How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

I hear you loud and clear, And I understand you made several of the disclaimer type referances telling people to double check thier application.
As the post progressed there were more and more referances made to 2 wheel drives and 4 cylinders and people not having lights in thier dash. Your post is amazing, especially the poor mans method of getting the temperature to read out. I was all set to start the procedure when I double checked the window sticker and realized I had a 4 speed ECT. I then took a look where a dipstick tube should be and it was there. My concern was that there may be other people as clueless as I was. Please take no offense, none was intended.

I still can not believe that toyota builds a truck that can last 300 thousand miles and claims the ATF doesnt need to be changed!

 

I am wondering how complicated are the steps described. today I drained some of atf mistakely while chainging oil.

 

It wasn't too difficult. I actually just did this procedure last weekend and was able to put in ~12 new qts of the standard ATF WS.

I was able to get the AT temp check on my first try.

BTW, Thanks to OP for the writeup!

 

Can I just do the temp check just as a practise

 

Yes you can.

 

Another question. I probably drained out 1/2 quarts of atf. how do I go about refilling it? do I drain out everything? my truck has only 5000 miles on it. do I just put in another quarts of atf and follow the procedure of getting it to the right fluid level?

Where is the overflow plug?

 

If you wish you can just refill with the amount you drained. The overflow plug is the one located in the ATF pan that requires an allen key or hex bit for removal. The size is stated in my original post.

 

I called the dealer just to get a quote on refill and they said $170.
I was like are you kidding me? I am definately do this myself later today and let you guys know how it went.

thanks for all the advice.

 

I did mine today by following the instruciton here. just not sure where the ring in the picture belongs. anyone knows

 

There is a crush washer (that's what that is) on both the drain bolt and one on the overflow bolt (same size/part number). The Refill bolt has a rubber o-ring type washer that you can also order if you choose, but probably less important. Most say you can re-use the washer, but it crushes on intial use and for $2 should probably be replaced

 

What a mofo. Now I know why Toyota gets a good labor rate...

I purchased a Chilton manual a couple weeks ago and decided to change my tranny fluid and filter on my 08 Prerunner 2wd. The truck only has 60k miles on it, but I decided to change it anyhow. The Chilton manual says to change the fluid and filter at 30k. That seems a little over the top but so does changing at 100k.

I'm not sure why they recommend changing the filter, but they do. So I figured hell why not. The whole procedure was for the most part as the OP describes except I decided to change the filter too. Getting the ATF light to come on was hit and miss but it did come on. I only had two complications during the process. First complication was I overtightened the tranny pan bolts during reinstallation and snapped off a bolt. (SH*T!) Luckily I had a replacement in my spare bolts box (65 in/lbs FYI). The second complication was, my tranny required 5.1 quarts of fluid to refill it. I only purchase four per the Chilton manual's recommendations of 3.2 quarts. I do live 30 min from an auto parts store so that was annoying but whatever.

Oh I guess there was technically three complications. I'm a Valvoline freak so I purchased Valvoline High Mileage (WS certified). When I went back for the fifth and sixth quart they said they can't carry the stuff anymore per some California law... WTF. Had to use Casterol as an alternative.

So that was my experience and so far the truck is functioning well. I have my fingers crossed. Thanks OP

 

5.1 seems high. Wonder why yours needed so much?

 

Not too sure myself. I drained my catch pan back into the oil bottles and did manage to fill up five quarts. So my only guess is that when you change the filter during your tranny fluid change, it allows a little more fluid to come out.

 

I'm interested in hearing about the filter they sold you as all most of us ever considered it was a mesh screen.

Was it dealer only item or available in the aftermarket?

 

Special ordered it from Kraigen. They ordered it in the morning and had it for me that afternoon. I'll go grab the box and see what brand it is...

 

It's called a Power Torque Automatic Transmission Filter Kit. Came with the transmission pan gasket too. There is a fine mesh screen inside the filter. Also on the bottom of the tranny pan was four magnets which I wiped clean. They had a fair amount of crap stuck to them in the way of metal dust.

 

Just curious. There was crap on the magnets. What was the condition of the
fine mesh screen inside the filter ? In other words was it worth the effort to change it ? Thanks. Curious George

 

Here are the pictures of the old filter as it came out of the truck. I probably would not have changed it if I had to do it over again.

 

Thanks for your reply and for the bottom line " I probably would not have changed it if I had to do it over again." I'm sure that will save some readers of the post time and $. Thanks. again Curious George Attached Thumbnails

 

nm.