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2000 Rav 4 - 226,000 Mi.


mcummo
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Our Rav 4 had 226,000 mi and runs like a top! Toyota would not change my trans fluid because their only record of having changed it last was over 100,000 mi ago.

Their point being that with this service the trans could fall apart soon thereafter.

Question: Should I just wait till the trannie breaks down?

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Don't understand the logic at all! Just change the fluid!

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As tech01 says, just get a garage to change the fluid. The transmission is over-engineered and will be quite happy to get a fresh change.

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Hi Mike and welcome to Club,

Did they also tell you not to wash its windows, as you don't need to see out.....? What a shower of sphincti......

Big Kev

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There is some logic to this. I have seen first hand how a change of oil after many, many miles results in failure of transmissions,diffs etc. not long after change. Thicker and older the better I have always been taught. If the oil has always been changed on a regular basis, then carry on, otherwise leave it where it is.

*the above goes against all my thoughts on oil changes, but I have seen it happen!

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Thank tou all for your input. I will talk to a trusted mechanic and take it from there.

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I have good reason to believe my wife's gearbox oil has just been changed for the first time ever in its 9 years of existence. The difference in performance, noise, gear change is utterly stunning. If the gearbox should now self destruct, I will come back and inform.

Please do not hod yer breath......

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I have good reason to believe my wife's gearbox oil has just been changed for the first time ever in its 9 years of existence. The difference in performance, noise, gear change is utterly stunning. If the gearbox should now self destruct, I will come back and inform.

Please do not hod yer breath......

Probably sound advice Kev, but if I suggested meddling with my wife's gearbox she would probably slap me or give me one of THOSE looks. After 40 years together I am not sure I could handle her with new performance or noise. I like her the way she is. She is already utterly stunning running on Ricard or white wine!

I am looking forward to trying EP90 though. Extra Pleasure at 90 sound quite a good idea. :goof:

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Are we really saying that transmission oils should be left in place for ever ? I do hope we're not talking about ATF here as well . . .

Chris

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All I know is toyota refused to change the trans fluid etc. on my 2000 Rav-4 (226,000 mi) because they claimed that changing the fluid could cause the transmision to fail soon thereafter and they did not want to be responsible for it.

I'm just not all that comfortable waiting for the transmission to fail if there is a better way. Damned if I do and damned if I don't.

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Is this a manual or auto transmission?

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The Rav-4 is an automatic transmition.

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If you want to really immerse yourself in what could be an urban myth ("Don't change your oil in case the transmission fails...") then simply Google "transmission failure after oil change".

If it was my 'box, I'd change the fluid for fresh, making sure it was the correct grade/type for that auto box. Unlike manual box lubricants, ATF fluids become contaminated with friction lining material, which doesn't help at all.

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No. Transmission fluid shoukd be changed regular. However, if oil has been in situ a long,long time advice is given to leave well alone. I have first hand experience of failure (on trucks) and have heard about it on cars.

The sludge settles with the bits if metal etc. Old oil drained but not all the nasty stuff comes out. New oil frees up the nasty stuff and you have a receipe for disaster.

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I hadn't heard that before..but I can see the logic.

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No. Transmission fluid shoukd be changed regular. However, if oil has been in situ a long,long time advice is given to leave well alone. I have first hand experience of failure (on trucks) and have heard about it on cars.

The sludge settles with the bits if metal etc. Old oil drained but not all the nasty stuff comes out. New oil frees up the nasty stuff and you have a receipe for disaster.

That's interesting, Dom. I've sometimes wondered about having the ATF changed especially as our 5-dr is coming up to 11 years old on the original ATF. All the advice on here has been to leave it be unless it is operating in extreme conditions (which it isn't) whilst several of Mr. T's finest dealers didn't have a !Removed! clue!

In any event both cars are still running like new so I guess Mr. T must have got it right as far as the ATF is concerned.

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In my experience the biggest cause of ATF failure is coolant leaking into the ATF from the radiator (very common fault on Discovery 3 autoboxes). Not sure how MR T cools ATF oil, but the work round on Disco's is to install a seperate ATF oil cooler or change the main rad around 70k.

My most recent experience of a gearbox/diff failure was on a truck 5months ago. Diff had done 350k without an oil change. Oil came out like a sludge. New oil in. 2 weeks later it blew apart on the m18.

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Can they not be flushed?

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Can they not be flushed?

The danger in that is that any crud that gets dislodged but doesn't get fully flushed out can be a major problem.........
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I don't know where we go from here. I've changed my mind three times just reading this thread!!

NB just changed (manual) gear oil on my "other" car, no issues so far.

Dave

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Yes, my head is spinning too!

The problem rests with me as I do not have a record of when the transmission fluid was last changed. (My wife purchased this car new and I inherited it from her when she purchased a '09 Rav-4 last year) She always took care of the car but as she is military and has been Mobilized/Deployed often she lost focus on it several years back and stopped keep repair records.


I was told by a local mechanic that a ‘transmission’ shop will be able to examine the transmission fluid and determine just how degraded it is. - Any thoughts?



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Can't do any harm for them to have a look at the fluid. They can then advise accordingly.

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There's a high chance the "fluid" is a thick stinky mess by now! Question remains what are you going to do with results of any test?!

If you're planning on keeping the car long term then you will need to change the oil at some point. I'd like to think that Toyota had planned for the inevitable need to change the oil and it'll all be fine!

Once you've changed it you'll know where you are and can plan from there.

Next will be the diffs etc! They'll be stinky-goo too!!

Dave

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Thanks all. I'll will keep you posted going forward...

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