For anybody who hasn't changed their trans fluid

YIKES ^^^^^^^^

 

^Dass no bueno, mang...

 

Normal fluid temperature in transmission to be 175 deg. F.

Rate of oxidation to double for each temperature increase of 20 deg F above normal (175 deg F). As oxidation rate doubles, useful life of fluid is cut in half.

At 175 deg F life is 100,000 miles
At 195 deg F (20 deg above 175) life is 50k miles
At 215 life is 25k miles
At 235 life is 12k
At 255 life is 6,250
At 275 life is 3,000
At 295 life is 1500
At 315 life is 750

At temperatures much above 300 deg F the metals in the transmission will tend to warp, twist etc. high temperatures causes the formation of varnish deposits which impair or pre vent transmission operation.

At a fluid temperature of 415 deg F fluid life is 30 minutes!

Source: Empire Lubricants Inc.

 

Thanks for the reply. Hope this isnt a dumb question but I do I need to drain the fluid before I drop the pan? How do I clean the filter I have never really seen a transmission filter before. What are the magnets, I didnt know transmissions had magnets in them. Does the tranny oil get added where the dip stick is? Ive done a bunch of oil changes myself but was always afraid to mess with the tranny. I have seriously never messed with a tranny even before when I used to play with little hondas.

 

Yes, drain the pan before you drop it.
this is what the filter looks like.

 

cool. thanks for the replies. I have a 2.7L automatic do I have the 340E or F tranny? Do i need to raise the truck in order to do this or can i just crawl under? i have a 99 prerunner stock height. thanks

 

Prerunner you'll have the a340e. A340f is 4x4 trans. You can probably just crawl under

 

So I just added a trans cooler and now I'm barely seeing 190 in the middle of the day(it's in the 90s here already ). At night is barely above 180. This is with a long extended city trip. Before I used to see 220-225 on these same trips. If 175 is the normal temp, what temp should I be worried about when it reaches. Is 220-225 about time when it's starting to get to high

 

I beleive your truck can handle 210-220 I wouldnt let it get higher than that , but if you look at the chart I posted above , you can see that your fluid life is going to drop off fairly quick . You can always park and run the engine to cool your transmission off . Darn good idea you grabbed a trans cooler and serviced your transmission when you did . Chances are , you were cooking your trans fluid

 

He probably has a scan gauge 2, or installed a sensor and gauge.

 

I read on Pirate somewhere someone recommended pan drops and filter changes every 40k. I bought the wifes 4 runner with 167k on it. Right before 200k it went out and I never added a drop of oil. Fluid was dirty when we bought it and I figured that was better than someone hiding the strawberry milkshake. Did add an external cooler the first week we owned it. Some bearing let loose and took out a planetary I believe. I have a thread in the Texas section. To say the least I'm going to be doing pan drops every 50k for sure from now on.

 

I have been noticing heat around the center console inside the truck after running it hard or for a long time. Is that my trans? And should I be worried? Due to work, I haven't had time to drop the pan and see whats what

 

When I towed I could feel my trans heat up. It would get the sides of the floor hot by the shifter, directly above the trans. No telling how hot the trans actually was during those few long hauls with our boat

 

This is correct, actually its every 35k according to the POS manual im looking at.. i'd say 40k or 50k is more than reasonable

 

How hard is it to drop the pan? 160K and never changed the screen. I normally do 30K intervals.

 

Not hard at all. All the bolts are accessable from under the truck. I bought a screen filter from O'reillys and it came with a cork gasket. When you put the pan back on, tighten in a cross pattern. It can be a little messy so drain the pan before you drop it.