I am searching for answers to what if anything the service department at my local Toyota dealer may have damaged. I took my 2007 Tundra in for a drain/fill of the tranny due to the fact that I tow with it and this transmission is sealed and I didn't want to mess with it. Usually I take care of all my own maintenance. Taking it in I had a bad feeling about it because I never trust service departments to do things right. Well, sure enough, they drained the tranny but left it 3 quarts low on fluid. Driving out of the parking lot I felt like something was off but just chalked it up to the new fluid needing to get circulated. After about 10 miles it started slipping, not shifting, and downshifting harshly. All my warning lights popped on too. I called them the next morning and took it back in for them to figure it out. To say the least, I was not happy but was told by them there was no damage. It seems fine now but my question is could there be damage to the tranny from what eneded up being 40 miles of driving low on fluid? I already called the Toyota customer service hotline and had them document it. I let the dealership know that they were on the hook for anything involving the transmission. Don't really know if they would be or not. Anybody have any other suggestions? Never had any issues with my truck and I have always been an owner of a Toyota but am real disappointed with their lack of competence.

Thanks for any input.

Jeremy

There was someone within the last few months that had a problem involving something similar but with an oil change. I think it may have been in the Gen1 forum. There was a lot of talk back and forth and advice as to what they should do to hold the dealership accountable.

Naturally the dealer is going to tell you that there wasn't any damage to the tranny. I would definitely look into getting something more concrete in regards to a warranty on their dime on your tranny. Keep us posted and good luck.

John

If you were easy on the transmission, i.e. gentle throttle, not 'mashing it', etc, you're probably alright with just 40 miles in that condition. Low ATF, in addition to supplying hydraulic pressure to the clutch packs, also cools the transmission/torque converter internals, so if it wasn't pushed too hard, there's probably no real damage.

The dealer is lucky that you are that aware of what proper transmission function 'feels' like!! If you had headed out of town towing a travel trailer, the outcome of this story could have been very expensive for the dealer.