fluids and filters
 

I'm spending close to $400 flushing both tranmission and brake fluids plus replacing both primary air filter and cabin air filter - how often does this need to be done?

Year of car?

2006, four door, automatic transmission - purchased used a year ago and have essentially only* changed the oil periodically until yesterday.

* one exception, I did replace the cabin air filter back in August - the tech told me it should be replaced every six months - is that right?

93350 miles, 2.4L engine

For normal driving environment.
Engine air filter recommendation is 30K miles or 24 months.
Cabin filter is 12K miles or 12 months.

If not towing inspect trans fluid every 30K miles or 24 months.
If towing replace fluid every 30K miles or 24 months.
From a more practical standpoint suggest changing every 60K miles.

For brakes inspect at every oil change. From a practical standpoint if doing a trans fluid change can do this also. Most owners never change the brake fluid.

thank you JoeyP - I much appreciate the insight - one last question if I may - what should I (or my mechanic) look for when inspecting the trans & brake fluids - he suggested they were both too dark and needed to be replaced

The darker the fluid the worse its condition but being different fluids, the cause is not the same.

Unless over heated, the cause of brake fluid turning dark is it absorbs water from the air.

Trans fluid oxidizes and breaks down with heat. The hotter the fluid gets, the shorter its life. Which was why the recommended change for towing was 30K miles.

For brakes, water can cause corrosion of parts which can cause problems but not as expensive as not changing the trans fluid which can lead to premature trans failure.

Brake fluid is normally clear, then turns darker as more water is absorbed. Some recommend more frequent changes based on time but every 60K miles is more the most drivers would do.

The trans fluid condition is much more important! It starts out as red, then becomes darker. Black fluid is bad, reddish fluid is OK.

Suggest a search on transmission fluid color which will produce photos as below:

transmission fluid color - Bing Images

Drip the fluid onto a paper towel and look at the color once absorbed then compare to photos.

Stop and go driving heats the fluid to a higher temp and thus its life will be shorter then fwy driving. The hotter the fluid gets, the shorter its life.

If you plan to keep the car as long as possible, might get a shop manual and do the air filter inspections and changes yourself to save a few dollars as an easy DIY job. Then concentrate maintenance dollars on trans fluid changes as trans replacement is expensive.

Fluid replacement should cost $150-200 even at a Toyota dealer but worth it if keeping the car.

I agree with Joey 100%! I know that my hydraulic clutch is very sluggish when temps are below freezing, this tells me that there is probably water that has contaminated the fluid. I need to get this changed as well as the tranny oil. Now, to find the time...