150 has 4.5 qts
in the pan. I change it about every 10,000 to 15,000.
I also installed a spin on filter on the return line to trans.
I change that every other drain. I also installed the same filter on my 2001 Tioga.

I had my Transmission fluid changed at 50,000 miles. About 7,500 of those towing our Travel trailer. Fluid was changed by Toyota. Because of the lack of a dipstick, Toyota specifies a certain procedure using there Techstream computer to verify the transmission temps to verify the level. I had a sample of the fluid analyzed by Blackstone. Report came back good. If I recall correctly they stated I had plenty of life left in the fluid itself. The sample did show some higher then normal levels of wear metals found in the transmission, but they also stated those levels were often times seen on a first change and were common with break in.

It really helps to let the engine run at idle for a few minutes after towing also. That keeps fluid moving and cools those hot components from burning the fluid. Some components can reach 1500 degrees and will burn fluid quickly if shut down before cooling off.