New Member from MD

Just inherited a 2004 4Runner from my father in law with 194,000 miles and I am super excited. He had the car for 10 years and was purchased new by a family member. It is in almost perfect condition and drives great. He gave it to me because he knows I will take care of it and my love for Toyotas. I have one question? The transmission has never been serviced so I don’t know whether I should do a drain and refill or leave it alone?

 

Here are some pics.

 

Congrats! I am new to 4th and 5th gen 4runners but the consensus with FJC's where my experience has been the last 8 years is that with a hifher mileage trans that has not been serviced, a drain and fill is fine, but NOT a flush. A flush is when the system is pressurised and detergents are pushed through. I would think a drain and fill should be fine.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome to the forum. Here is a good 4Runner resource. The Car Care Nut on YouTube.

Toyota 4Runner Transmission. Why is it so reliable? - YouTube

This guy is a Toyota mechanic. I think he recommends a drain and fill (no flush!) every 60,000 or 70,000 miles.

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

I watch him all the time but nobody knows for sure whether to leave transmission fluid alone or do a drain and refill.

 

+1 for drain and refill. When it comes down to it trans oil is still an oil. And oil does not last forever (yet, hopefully). This is a simple piece of preventative maintenance to up the chances of your runner going another 194k miles with no issues

also welcome from SW MD

 

Welcome from SoCal

 

Welcome from Wisconsin!

 

Welcome from Florida

 

Another Welcome from So Cal….and change the fluid for peace of mind if nothing else. It’s not difficult or expensive to do yourself, so it’s not worth the potential harm old trans fluid would do.

 

Nice ride! Congrats and welcome.