DIY: Full Flush for Automatic Transmission

That's a great question. I'm not sure if the TFT (Transmission Fuel Temperature) on my Scangauge X shows the pan temp or the torque converter temp. I used the programmable codes made available by Scanguage. I'll have to verify and confirm. Thanks!

Scangauge's X-Gauge shows two options for tranny temp:

https://www.scangauge.com/xgauge/toyota-lexus-scion-cansf-transmission-temperature-2010/

https://www.scangauge.com/xgauge/toyota-lexus-scion-cansf-transmission-temperature-2010-alt/

Not sure yet if they're for different locations in the transmission (ie. pan vs torque converter).

I was planning on using my Scangauge to to get into temp check mode as well.

 

These are the codes for the scangauge, I used these to derive the codes for @JD'STaco ultragauge. As far as I know the codes we came up with are working perfectly.

 

Nice write up ​

 

I am just at 96 thousand miles on my truck and it has never had the trans serviced yet. Should I just do the change or flush? I am spooked about this entire thing and don't want to mess up the tranny and make it slip. Right now my truck runs great but the gas mileage sucks. I already changed the front and rear diff and transfer case fluid. Thanks for any feed back on this.

 

I'd drain it and see how the fluid looks, if it doesn't smell burnt I'd go ahead with the flush. We have members here that have flushed at much higher mileages than you with no ill effects.

 

It is dark with a purple look to it on a paper towel. I have had the truck since 8,000 miles and never really towed much at all.

 

Yeah I'd go ahead and flush it if it was mine.

 

I just tried this. They both worked. Thank you!

 

just changed mine with 81k. i did a simple drain and fill and added 4 quarts then let the excess drain out while in temp check. The truck had a really hard 1-2 shift with a slight slip and the drain and fill cleaned all of that right up; drives buttery smooth now. i drive this truck hard and tow a utility trailer on the interstate at ~80+ mph several times a year. the fluid that came out was pure black, no scent

 

my dealer wants to do a full flush on my 06 OR V-6 with 150K on it. Maybe it's about time for it...

 

I've got 135k and plan on doing it myself in a few weeks

 

dont hesitate at all, if you can change the oil in your truck you can do this

 

SUB for later

 

I saw in another thread where a guy said you need Techstream to flush or top off the transmission in a 2015? Is Techstream actually necessary? I haven't seen that before.

 

No... temp check mode is all that is needed.

 

I will be doing this in the near future thanks for the write up

 

I finally got around to doing this today. Took me nearly all day, mainly because I took my time to take breaks and double check everything I was doing. A pretty straightforward process once you've done it yourself.

At 52,000 miles the old transmission wasn't too bad. It was brown and obviously compromised since it wasn't working well in terms of keeping cool.

I followed Crom's method.

1. Drop pan, replace filter, o-ring, clean pan and magnets, replace gasket, and install pan.
2. Remove front grill.
3. Remove hoses from ATF cooler pipes (see pic)
4. Attach 7/16 vinyl tubing (store was out of 3/8) after stretching out the tube ends. Direct both to bucket to see which one expels fluid - it's the bottom one.
5. Attach tube to garden sprayer
6. Pump in 3 qts (drained this much during pan drop). Then start engine and stop after 2 quarts expelled. Pump in 2 quarts. Continue process until expelled fluid runs clean - took me 10 qts.
7. Added an extra 2 quarts since I didn't want to mess with the fill hole.
8. Start engine and let transmission fluid temp warm up to 115 -120 F. Took about 30 mins. Obviously much longer with the new fluid, before it took only 10 mins to get to 120 F.
9. Open overfill plug and drain until dribbling fluid. Tighten plug.
10. Clean the condensor and transmission cooler while the grill was off.

Many thanks to the OP and others like Crom that improved the process.

 

@Mr.Bl0nde

 

Do not pay them to do it! I was hesitant on doing it myself and am glad I talked myself into it.

 

Big thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I did my boy's '07 Tacoma yesterday and it was pretty easy to do. I took a sample of the oil from the first 2 quarts that came out, and a sample from the last 2 quarts. An LED flashlight behind the clear container on the first batch had zero light coming through. The flashlight behind the second sample showed through easily and was bright ruby red. I'm going to do my '08 4Runner this weekend.