How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

Awesome thread. A question about the AT fluid. I thought I read about 2 different brands used besides the toyota atf ws. Can you use other brands or is that pushing my luck? I hoping to try my luck on this tomorrow. Another question when I get it to go into the temperature check mode, a solid light for 2 seconds, then goes out, and I put it into P, the light stays out, then lights up steady when it reaches the correct temperature. Is that right? Thanks.

 

Let us know if that Harbor Freight scan tool will read transmission fluid temp(TFT). I'll be surprised if it does. Maybe it will allow users to input make-specific PIDs.

 

What's the pill bottle for?

 

Valvoline MaxLife appears to be the most popular aftermarket WS alternative. I have it in my truck and wife's 07 Lexus ES350. Other options include Amsoil, Purple Royal, and Super Tech (Wallyworld). Better to do a full flush than to mix/match. Put away the jump wire - the IR method has been proven to be just as accurate as the TechStream or jump wire methods.

 

Finished up the drain and fill. 1 and a 1/4 quarts drained from the overfill plug, 1 and a 1/2 quarts from the drain plug. Total out was 2 and 3/4 quarts. I put in 3 and a 1/2 quarts. Warmed up at idle till the temp from the IF laser showed 118-120 and drained from the overfill 1/2 quart. So it took 3 quarts. So it would have been 1/4 quart low. Is has been shifting pretty rough lately.
I took it out for a spin and smooth as silk. I could tell a big difference in the shifting. I know it wasn't a flush but would being low 1/4 qt make the difference or would it be partially new fluid? The drained fluid looked pretty dark. The transmission hasn't been touched prior and has 138 k miles.
Thanks to all, because this forum has saved me a bunch of money and has taught me how to work on my own truck. Yesterday I changed my oil/filter and rear differential gear oil, and today the drain and fill on the transmission. Pretty cool.

Toyota qt was 9.45 x 4 =37.80
Harbor Freight, Multi use pump was 6.99 worked like a charm. Also I bought the IR Laser to read the temp on the pan. that was 35.00.
Dollar Store for the jug to measure the drained fluid.

 

I 2nd that, I have Valvoline Maxlife in my tranny for 2 years now with no issues. 1/2 the price of the Toyota tranny fluid.

 

The pill bottle was holding the crush washers for the drain and overflow plugs. dealership didn't carry the oring for the filler plug. And all my tranq's are gone : this OBD2 trans. fluid temp drove me crazy, gave up.

 

No, your right, the H F OBD2 didn't work. got my money back on that one. Tried the BAFX brand of bluetooth OBD2 with Torque, no luck there either.

 

Ok so what is a slow trickle? Temp was at 118F pulled check plug...the extra 12 ounces I pumped in gushed out of level check hole. Then it went to a steady thin stream,then it got really slow and started trickling down the pan. So do you put check plug back in at the steady thin stream,or the barley dripping? Thabks

 

Mine slowed down from the big stream to a much smaller stream. You can tell then it's almost done. I plugged it up right then. So I would say the the small steady stream or a trickle your good.

 

Drained mine Saturday. Removed 3 qts 2 oz.. Put back just short of 3-1\2 qts. Pulled check plug when IR temp on the outlet line hit 120 and about 1/2 oz came out. So I would say it was a little low from factory.

 

I believe a trickle is when it go's from a thin stream to just quick drops, that's a trickle........put the cap on quick.

On another note; My IR thermometer kept jumping from 157F to 161F pan temperature while my Torque program was reading a steady 160F after a small 10 mile cruise on the HWY and then Idling the engine. IMO I believe the torque data is more accurate and
that's what I'm gonna use on my annual fluid level check.

 

I agree with the trickle.....

I have one of those cheap, entry-level IR thermometers from Harbor Freight. $59 unit on sale for $39. I too see variation in temp. readings. Seems to vacillate as yours does. Would be interesting to hear from those who've invested in a more upscale IR thermometer. Do they also vacillate?
I'm content to go by what I get using a 6" length of jumper wire in ports 4/13 of DLC3.

 

I avoid all things electronic from HB - well, I do have LED calipers, but that's it. I forked up $65 for

$193 Raytek MT6 Non-contact MiniTemp Infrared Thermometer

Raytek MT6 from Amazon. The Etekcity Lasergrip 1080 has good reviews and runs $17. However, I think it's normal for temp to skip a bit as your hand shakes. The response time for the IR is most likely quicker than the temp sensor in the tranny.

 

just a thought,
Maybe if folks would fix the IR gun to a small tripod or something to keep it steady it might give ya a better reading. Im just still gonna go with the torque program and get my reading like that.

 

why go to the trouble. The range is 115 to 130. SO what if the reading fluctuates a few degrees. I took mine on the outlet side of the tubing going to the radiator.

 

Checked the AT fluid on my 2015 TRD OR w/tow package last weekend. Couldn't get the dash lights to work properly using the jumper so I purchase an IR thermometer at HF. When the pan reached 120 I pulled the check plug and about 3 or 4 drops came out. I figured those might be in the check plug tube due to fluid sloshing around in the transmission. So I waited until the exhaust cooled a bit and pumped in what ended up being 9 oz of Toyota WS fluid. I then ran the temp back up on the trans, popped the check plug and some fluid drained out until it was trickling, at which point I screwed in the plug. After measuring what came out I found that I'd added 4 to 5 oz. Not what I'd really call "under filled", but on a truck with 6,000 miles it I believe it should have been completely topped off.

I bought this truck mid Feb with 4K miles on it and always thought the shifting felt soft. After driving it for five days I've found shifting may be a tad better at light and heavy throttle. Medium throttle appears to remain about the same. Of course these improvements could be in my head. I mean, really, should *5 oz.* of AT fluid actually make a difference?? In any case, it didn't seem to hurt and I know my trans is full of fluid.

 

Nice, can post a link to what you bought? Is that sufficient to avoid the jumping of pins
and trying to get it into temp check mode??

 

The AT fluid came from the Toyota dealer. I got one of these and a from HF. Hint: find a 20% off coupon to use on the thermometer. They're usually in a mailer (might find one at the store if you don't have one) as well as the motorcycle mag I subscribe to. Tools I already had.

I think the jumper is a more sure way to know the trans is at the correct temp, but for the life of me, I could not get it to work. And I don't consider myself to be a newb when it comes to working on vehicles. All told, I spent about $45-$50, but now don't wonder if my trans is unhappy or if it's just me. Apparently it's mostly me.

 

Thanks dude. I don't know if I'm checking mine, I was just curious. I have NO issues tranny
wise but just wanted to be prepared, I just don't trust the "we checked it with TechStream so
you're fine" answer. I thought how does the TS hookup check Fluid levels???