Color of trany oil

[PETTER1612]

Ok first of just want to say hi new member great site.

Now the question I had my oil changed by a chain outlet over the weekend I do it myself except it was just to cold anyway the tech said my trany fluid was a dark red and wanted to do a flush 160.00 I thought trany fluid should be dark red am I wrong I think he was trying to sell me a flush.
It's a 97 4Runner 212,000 KM any advice would be great if I need to change it I wll

Peter

 

[fsusteve]

don't let them do it, find a shop that will change it and the filter, flushes cause more issues than help....fluid should be very pink, your's needs it for sho.

 

[Jacket]

Yea - I'm sure it was an upsell attempt, but that doesn't mean you don't need to swap it. You could do like Steve suggests, or you could just drain/fill the ATF fluid the next 3 times you change the oil. You only get around 1/3 of the total fluid with each drain, but after 3 attempts you should have cleaned it out pretty good.

 

[PETTER1612]

Thank you for the advice.
Again great site

 

[IanB]

Yea - I'm sure it was an upsell attempt, but that doesn't mean you don't need to swap it. You could do like Steve suggests, or you could just drain/fill the ATF fluid the next 3 times you change the oil. You only get around 1/3 of the total fluid with each drain, but after 3 attempts you should have cleaned it out pretty good.

X2, super easy to do if you're capable of changing your own oil, and nobody has a tranny failure as a result of a drain/fill. The same can't be said of a powerflush. Make sure you get a new crush washer for the tranny pan, and you may need a new funnel with a longer neck to refill.

 

[Duane]

I Like IanB's comment on nobody has a tranny failure story from a drain and fill.

I attached a pic I have (Dexron III in our 96 4Runner) as to the pink color the fluid should look like if you wipe the dipstick on a white kleenex.

The local dealer wouldn't do a tranny flush I think for the same risk. Just drain the couple litres or so that you get out and refill it.
I was thinking more like 10 litres or better of fluid in the system.
Nearby city dealership normally did drain and fills but if the fluid was bad enough they would do a flush.

I bought our 2000 with 150,000 km's on it..doubt it had been changed so I had the system flush done as I didn't want to risk leaving the quite dark red with some dark sediment when you pull the dipstick out even, as the drain and refill method I thought would take many to blend it out and god knows how many to get it to pink like in the picture. They flushed 13 - 15 Litres through my 2000 and you could easily see the departing dark red fluid that finally turned to pink as the last 3 or so litres went through. It's sort of cool as the lines and dual chambered oil flush device is made of fairly clear plastic so you can clearly see what the fluid looks like that is coming out of your cooler line while it is being pushed through the system.

 

[fsusteve]

problem with flushing auto trannys is that alot of crap that's trapped in there gets loose and can cause havoc. I had my fj62's flushed before a trip, no prior issues and within several hundred miles it took a dump....lots of info on not doing it out there. And I agree with everyone about drain and fills, I've been doing that to my wife's Sienna since new and have never changed the filter yet, quick and easy.

 

[WarDamnEagle]

Depends a bit on how they "flush" it. It sounds like Duane had his done with a BG machine which doesn't use any pressure. I had the same thing done to my 97 LC when I bought it with 114k on the odo.

 

[fsusteve]

Mark W did an article in Trails a few years ago I believe explaining it, made sense to me since it ate my tranny but yeah it was with the pressure ones.