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How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

Discussion in '2nd Gen. Tacomas (2005-2015)' started by Fortech, Dec 5, 2009.

  1. Mar 24, 2016 at 12:33 PM
    #621
    BlueT

    BlueT Well-Known Member

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    I moded 1999 Taco so much it had turned to Land Cruiser
    Honestly, if you own 2gen truck, scanguage II is best investment to make. It reads Transmission temperature which makes AT fluid change super easy, none of that pin jumper mambo jumbo. :)
    Going back to your level, 5 oz could be air somewhere in the system. Air gets compressed fluid not, so I would guess even little air in bad spot could make difference.
     
    syswalla[QUOTED] likes this.
  2. Mar 24, 2016 at 1:29 PM
    #622
    syswalla

    syswalla Knob

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    I'd been seriously looking at an UltraGuage but didn't cough up the dough this time. Probably will in the future, though. I rationalized the IR thermometer because the house has radiant head and I can use it to test zone and loop temps.

    You could be right about the air as it did seem to take a couple of drives for me to believe I noticed any difference. It wasn't a large difference, and I'm still doing set-of-the-pants testing, but at the very least I know I'm not harming the trans due to low fluid. Also, since I bought it with 4K miles, I'm more confident in the previous owner didn't cause harm. Overall, relatively cheap insurance.
     
  3. Mar 24, 2016 at 1:33 PM
    #623
    BlueT

    BlueT Well-Known Member

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    I moded 1999 Taco so much it had turned to Land Cruiser
    Yeah once you get air it takes time to purge all. I would even go as far as adding half a qt after setting the fluid level. just to make sure any air there gets purged.
     
  4. Mar 24, 2016 at 3:04 PM
    #624
    stump jumper

    stump jumper Well-Known Member

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    I hit the outlet tube at the coupler. I do not think you get a good reading off the pan. Difference between outlet tube and pan was substantial. For fun I checked both outlet and inlet. I noticed yesterday that Auto Zone had what looked like a pump to fit wide mouths. I used the one for the small neck but was very careful not to let it tip over.
     
  5. Mar 25, 2016 at 11:23 AM
    #625
    hardthunder

    hardthunder Member

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    I did the ScanGauge and other OBD II combos and none gave me Transmission Temp, even tried adding PID's but the ATF temps 1 and 2 gave me the coolant temp not ATF temp.

    I have a 2008 , 2 wheel drive PreRunner, 4.0L V-6, AT (A750E)

    The ATF Temp light does not come on when you turn the key on, it only lights up when you enter the temp check mode.
    I then followed the procedures given at the beginning of this forum and Success !!!!!!!!
     
  6. Apr 1, 2016 at 1:24 PM
    #626
    ColoradoTom

    ColoradoTom Team Velveeta™

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    Trying to coax my 2014 into AT Temp mode. Pretty sure I have the jumpers right, 4 and 13. Start it and you get a nice disco ball show. Did the shift sequence, tried it a couple times. Here's a vid... what am I doing wrong?



    2016-04-01 13.44.00.jpg
     
  7. Apr 1, 2016 at 1:49 PM
    #627
    Lester Lugnut

    Lester Lugnut Well-Known Member

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    Sounds to me like your shift sequence isn't going fast enough. Something like 4 shifts in 6.x secs. is what I've read.
     
  8. Apr 1, 2016 at 1:57 PM
    #628
    ColoradoTom

    ColoradoTom Team Velveeta™

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    Just went out and tried again, shifting faster. Feels wrong, like a 5 year old playing around with a truck. How many attempts do you get? If you start it, try the shifting sequence and botch it, do you have to shut her down and start it again to try again?

    But yeah, couldn't make any new lights appear. Just disco.
     
  9. Apr 1, 2016 at 2:09 PM
    #629
    Lester Lugnut

    Lester Lugnut Well-Known Member

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    From an A750E/A750F piece of doc on the web, Cut-n-paste of the document type left spaces here and there, but you can read it:

    M ove the s hift lever to D , and quic kly move it bac k and
    forth between N and D (onc e within 1 .5 s ec onds ) for at
    leas t 6 s ec onds . T his will ac tivate the fluid temperature
    detec tion mode.


    Someone on a 4Runner forum said that when Toyota says 1.x seconds...they mean just that.

    I've yet to hear of people cycling the ignition after each failed attempt.
     
  10. Apr 1, 2016 at 3:55 PM
    #630
    ColoradoTom

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    Any other variables that people can suggest? Parking brake being set, I assume that's fine. Brake pedal engaged? Common sense? Recommended even. Does the truck need to be totally cold?

    Seems like the vehicle's sensor is the most reliable temp guage, and I really don't want to go buy another tool I may never use for anything else. Seems like I could just hold my hand on the pan, and see if it seems to be a little warmer than my hand.
     
  11. Apr 1, 2016 at 7:22 PM
    #631
    Scott B.

    Scott B. Well-Known Member

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    Six shifts - N to D, D to N, N to D, D to N, N to D, D to N, see light flash, move to Park, see light flash again.

