Transmission fluid interval 2019 Corolla will dump and replace cause damage at 22,000?

[Pete85476]

I bought at 2019 Toyota Corolla Sedan LE 1.8L A/T L4 - 2ZR-FE, CVT, 2WD directly from Toyota dealer with 15,000 miles on it in Sept 2022. It now has 22,000 miles. I would like to dump and add new transmision fluid. It would allow a chance to see: 1) how clean it is and 2) if the fluid is low. I miss the old days with a stick but now I am blind to what is going on in the sealed transmission. Internet search on this topic reveals a general agreement to not change it until 60,000 miles. If changed earlier it will cause transmission problems. Should I wait until 60,000 or start now? Thank you

 

[wwillson]

If you want to do a spill and fill now, do it, nothing will be harmed. I'm a big fan of trans spill and fills, as transmission fluid is cheap, transmissions are not.

 

[admzn]

I'm not sure how changing the fluid early would ever cause problems... I've done a spill and fill on every 30-40k or so for many years on my automatic vehicles.

 

[Rygrego]

I bought at 2019 Toyota Corolla Sedan LE 1.8L A/T L4 - 2ZR-FE, CVT, 2WD directly from Toyota dealer with 15,000 miles on it in Sept 2022. It now has 22,000 miles. I would like to dump and add new transmision fluid. It would allow a chance to see: 1) how clean it is and 2) if the fluid is low. I miss the old days with a stick but now I am blind to what is going on in the sealed transmission. Internet search on this topic reveals a general agreement to not change it until 60,000 miles. If changed earlier it will cause transmission problems. Should I wait until 60,000 or start now? Thank you

It will not cause problems changing the fluid too often. The only downside will be cost. If you want to drain and fill as early as every oil change go for it, won't hurt a thing (won't really help at that frequency, but will not hurt anything).

 

[BHopkins]

Nothing wrong with early transmission fluid changes. I have always read/heard that transmission fluid should be changed no later than 60k mile. No need to wait until then.

I bought at 2019 Toyota Corolla Sedan LE 1.8L A/T L4 - 2ZR-FE, CVT, 2WD directly from Toyota dealer with 15,000 miles on it in Sept 2022. It now has 22,000 miles. I would like to dump and add new transmision fluid. It would allow a chance to see: 1) how clean it is and 2) if the fluid is low. I miss the old days with a stick but now I am blind to what is going on in the sealed transmission. Internet search on this topic reveals a general agreement to not change it until 60,000 miles. If changed earlier it will cause transmission problems. Should I wait until 60,000 or start now? Thank you

Is there any evidence of transmission fluid leaking? Is the transmission pan and gasket area dry? No streaks under the car? If everything looks good, then you can comfortably reason that the transmission fluid level is OK. That is, assuming the transmission was filled to the correct level at the factory.

Once you have done your own drain and fill, then as long as you have no evidence of leakage, you can rest assured that the tranny fluid level is ok.

 

[martinq]

I would strongly advise for a CVT fluid drop and change in the first year after a break in period. That could be after 1k or 10k depending on the unit and conditions.

If you have a pan on the CVT I would advise to drop it and clean/inspect the magnets every year or two until you've established a reliable result. After the unit is broken in and kept clean you can increase your maintenance intervals to suit your conditions.

It is so much easier to do this than it is to change the belt or transmission.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

So I say 30k dumps max.

 

[admzn]

Nothing wrong with early transmission fluid changes. I have always read/heard that transmission fluid should be changed no later than 60k mile. No need to wait until then.



Is there any evidence of transmission fluid leaking? Is the transmission pan and gasket area dry? No streaks under the car? If everything looks good, then you can comfortably reason that the transmission fluid level is OK. That is, assuming the transmission was filled to the correct level at the factory.

Once you have done your own drain and fill, then as long as you have no evidence of leakage, you can rest assured that the tranny fluid level is ok.

This is very good advice. Transmissions have no way to "consume" oil like a motor would. So if it was losing fluid, you'd see it somewhere.

 

[DirectRejection]

I bought at 2019 Toyota Corolla Sedan LE 1.8L A/T L4 - 2ZR-FE, CVT, 2WD directly from Toyota dealer with 15,000 miles on it in Sept 2022. It now has 22,000 miles. I would like to dump and add new transmision fluid. It would allow a chance to see: 1) how clean it is and 2) if the fluid is low. I miss the old days with a stick but now I am blind to what is going on in the sealed transmission. Internet search on this topic reveals a general agreement to not change it until 60,000 miles. If changed earlier it will cause transmission problems. Should I wait until 60,000 or start now? Thank you

Legendary Car Care Nut says to do the following:
--Simple drain n fill on the 60s.
--Like clockwork.
--Use Genuine Toyota WS.
--No more, no less.

It is a bit counter intuitive. The idea is to keep on doing partial fluid replacements, with identical chemistry. This is what works best on Toyota transmissions. It's failsafe.

