AKAvensis

I got my 30k maint done at the dealership.

They charged 220$ and did not replace coolant or tranny fluid.

A Different dealer wanted to do it for 500$ and change every goddam fluid there was.

The dealer I went to said that the 500$ dealer is a greedy _______ and just wants money. and that the fluids in the car when you buy it are good for a good 100k, which is what the maint guide in my glovebox says too.

So moral of the story.. call around before getting it done!

bmph8ter

What DID they do for $220? I assume the $500 would have included your coolant and ATF? I just did part of the 30K service on my box. My plan was oil/filter change, coolant drain/refill, brake flush/refill, ATF drain/refill (clean filter too), PS fluid flush/refill, change sparkplugs & airfilter. I got everything done except the brake & PS fluid which I'll do next weekend.

I just have a hard time believing in 'lifetime' fluids. Seeing all the crud on the magnets in the transmission pan made me glad I changed it. Coolant and PS fluid both look good, but I consider regular fluid changes to be cheap insurance. $60-70 every 2 years (30K) won't break me and maybe I'll get lucky and catch a problem before it becomes more major...

HeathenBrewing

'Lifetime' fluids are for those people who trade in their car every 4-5 years. I use a syringe body w/ a tube attached to it (instead of a needle) and use that to remove and replace the PS steering fluid every other month (it only takes 5 minutes).

16K miles and I have already done a drain and refill on my tranny (what a HUGE difference in shifting!!) and drained the radiator as well (once a year).

Remember - An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

The xB is super easy to work on, and you KNOW when something is done and that it is done right!

paul34

Technically, neither of those fluids *need* to be changed at 30K. Coolant maybe at 90 or 100K ... I personally wouldn't do it before that unless something went wrong with the system or it somehow became contaminated.

If they said they were oging to replace the tranny fluid, they should have. How do you know? Did you check yourself?

Metro273

Wishful thinking...
This is what we tell customers at our dealership but they think we're ripping them off...

bmph8ter

What did you end up using in the PS system? The manual says Dexron II/III, so I was kinda leaning toward the Mobil1 synthetic but I haven't found it locally yet. I know it can't hold much, maybe a quart or 2 tops.

bmxScion

mobile 1 ATF for the PS is good. as far as the flushing of the PS system go under the car and remove the hose that goes to the rack and turn the wheel without the car being started but with it on the on position each way until most of the old fluid is out. put hose back on, fill up resivoir start car turn full lock but do not slam it at full lock both directions about 5-6 times each way. shut off pull hose off again repeat like before and so on....do the whole thing about 5 times and you should have all the old fluid flushed out and all new Mobile 1 keeping your steering pump happy...

Super-Stormtrooper07

I also do the syringe PS and brake fluid. Not so sure about doing it so often(6 times a year) , but to each his own. I suppose it couldn't hurt too much.

I'd say flushing out the red Toyota coolent at least every other year(so every 2 years) is standard practice. You could do it more often, but will it make much difference ?? If you live in colder climates.. maybe do it more often. If you live in hotter climates... and the coolent gets to be 2-3 years old, its just getting to be more watered down, which in fact water cools at a higher rate/better cooling in hotter climate temperatures, then strickly coolent.

What about replacing the thermostate ?? How often ??

Auto tranny flush , depends upon what the manufacture says- but is usually every 25-30K miles. On manual tranny- gear oil ..... does anyone know the recommended interval of when to change it ?? If I read correctly, 100K may not be intirely out of line. It does though seem like a long time/interval though! If your going to keep the car 5+ years , I'd drop the gear/tranny oil at least by 40-50K ... then go Mobile 1 synth.

I also believe on RWD/ rear differentials(my old Toy. truck) , that gear oil should be dropped every 25-30K (2-3 years usual time interval).

HeathenBrewing

Just some standard (dino) Valvoline. I dont see a need for syn in the PS system myself.

Shakerhood

I would never leave the Coolant in any Vehicle for 90 or 100,000 Miles! Also, many Manual Tranny Vehicles require ATF so make sure you check your Owners Manual!

nyr197

ATF is for Automatic Transmissions - If you have a manual trans, you need gear oil.

Google: Redline MT-90.
It's a great gear oil and it makes shifting smoother. I change mine every 15-20k miles.

Shakerhood

Sorry, but you are "Very Mistaken" as there are several Manual Trannies that use ATF, they have since the 1980s!

rebelMan

Interesting thread, until this i never thought about how often the PS fluid should be replaced (woops). Guess i should do that pretty soon.

I was also wondering how hard it is to replace (or clean) the ATF filter? And should it be replaced or just cleaned?

jct

don't ever clean the ATF filter just replace it it'll be lot cheaper then cleaning it in the long run you don't want even a speck of dirt in your auto tranny...

HeathenBrewing

This is a Scion forum. There are no Scions that use ATF in a manual tranny.

Lets try to keep the information posted relevant to the cars in discussion.....

Scion manual trans = manual trans fluid
Scion auto trans = ATF fluid

rebelMan

Thats what i would've thought. How hard is it replace though? I've never done any work on a transmission before, and it seems messy .. i had intended to just have a shop drain/flush my ATF when the time comes, just cause i didn't want to make a mess in my garage lol

nyr197

scionlife.com mmk?

Shakerhood

I realize this is a Scion Forum, but we also work on and enjoy other makes and Models of Cars, I was just pointing out that you do not "assume" that Gear Oil goes into a Manual Tranny, its always best to check the Owners Manual or Service Manual to make sure you are using the correct fluid in any system you are servicing.

bmph8ter

Some of the Scion autos don't have a filter per se. More like a mesh strainer. My 04 is like that, but I'm not sure about the 06 yet. Talking to a few of the techs and the parts department at a local dealer got me this info. All they do is remove/clean/replace the strainer.

None of the local dealers stock the filter (all have the pan & plug gasket), so this must be fairly common practice. My last ride (93 S10 w/a 4L60E) used a filter with paper-ish media so it got replaced.

thunderbox

what is the refilling procedure on the auto xb i.e engine running at op temp with gear selector in nuetral or engine off do you run it through all the gears and then check i plan on doing this soon and i dont want to screw something up someone please help