3RD GEN AUTO TRANS FLUID CHANGE

I just flushed my transmission for the first time in the taco at 54,000 miles.

I WILL BE CHECKING IT MORE OFTEN NOW! EVERY 5000 to verify color and status.

At 51,000 miles I checked the fluid height for the first time.

1- level vehicle front to rear with a jack.

2- If truck has tow package, pin the thermostat ,on the side of the trans, open using a screwdriver to push button in then put a piece of bailing wire through to hold tstat open. If you don’t have a trans cooler go to the next step.

3- I then overfilled trans while the vehicle was cold. I added 3/4 of a quart of new atf.

4- Using the torque app I warmed truck up until trans was at 95 degrees then went under truck while it was still running and used a 5 mm Allen socket to pull the check plug out of pan.

5- once fluid slows to a drip reinstall plug.

My trans was about a 1/3 of a quart low after 50,000 miles. But the bad part was the color and burnt smell! I definitely waited too long to change fluid. Fluid looked liked motor oil, NO BUENO!


I have also left the thermostat pinned open, temps are way above freezing here in SoCal. My average running temps are around 160 degrees after 25 minutes of freeway driving, temps rise on hill climbs and then quickly fall to the 160s. This is with an air temp of 85 to 90 degrees.


With the thermostat closed temps rise to 195 and then go up to 212 ish on climbs.

Now it’s time for the fluid change. I would like to thank Toyota for placing the hottest part of the exhaust inches away from the fill plug on the transmission. I don’t recommend trying to add fluid after pulling the check plug. The catalytic converter is nuclear hot. Trans fluid on a hot cat wouldn’t be a good thing inches away from your face.

I recommend overfilling the trans by a quarter to half a quart when cold so you don’t have to add fluid while running once it’s hot.

I did 4 drain, measure, fill cycles of the trans fluid. I used valvaline synthetic max fluid.

To be continued....have to drive to work.....

Edit... continued

Here is a picture of the four drain cycles with one drop of fresh clean fluid. Notice how with each cycle the fluid get better, less brown more red. Top to bottom is 1st to 4th drain cycle. Dot to right is fresh fluid.


I used an old 1 gallon oil container as my measuring cup. Drain trans fluid into pan, transfer pan to oil container and measure. Then pump fresh atf into trans with an additional 1/4 to 1/2 quart. The first drain emptied 2 and 3/4 quarts after truck sat overnight. The remaining drains were around 2 and 1/4 quarts.


Now start truck and run for 30 seconds to a minute while shifting though gears. Drain fill and repeat until happy with the color of fluid. I went through 3 gallons.

If you keep adding the extra 1/4 to 1/2 quart it is easy to check fluid level at the end. Follow first section for level check.

Temp at start of fluid check. And temp at end of fluid check.




It took me a little over an hour to do this. Not to hard to do. I plan on changing fluid again in 20,000 miles but will check intermittently as well.

PB

 

Did you notice any change in drivability or transmission behavior after changing the fluids?

 

That's a sealed unit with lifetime fluid.

You're not supposed to mess with that.





( where is the sarcasm emoji?)

Good job.

#savethedipsticks #dipsticksmatter

 

I noticed no difference adding the 1/3 of a quart getting the transmission back to full.

After changing the fluid out the transmission seems a bit smoother.

 

not really manual says to change every 60k

 

You shouldn't notice any difference with new fluid. If you did notice a difference, there would already be damage done.

 

Going to attempt this this weekend, though somewhat nervous about it. Is there any danger to draining, over filling it, and then backing it out of the garage to warm up so exhaust fumes don't fill the house, and then driving it back to drain it. The drive way is a few degrees off level. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine but want to hear others input.

 

I would say you will be fine if you only over fill it about half a quart or so.

 

I honestly don't know any better, but this was the first image I googled under sealed transmissions...

 

It is supposed to be flushed, calls it out in maintenance schedule. I'm overdue and starting feeling a little sluggish, however don't want to pay the dealership a few hundred to do this.

edit:sorry if that was unrecognized sarcasm

 

Thanks for the write up @PB FAB I will be doing it exactly this way instead of using the temp check mode on the truck. I plan to switch from Toyota WS to AMSOIL SS ATF. I guess there's no way to 100% drain the transmission, only what's in the pan so how do I ensure I get all the Toyota WS fluid out so that only my choice of ATF is remaining in my transmission? Would 3 to 4 cycles be enough?

 

Can’t you just drain all the fluid at once?

 

As per the Toyota owner's manual the capacity in 3.5L engine with automatic transmission, w/o towing package is 10.5 qts (9.9 L); capacity in 3.5L engine with automatic transmission, with towing package is 11.1 qts (10.5 L).

When you pull the drain plug and do the refill method, only 3.3 qts (3.1 L) will drain. I know you can pay a couple hundred bucks to have your transmission fully flushed with a fluid exchange machine but that is not something I have ever done and I'm unsure of how well they actually work.

 

like it was that simple!

 

Seriously, can’t you unscrew the plastic insert (not the access bolt) that sets the transmission fluid level and drain the transmission?

 

you got fluid sitting inside the transmission, plus quantities in the torque converter. the killer is no freakin dipstick, and picky small temp range for checking.

 

Do the full flush my man..... It's explained on here somewhere.

Basically... NEW juice in 5 gal bucket...… another empty 5 gal can.... undo hoses up front and place hose extentions into the buckets. "Pin" the thermostat.

OUT line into the empty one...….. IN line into the fresh juice.....Run your engine till new juice is coming out....you should have just replaced the old stuff. At this point stop the truck. return hoses to proper spot..... go fer a drive... check level. if nothing comes out. Add 1/2 qt. and check again.

Good luck.

 

On my Lexus it had an orange plastic insert. For the Tacoma I don't know so that's why I'm asking. 1st time changing ATF on my 3rd Gen Tacoma and I don't think it has the plastic insert as the fluid level.

Thanks I think this is what I will do. A quick search on TW provided detailed instructions on a 2nd Gen Tacoma however I'm sure it is the same for the 3rd gen.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/diy-full-flush-for-automatic-transmission.68462/

I think your way with NEW juice in a 5 gal bucket would be better than the guide listed above because it eliminates the process of repeating it a few times. 1 shot done deal!

 

I was under the assumption that the fluid needed to be pressurized on the return line back to the transmission to avoid causing damage. I could be wrong since your trucks are running.


When I did mine I only ran the truck for 20 to 30 seconds while shifting it through the gears. Basically sucking all the new fluid into the trans and filling the pan with old fluid. By the 4th cycle the fluid was clean. The valvaline synthetic fluid said it could be mixed with old.

 

Can you please provide more information on your usage / driving style? Do you tow a trailer? Do you off-road the vehicle? I intend to do mine at 60,000 miles but if you are an easy going driver and your fluid was rough at 54,000 I will change early. If you are a severe service driver I will probably be ok. Just looking for data, thanks, and I appreciate your informative post.