 

[Furious]

Legendary Car Care Nut says to do the following:
--Simple drain n fill on the 60s.
--Like clockwork.
--Use Genuine Toyota WS.
--No more, no less.

It is a bit counter intuitive. The idea is to keep on doing partial fluid replacements, with identical chemistry. This is what works best on Toyota transmissions. It's failsafe.

I havn't kept up to date with the latest Toyota CVT's but I don't think using Toyota WS in a CVT is smart... but correct me if I am wrong.

 

[UG_Passat]

It will not cause problems changing the fluid too often. The only downside will be cost. If you want to drain and fill as early as every oil change go for it, won't hurt a thing (won't really help at that frequency, but will not hurt anything).

With that extreme, it can hurt a thing, too clean of ATF is a bad thing. Some residual friction material floaties in the fluid is a good thing, for proper operation of the lock up clutch in a Torque Converter. Otherwise, you would need to add a friction modifier to the ATF for the lock up clutch to operate properly.

 

[BHopkins]

Legendary Car Care Nut says to do the following:
--Simple drain n fill on the 60s.
--Like clockwork.
--Use Genuine Toyota WS.
--No more, no less.

It is a bit counter intuitive. The idea is to keep on doing partial fluid replacements, with identical chemistry. This is what works best on Toyota transmissions. It's failsafe.

Who is Legendary Care Care Nut? I'm curious, as you seem to put a lot of weight in his/her opinion, but I've never heard the "name" before.

 

[UG_Passat]

Legendary Car Care Nut says to do the following:
--Simple drain n fill on the 60s.
--Like clockwork.
--Use Genuine Toyota WS.
--No more, no less.

It is a bit counter intuitive. The idea is to keep on doing partial fluid replacements, with identical chemistry. This is what works best on Toyota transmissions. It's failsafe.

Except you missed the caveats. real CVT's use Toyota Genuine CVTF FE

Hybrid transmissions "eCVT" uses WS

 

[UG_Passat]

Who is Legendary Care Care Nut? I'm curious, as you seem to put a lot of weight in his/her opinion, but I've never heard the "name" before.

The Car Care Nut Youtube channel.

 

[martinq]

With that extreme, it can hurt a thing. Since the CVT also has a torque converter, too clean of ATF is a bad thing. Some residual friction material floaties in the fluid is a good thing, for proper operation of the lock up clutch. Otherwise, you would need to add a friction modifier to the ATF for the lock up clutch to operate properly.

I've never seen a report showing the proper amount of wear additives to add to a hydraulic, gear, transmission system.

Most CVT's that I've seen have several clutches and in that respect are similar to a typical AT. Everything in these transmissions works better with clean, uncontaminated fluid.

Are there TSBs / docs / reports out there indicating how much wear particles should be added to a new or cleanly flushed transmission?

 

[wpod]

Where do we get these ideas?

 

[kschachn]

I've never seen a report showing the proper amount of wear additives to add to a hydraulic, gear, transmission system.

Most CVT's that I've seen have several clutches and in that respect are similar to a typical AT. Everything in these transmissions works better with clean, uncontaminated fluid.

Are there TSBs / docs / reports out there indicating how much wear particles should be added to a new or cleanly flushed transmission?

There must be, without them how would the factory know what to do?

 

[UG_Passat]

I've never seen a report showing the proper amount of wear additives to add to a hydraulic, gear, transmission system.

Most CVT's that I've seen have several clutches and in that respect are similar to a typical AT. Everything in these transmissions works better with clean, uncontaminated fluid.

Are there TSBs / docs / reports out there indicating how much wear particles should be added to a new or cleanly flushed transmission?

You forget something. A brand new lock up torque converter has the clutches operating optimal from the factory. But as soon as you start using it, the clutch material starts to wear, wear particles from the clutch which gets suspended in the ATF.

Over the long term, when there clutch is worn enough, it will start shuddering on a "clean" fluid if you overdo the ATF as suggested above. Then you have to start adding stuff like Lubegard additives as a band-aid to replacing the torque converter, so lubegard makes some money on this.

 

[Furious]

Who is Legendary Care Care Nut? I'm curious, as you seem to put a lot of weight in his/her opinion, but I've never heard the "name" before.

A Toyota master technician on Youtube, fairly well educated on Toyota's specifically, but he is very strict in regards to OEM parts only even down to the simplest of things.

Good channel however for Toyota owners who are looking to get their hands dirty a bit.

 

[kschachn]

You forget something. A brand new lock up torque converter has the clutches operating optimal from the factory. But as soon as you start using it, the clutch material starts to wear, which gets suspended in the ATF.

Over the long term, when there clutch is worn enough, it will start shuddering on a "clean" fluid if you overdo the ATF as suggested above. Then you have to start adding stuff like Lubegard additives as a band-aid to replacing the torque converter, so lubegard makes some money on this.

Just call me a bit skeptical on this whole notion.

"Master technician" or not.