Quote:
Originally Posted by NoBozo
I have had ALL Toyotas since 1974. With a brief sojourn to Honda in 1979 with an Accord & a CVCC Civic. All bought NEW. When they were sold they were sold because we were bored. Mileage at sale from 90,000 to 150,000 miles. We NEVER had a radiator Flush..EVER. That's a SCAM.
All were manual transmissions. NO transmission flushes either. Scam.
Now we have automatic transmissions....doesn't everybody..??
Todays automobiles are So Reliable..that the dealers have to be Very Creative.. to generate revenue. There are owners out there who don't have the knowledge, backed up by common sense, to know when they are being scammed.... Truly.  NB |
Hmm... guess you don't read your owners manual then.
Up until Toyota came out with their extended life antifreeze (pink in color) they had their factory fluid (red in color) Standard replacement interval for the red is 30K for the extended life 100K. Think this is a scam? Well I can tell you for a fact that over time the fluid does two things, it breaks down and eventually looses it's protective properties and secondly like oil, particles become suspended in the fluid eventually settling in the cooling ports, left long enough can clog them up and reduce significantly the system from being able to sufficiently circulate fluid. This is especially a problem if there is a minor breech in the system, a foreign fluid is mixed in (even if it is radiator fluid, many cause a reaction causing internal corrosion or worst yet a bottle of stop leak is dumped in. In extreme cases heater cores and radiators are the first to get plugged up. Seen it enough working as a tech for Toyota to say this is no "bozo"
Transmissions are the same story, whether it be manual or automatic. With a manual transmission the gears over time naturally will wear in the same manner an engine will, over time the fluid will start to get fine metal grit suspended in the fluid. The majority of that wear comes in the first 10K or so as the transmission breaks in. Now they do install magnets on the drain plug to attract the particles which does do some good but not enough to just ignore it. Likewise in an automatic over time there is wear not only in the gears themselves but the clutch packs too. If anything the contamination of the fluid in a automatic is far worse, which is why if you crack open the pan from the bottom of an automatic you will typically find several magnets stuck to the bottom of the pan, for the same purpose. Furthermore the more grit that is in the auto transmission fluid the more wear that will cause the clutch packs thus shortening the life of the transmission. It's also not uncommon to see the filters full of crap as well. This is a good illustration as to not only why it's important to regularly service your transmission but also that it is done right, pan off, filters taken out and cleaned, pan and magnets cleaned, new fluid installed. Simply flushing the system or draining the pan and replacing what has been removed does not do the job. In fact just draining the pan only removes about half of the fluid in the system. So adding new fluid just makes the new fluid does little as it will quickly become as contaminated as what was just drained out.
Now that said - Toyota has been slowly introducing automatic transmissions reciently starting in the Lexus lineup slowly bleeding into the mainstream Toyota lineup that do not get serviced, they are sealed units. The reason they can get away with that is the type of fluid that is being used combined with the electronics that are used to control the shift points. This has allowed them to move away from the clutchpack/hydraulically controlled systems of the past. It also makes them much more reliable. Even so there are mixed opinons as to whether or not these units are indeed maintenance free for a lifetime of use. Keep in mind that the manufacturers don't necessarily count on the average vehicle to be driven hundreds of thousands of miles, so their idea of lifetime and your may not be the same.
All that said can you drive a car that long and not replace these fluids, sure, are you damaging them as a result, well maybe not to the point of all out failure, but you're certainly shortening their lifespan by not doing it.