Thread: New Hilux Auto Transmission Shudder?

Originally Posted by GR Journey's NZ

Thanks heaps for replying!

Sooo a little more info - the Hilux gets used as a Hilux, camping, overlanding etc (Insta: @GR_Journey'sNZ) so it sees fords regularly. Trans fluid is a red colour when fresh, removed fluid was like a clean pinky colour - no other contaminants, not mud, etc reported. I estimate around 150 - 200km were driven on contaminated fluids with no signs of any issues while contaminated.

After looking a bit deeper into Hilux wading depths, I've found 700mm is the max wading depth. The diff openings are on the top of the pumpkin, no more than 300mmm from the ground! Transmission and VSC have breathers on the top of the transmission tunnel but highly doubt they are 700mm from the ground.

I looked back over the invoices received from GWD and they have only "Replaced" the fluids and can confirm today via email that no flushes were done at contamination time. I believe this to be the crucial issue seeing the complexity of the transmission systems and the little crevasses contaminants can hide. The only way I know of is a complete transmission flush via a flushing machine ?


After a email today from GWD, they are blaming the contamination for the damage - I'm saying the system should of been flushed properly which has caused remaining water in the system. Am I crazy ?

I suggest you get in under your vehicle and measure the heights of the diffs, transmission etc. You’ll find that they are a lot higher than 300mm… there’s two Gen 8 GUNs and a Gen 7 KUN in my driveway and I’d estimate the top of the rear diff to be between 450-500mm, and the transmission breather is at least 700mm.

I don’t want to sound mean spirited but if you’re going to get into a debate with Toyota then you need to get basic facts right. If you say 300mm to one of the people you’re arguing with, it won’t help. Go measure them properly.

When you’ve done that hold the tape measure up against your doors and note how deep you must’ve been to get water into the transmission. Again, not wanting to be mean and accusatory, but I am wondering how deep the water was and how long you were sat stationary in it…

The very first thing I do to my 4WDs is fit raised diff & gearbox breathers. The very first mod, when they’re brand new. Unfortunately not enough guys know to do this. Water ingress was bad enough on traditional manual boxes but with the trick autos these days it’s a disaster as you are finding out the hard way. This has been debated elsewhere at great length and one of the conclusions was how annoying it is that none of the manufacturers fit raised breathers to 4WDs. And also how important it was to understand maximum wading depth and how to traverse water crossings correctly.

The debate about whether the dealership should have flushed the transmission from the get-go is one thing, but how the water got in there in the first place is quite different and I think you are going to struggle to get them to cover this I’m sorry to say. They’ll simply say that you went in water that was too deep.