Toyota Corolla 2016 CVT

[whizbyu]

I have 50,000 miles on this car. I called the local dealership Town & Country Toyota about buying a transmission service kit. Man asked me how many miles I had. I said 50,000. Man says that it is a SEALED transmission and is designed to last the lifetime of the car. I asked him what his definition of lifetime is and he answered 150,000. I asked him what I can do proactively to make it last more than that. He said definitely do not mess with the transmission because they have special tools and computers to scan the fluid level of it. He added that if I broke open the seal and changed the fluid it would get contaminated and the transmission would get ruined within 3-4 months, tops.
VW's transmissions are also lifetime but I serviced them every 60,000 miles. Anyone have an opinion about this?

 

[hemitom]

He doesn't know what he is talking about.

Contaminated with what ?? does he think your going to dump water and dirt in it.

 

[JimPghPA]

There are certain things that must be done to do it properly. Check out the YouTube videos about it.

 

[hemitom]

There are certain things that must be done to do it properly. Check out the YouTube videos about it.

That goes for any transmission service some more involved than others, service guy is more or less brushing him off with certain statements of total destruction.

 

[JTK]

Every single dealer, regardless of make/model will give you the same song and dance in regards to CVTs. Don't touch'em or you'll ruin them.

This is completely false of course. I haven't followed these particular CVTs, but if they have an easy means to drain/fill, have at it. I know I would.

 

[The Critic]

He doesn't know what he is talking about.

Contaminated with what ?? does he think your going to dump water and dirt in it.

It's a CVT. You need to have dedicated filling equipment or clean your equipment thoroughly before working on it. Contaminating CVT fluid with conventional ATF is an issue. I keep a dedicated set of funnels and a separate fluid pump station for CVT fluids.

 

[Danh]

Every single dealer, regardless of make/model will give you the same song and dance in regards to CVTs. Don't touch'em or you'll ruin them.

This is completely false of course. I haven't followed these particular CVTs, but if they have an easy means to drain/fill, have at it. I know I would.

My Honda dealer is perfectly happy to change the fluid in my CVT.

 

[WylieCoyote]

Any dealership SHOULD be happy to do it, but I've been given the same runaround about conventional transmissions. They seem to think changing a trans filter is never necessary. I disagree, so I find non-dealership shops to do it. I'm sure you can find a write-up or video on how to do it. Just heed The Critic's advice.

 

[Racer4]

Toyota says the same thing about our RAV4. What I have been doing is I draining it cold measuring the amount in a graduated bucket then add the same amount back in usually a little more. There is a procedure on the Rav depending on temperature you drain out the extra when the fluid reaches 109 to 113 degrees you put the plug in and call it done. Works for me.

 

[Davejam]

It's a CVT. You need to have dedicated filling equipment or clean your equipment thoroughly before working on it. Contaminating CVT fluid with conventional ATF is an issue. I keep a dedicated set of funnels and a separate fluid pump station for CVT fluids.

So wiping funnels clean is not sufficient to switch between ATF and CVT fluid? Give me a break.

 

[The Critic]

So wiping funnels clean is not sufficient to switch between ATF and CVT fluid? Give me a break.

Wiping funnels is fine (my approach is probably overkill), but since these transmissions do not have dipsticks, most people use a filling apparatus to fill them. You need to maintain a different filling apparatus for CVT fluids since those tools are not easy to fully clean out.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Call a different Toyota dealer, or a good indy that does Japanese cars.

From this video, the special tool seems to be a paper clip.

You can probably do it without doing the whole computer scan thing if you do it when the car/fluid is cold. Drain cold, measure it, then add the same amount you took out. If you do this, it has to be cold because ATF expands a lot with temperature.

My Honda dealer is perfectly happy to change the fluid in my CVT.

Honda makes it very easy to change the fluid on their CVT's. On the 9th gen Accord, you just pull the dipstick (marked in yellow), then drain from the drain plug. All you have to do is refill the same amount that came out

 

[t1snwrbrdr12]

Wiping funnels is fine (my approach is probably overkill), but since these transmissions do not have dipsticks, most people use a filling apparatus to fill them. You need to maintain a different filling apparatus for CVT fluids since those tools are not easy to fully clean out.

Not claiming to be any auto or cvt trans expert, but in an auto trans class I’ve taken, they preached to never let rags get in a transmission.

He didn’t mean an entire rag, obviously. But he meant don’t wipe parts with rags that are going in a trans. Don’t wipe the pan, magnet, valve body, etc. The rag lint finds a way to trash transmissions, albeit probably slowly.

He came from a performance transmission shop and claimed the guys at the track cost themselves transmissions many times in carelessness when servicing them, swapping converters, etc, when they got rag contamination in their transmissions.

Since then, I’ve always cleaned trans pans and parts, funnels, etc, only with chemicals (brake clean, parts washer, etc) and air dry.

 

[Wheel366]

Audi told me my trans fluid in my 2001 TIP S4 was lifetime. I asked what lifetime was and they told me until it blows up. I then told them that there is no such thing as lifetime. I asked how much to change and they did give me a price.

 

[reddevil]

Wiping funnels is fine (my approach is probably overkill), but since these transmissions do not have dipsticks, most people use a filling apparatus to fill them. You need to maintain a different filling apparatus for CVT fluids since those tools are not easy to fully clean out.

In dealership, they would probably used whatever funnel that is within reach. a drop of ATF mixing with 4 quarts of CVT fluid will not be noticeable. But hey, we are in BITOG, so we need to be meticulous !

 

[CharBaby]

I agree with keeping your funnel clean. I used dedicated funnels for conventional ATF and CVT but clean them before each use as well.

As far as changing(draining/refilling) the tranny fluid on a Toyota CVT unit, I can't answer to that specific CVT. However, if it's any consolation, I have D&F'd the CVTs in the Altima & Civic in my signature in July 2019 and all is well to this day.

I used Castrol TransMAX CVT fluid and I wouldn't hesitate to use other brands spec'd for my tranny's. All is well after 1 year and the tranny's are performing the way they should be.

I measured the CVT fluid that came out and put back in that same amount of new CVT fluid while also using that specific tranny's overflow hole as my measuring guide...Starting the engine, shifting through the gears(what gears?) and either leaving the engine running or turn it off according to the procedure, until you get your specific fluid drizzle out of the overflow hole.

 

[RitcheyRch]

My friend has an independent Honda/Acura shop in the area and does it with my 2015 Civic CVT

My Honda dealer is perfectly happy to change the fluid in my CVT.

 

[nthach]

The only CVT I service was the first generation Honda Civic Hybrid one - I just had to clean the funnel throughly.

filling a new CVT isn’t much different than a sealed stepped automatic - just exercise good hygiene - use a separate pump free of other ATFs/gear oil and take care not to introduce dirt into the fluid. You will need a scan tool to monitor fluid temp to check the level.