Is pink trans oil still "good"?

[supton]

Decided that since it was a balmy 55F I'd contemplate a drain and fill on my Tundra. First things first, break loose the fill bolt and the check level bolt *before* touching the drain bolt. Those moved, but the oil that came out of the check level was... as pink as could be. I'm thinking I can just soldier on since it's pink and not some shade of black. Seem reasonable?

Vehicle in question:

I bought this Tundra used at 73kmiles, presumably with no prior trans service. I did not find any evidence of towing nor big dents in the bed, so it's possible it lived an easy life. It holds 12qt and at 80k I was able to change about 7qt with Maxlife. [At that time I dropped the pan and cleaned the magnets--very little metal--and changed the screen--no garbage that I saw.] Truck rarely sees short trips, used mostly highway, no towing, infrequent heavy foot driving. I'm thinking with 30k "easy" miles I hardly need bother with a drain and fill. Especially since the stores are closed today and I forgot to buy a length of hose to refill, and don't want to spend 15 minutes using a hand operated transfer pump.

 

[UncleDave]

A long as its the right pink fluid - probably yes.

And as long as their are no leaks its probably been change out fully at least once or preferably drained and filled a couple of times.

Color and clarity are good thats usually ok, but i always take a sniff at the stick- smell is another giveaway of a former problem.

Burned up oxidized trans fluid that has been changed recently leaves a distinct smell that can stay around for a while.


UD

 

[RF Overlord]

As UncleDave said, "probably"...but not necessarily. Even though the fluid may not be oxidised, the additive pack can still be depleted.

The fluid in the 2000 Grand Marquis in my sig was reasonably clear and red when I bought it (with 120,xxx), but the car was just starting to develop the early signs of TCC shudder. 2 drain & fills later and the pre-shudder effect was gone.

 

[cat843]

Color is never a good indicator of whether the fluid is good to keeping using, unless the color is black and its thick and smells burned.

If you do not have the maintenance history you should change it and keep track from now on.

 

[supton]

Yeah, I know, I can't go wrong with changing; but it's a pain (no dipstick--moronic design). I know half the fluid is was exchanged, so I'm not worried, but maybe I'll get a length of hose and change next time we get a good weekend. Today would have been good but I spent the day on the wife's car instead.

 

[Oro_O]

We had a prior generation 100 Series Landcruiser, so the earlier version of the same V8 and transmission as in your Tundra. Despite occasional heavy towing and lots of urban short trips, that fluid never seemed to wear. Very well built and long-lived units.

Here is how I deal with the pesky no-dipstick issue. I use a cheap (~$12) drill pump. It works well. This is it doing a complete swap via cooler lines, though you don't need that having done a 1/2 swap 30k ago, of course.

 

[supton]

I thought wih the cooler lines the engine had to be running? Didn't know one could pull fluid through the line like that.

I should do some more reading on this method.