Engine coolant and transimission flush

coolant and transimission flush

When I was at the dealership doing 30K tune up, they told me i need to do a coolant and transmission flush, since they were from factory.

About how long or how many miles do I need to do each of those service? does me needing to do a coolant flush has anything to do with higher temperature in the gauge cluster. I had recently installed a glow gauge and had to take off the temperature needle...

thanks

transmission flush is only needed if you are having problems with your gears not shifting correctly or being sluggish. Honestly, I never had mine flushed unless it is really needed. I've heared people have more problems after having their transmission flushed. not sure about coolant, i think it is needed so your radiator can keep cool because after a while, the potent of the coolant wears off. the problem with your gauge is it needs to be re-calibrated because when you took it out, you did not put it in the right place than before.

check the coolant before changing it, they only recomend you to do it cuz of they want a bite of your wallet
check the color of it, coolant should last about 2-3 yrs. somethin like that.

that's what i figured the dealer was doing to me... they advised me chaing the timing belt because they saw cracking....i dont know if it's actually cracking or not... but they had a little flyer on major maintenance like timing belt, and it's supposed to be changed at 60000 miles... my was only 35000ish

i have 01 corolla... so it's been 4 years since the coolant is from factory... i guess it's time to flush it...

thanks

I hope that dealership really meant serpentine belt - your car does not have a timing belt - it uses a timing chain. Little cracks are normal in the belt - but if they very numerous or you notice bigger sections of the "rib" missing - then get it changed. Would be a good idea to change the belt tensioner and check the water pump for isses at that time. Some people have no problems - others ended up replacing the belt a few months down the road due to a failed tensioner.

As for transmission and coolant service - that is more of a preventive maintenance item. I usually drain and refill the tranny every 30K and coolant every 60K - I would avoid the flush as they tend to cause more problems than anything else - just like Silver_Nitrate mentioned.

All will depend on the driving conditions and how long you expect to hold onto your car. Coolant itself lasts a long time - it is the other stuff that was added at the time that you have to worry about. Just follow what is outlined in the factory service manual, not the dealerships and you should be fine. If you don't have one - you can download them from the Toyota website.

i checked the service order again... it said drive belt, not timing belt... i have no clue what difference there are..

also.. where is the website for the factory service manul?

thanks

Try this link - PDF of 30K service

http://smg.toyotapartsandservice.com/pdfs/auto_service_01_27.pdf

The rest are under the Scheduled Maintenace tab on http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/parts-service/

Yep. You should also change your coolant because the coolant will become electrolytic. The water/antifreeze will begin to carry an electrical charge which will corrode the insides of the engine block and radiator.

They do want your money! It's easy enough to flush yourself.

yeah, meineki did mine, end up screwin up the radiatar, leaks and everything. went to another shop, had it all dont for lik lil over $100. damn meineke :chair:

my coolant and tranny fluid get changed every 5K miles. the oil about every 3 or less depending on driving conditions. Take a look at your tranny fluid if it is brown or black you definately need to change it it should be red. and for the coolant i always take it to the dealer or i buy the coolant from them and do it myself which saves me some money. but take a look at your tranny fluid change immediately if color is black!

Why do you change coolant every 5k!?!?

The serpentine (drive) belt can be changed in about 15 seconds. All you need is a wrench for the tensioner..pull it back..remove/replace belt..release. You're done.

I replace continously since the engine keeps getting opened up and worked on almost all the time for cleaning and recalibrating. the comp also get reworked for best performance. These last two times i over did it and the engine just shut down.

what year car do you have. If its newer you probably have the Red Toyota Coolant, which does NOT need to be changed every ~30K miles.

The dealership here still recommends a change every 30k. It's standard maintenence, but I guess you could let it go. I personally wouldn't take the risk of corroding the engine block.

its good to change it because corrosion of the block is pretty commom especially calcium buidup. but never add any sort of collant conditioner or water conditioner or it may mess it up.

I change my transmission fluid and coolant every 30-35K miles including the belts etc

belts and hoses get changed every 6 to 9 months or depending on miles driven. chassis gets lubed every 6 months.

Yeah, on that note... Don't use well water. Use city water or distilled.
Our well water is NASTY. I'm sure it would have a bad effect on the engine block. It's full of minerals like calcium and iron. It smells like sulphur sometimes.

i just use full coolant because the water just evaporates due to the high heat down here in the valley. the current average temp is about 105* farenheit

Yeah, drain fluids about every 2 years, flush every 45k. I usually take my car to the cheapest possible garage for flushes, that's such an easy service that it's hard to mess up and a good way to save on maint. $50 for a full flush is decent (for each fluid). Fluid's lose their chemical capabilities after time. Wear, tear and heat can reduce their life. If you can afford it, get these services done more often. Personally, I barely put on 8-9k each year, but I bet a lot of you folks put on more, and drive harder than I do. I try to be gentle on my car, seeing as I am not rich, and God only knows the next time I will be able to replace it.

um i average about 24K miles a year! on the 01 and the 98 averaged about 13K a year and the accord averages about 24K a year as well. so yeah i change them very often except the oil it get changed every 25K on the accord and every 15K on the 98.