    I just found this out - a "shift" is N to D or D to N. N to D to N is 2 shifts, not 1.

    And speed up your shifting a little.
     
  12. Apr 1, 2016 at 7:48 PM
    #632
    Blkvoodoo

    Blkvoodoo a Hooka smoking caterpillar has given me the call

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    your ScanGuage have Xgauge capability ? thats the only thing I can think of not letting it read trans temp.

    ScanGuage was the first thing I installed on my truck when I bought it last summer. 255k miles and I wanted to see where things were temp an other data wise.

    I changed the trans fluid last Friday, @ 261705 miles, the FIRST time it has ever been changed, I was nervous at what I would find, but it was a non-event. fluid was dark as expected, but still reddish, and not burnt smelling at all.
    IMG_4514.jpg
    IMG_4516.jpg

    trans screen, no debris at all. the magnets in the pan had minor particulate on them, nothing surprising at all.
    I've been in GM transmissions with less than 80,000 miles that looked trashed in comparison.

    I'm impressed with this truck, reasonably well maintained ( except trans services ) was a fleet truck, technician vehicle at a forklift dealership.

    gotta say, it does seem to shift a little better now in the 75 ish miles I've driven since
     
  13. Apr 1, 2016 at 8:09 PM
    #633
    ImpulseRed008

    ImpulseRed008 Gone But Not Forgotten

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    Just did mine last weekend and had trouble getting it in temp check mode, too. Kept re-reading the directions and finally got it to work. Have to be quick on the shifts. Truck does not need to be cold. Fluid just can't be too hot.

    Holding your hand on the pan would be the same as using the IR temp thing.... will give you the pan temp, not the actual fluid temp. Fluid will warm up before the pan
     
  14. Apr 1, 2016 at 8:18 PM
    #634
    Blkvoodoo

    Blkvoodoo a Hooka smoking caterpillar has given me the call

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    in my case, i drove the truck 12 miles to get to the shop where i borrowed the lift, fluid was 130° when i got there, by the time i had truck racked, drained and the pan off, cleaned, filter installed and had dumped the fluid in for the first fill, trans temp was down to 105°, when it came time to check at temp, it took not quite 5 min to reach 110°-115°. this is all via scan gauge . so unless you're doing it cold from the get go, of the fluid you're pouring in is freezing cold, it doesn't take much to get up to correct check temp.
     
  15. Apr 2, 2016 at 12:07 AM
    #635
    Aguaski

    Aguaski Well-Known Member

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    I tested my IR thermometer against actual fluid temps using OBD Fusion scanner. I took an IR reading every time the actual temp raised 5 degrees on my scanner. The IR readings were taken with the laser aimed at the drain plug bolt. During most of my test readings I never found the IR temperature to be lagging the actual fluid temp by more than 1 degree, but somewhere between 105 and 110 degrees the IR temp lag grew to 3 degrees and maintained that lag until the actual fluid temp reached 115 degrees. At that point I stopped testing because it was time to pull the overflow plug. My conclusion is that the pan temp with an IR thermometer will lag a bit and is not perfect, but if your having trouble getting into temp check mode then an IR thermometer is a more than a good enough tool. Yes there is temp lag with the IR thermometer aimed at the pan but the difference in actual temp is so slight that I don't see a problem if the IR method is used by someone on this forum. My recommendation to anyone using an IR thermometer is to narrow the target temperature range to say 118-123. If you hit that target range with your IR thermometer the actual temps are highly likely to still be in the 115-130 range needed to set the transmission fluid level.
     
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  16. Apr 2, 2016 at 6:40 PM
    #636
    ColoradoTom

    ColoradoTom Team Velveeta™

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    This helped. Here's what it looked like on my 2014. Light was on steady, but it didn't seem like the fluid was very hot.

     
  17. Apr 6, 2016 at 7:58 PM
    #637
    IowaToyotas

    IowaToyotas Well-Known Member

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    So I got my truck into Temp check mode then went under my truck just to check the level and no dice a little litte little drip came out but then it stopped.
     
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  18. Apr 7, 2016 at 5:15 AM
    #638
    Lester Lugnut

    Lester Lugnut Well-Known Member

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    No dice?

    You don't want a large run of fluid coming out. That would indicate overfill. A little drip would indicate the fluid level is right at the top of the overfill tube. For those who don't understand Toyota's overfill tube - google - "Monticello dam California" or click on the photo below:
     

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  19. Apr 7, 2016 at 9:28 AM
    #639
    IowaToyotas

    IowaToyotas Well-Known Member

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    Sorry when I mean little drip it was maybe two drops then nothing
     
  20. Apr 7, 2016 at 9:33 AM
    #640
    Lester Lugnut

    Lester Lugnut Well-Known Member

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    If it was 2 drops, I would punt and redo the fluid level check. Add in maybe 8 oz. of fluid before you begin the test.
     
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