Transmission Fluid - My car is ruined - help

[chattersking]

First of all thank you so much for your replies - your information was very valuable and helpful to me and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.
Please let me have a moment to explain the whole situation.
I purchased a used Yaris Sedan with 50K Kilometres and considering it is a 2008 model i would say it was driven a lot. Therefore my transmission oil was found dirty during a recent oil change. After contemplating back and forth regarding the "lifetime" oil guarantee from Toyota I thought to better be safe then sorry and decided to change my transmission fluid for good. However Toyota quoted me something around $200 for a "DRAIN & REFILL" (trust me they say they only do this method). I found a better deal thru a local "mechanic" for $85. As per my previous post he proceeded to use three one litre cans of Castrol Multi Import Vehicle ATF and claimed that it is compatible for Toyota based on the product labelling. Satisfied and happy I drove back home enjoying the smooth feel of my car without having any single clue of what was about to come. Since I dont have an owners manual I was not able to read the important information regarding proper Toyota transmission fluid. After coming back home and stumbling around this website I found out the real truth. Obviously since the repair was done by a local "mechanic" in his backyard and by cash I screwed myself big time as this son of a gun will not stand his service.
Today after reading all your reviews I went to Toyota dealership and purchased genuine Toyota ATF WS one case of 12 cans for $100. Obviously the parts department guy was wondering why do i need so much instead of just 3,4 liters. I told him everything honestly as what had occurred and he suggested to me that instead of going to another local mechanic whose flushing methods may not be proper I should rather do it from them. Having no choice and learned my lesson I decided to flush my transmission from them.
The total came out about $200 plus my earlier $100 for the fluids. Not to forget the earlier $85 that i had spent on the idiot.
Anyways i was not able to see what exactly Toyota did since i was called back after an hour but i believe that they did carried out all the necessary repairs as were needed. There is no difference in driving and my car still runs smooth as it used to be before all this hoopla.

After going thru all these experiences and learning a valuable yet painful lesson i find myself still confused regarding what to believe. Genuine vs non genuine, dealer vs local mechanic and all that. I guess it is all about common sense knowing what and who to choose for when!

Again thank you so much for all your help - let my experience serve as a lesson to all of you so that god forbid you dont have to go thru this.

[Hershey]

the A.T.F. can go as far as 100,000 miles . Makes me believe that it's a synthetic tranny fluid . Any thoughts on this ?

[auxmike]

I don't know, but I'm not messing with mine!
There is a sticker right on the neck of the tranny dipstick stating no need to change the fluid.
Stick to oil changes.....

[Hershey]

take a look at this . www.amsoil.com/storefront/atl.aspx . Makes me think the WS is a synthetic . Know that the newer VIBES and MATRIX now use synthetic gear oil ( GL-5 ) for the manual tranny . Not sure about new COROLLAs and SCION XDs . Would think so since they too have the same 5 speed manual transmissin and 1.8 ltr. engine . Wonder if the manual tranny for YARIS now comes with synthetic gear oil . Hard to get that kind of info out of TOYOTA . Bummer .

[ctrj]

Manual Yaris does indeed come with WS. I drained mine at 75k and refilled with Mobil 1 synthetic.

[Hershey]

manual tranny for YARIS uses gear oil , not A.T.F.. If I read what you wrote right .

[ctrj]

Originally Posted by Hershey

manual tranny for YARIS uses gear oil , not A.T.F.. If I read what you wrote right .

No, from what I understand, they put WS fluid in the manual tranny too. I will check with a tech today to confirm.

[127.0.0.1]

Originally Posted by auxmike

I don't know, but I'm not messing with mine!
There is a sticker right on the neck of the tranny dipstick stating no need to change the fluid.
Stick to oil changes.....

all that matters is:

Toyota WS is lifetime, no need to change it unless:

it becomes discolored
it becomes burnt smelling


so that basically means you may end up changing it around 150,000
YMMV


what makes it special is: ws stands for world standard and was developed
with the hybrid synergy drive systems in mind. Toyota uses it everywhere now
so there will be less mistakes moving forward, and one simple ATF fluid for all
Toyotas.

it is the only ATF that won't destroy toyota hybrids and electric drive systems

it has a lower viscosity when cold for energy savings,
and lower viscosity at operating temps...the viscosity rises when it gets really hot and then
matches atf T-IV viscosity

transmissions are specifically built for it.

any other fluid can and will cause long term clutch failures, solenoid failures...etc...

[Hershey]

Originally Posted by ctrj

No, from what I understand, they put WS fluid in the manual tranny too. I will check with a tech today to confirm.

it's gear oil . Had an '08 manual and changed factory installed gear oil to a better synthetic gear oil . REDLINE MT-90 ( GL-4 , 75w-90 ) .

[supmet]

Originally Posted by 127.0.0.1

all that matters is:

Toyota WS is lifetime, no need to change it unless:

it becomes discolored
it becomes burnt smelling

My tranny fluid was "discolored" at about 10k, maybe earlier.

I changed it at 60k, when the shifting became noticeably less smooth.

[Hershey]

apparently to verify the type of A.T.F. you'll need to remove the transmission dipstick and should see either W.S. or T-IV stamped just above the FULL MARK . The W.S. stands for WORLD STANDARD .

[Lazerdot]

I put AMSOIL Severe Gear 75w-90 in my MT.

[1stToyota]

Originally Posted by Lazerdot

I put AMSOIL Severe Gear 75w-90 in my MT.

You probably should have used AMSOIL 75W-90 GL-4 Transaxle Lube...it's what I used and GL-4 is better for the transaxle than the severe gear GL-5, which is meant for differentials.

[TheSilkySmooth]

Most high performance ATF is synthetic. Just pull the msds and look at the oils.

[jambo101]

I wouldnt think about changing tranny fluid till at least 100k,in fact my last 2 cars got at least 200k on the manual trannies before i sold the cars and i never did get around to changing the tranny oil at all.

[Lazerdot]

My owners manual said GL-5. Plus since I run it hard some times, seemed like a good idea. So far its working real good.

[Hershey]

I believe the SEVERE GEAR is formulated so not to corrode brass parts of manual tranny , unlike most GL-5 gear oils .

[cali yaris]

oh and lifetime any fluid is a joke.

does that include sealed rear differentials?

,in fact my last 2 cars got at least 200k on the manual trannies before i sold the cars and i never did get around to changing the tranny oil at all

may be semantics, but that's pretty much "lifetime" -- longer than I've ever owned a car, (and I'm pretty old). LOL.