How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

Awesome man! I appreciate it

 

well the platinum has been in the trans for 2 days now and I can’t tell any difference . I went ahead and did one more pan drain with WS an hour ago and still no difference. I’m beginning to think I’m just paranoid and didn’t pay attention to the shift point before the first drain!!! Maybe that’s just the way this trans shifts

 

If your issue is a glazed 4th clutch pack , the lubeguard takes a couple days to a week to deglaze the clutch .

If you have a spare 1/2 hour , take your truck to the local transmission shop for a " FREE " test drive , not a dealership .
Let the technician drive the truck while you ride shotgun . This way you can explain to him what you feel when the trans shifts into 4th .
Those guys test drive vehicles with issues like this every day .
99% of the time , they can pretty much tell you whats going on just by road testing your truck .
Road tests are free .

This is what I usually recommend when some upshifts become a little more difficult to diagnose over a keyboard.
A second opinion from a technician who diagnoses issues like this every day may help shed some light on the problem .

 

Thanks gearcruncher! I know you have help shed a lot of light on many situations for me and also others. I’ll run it for another week and go from there.

would doing drain and fills with maxlife cause glazing? I know back when I had my Tacoma I done SEVERAL of them with absolutely no problems.

also do you think it would hurt to run more than the 1oz per quart per instructions?

 

Since a lot of people havegreat outcomes with AMSOIL fuel efficient. I compared the specs of maxlife vs AMSOIL vs WS vs Lubegard complete.

Cst at 100c
WS 6.0
AMSOIL 6.0
ML 5.91
LG 6.1

Cst at 40c
WS 25.0
AMSOIL 29.8
ML 28.82
LG 31.0

viscosity index
WS 201
AMSOIL 153
ML 156
LG 150

Brookfield viscosity
WS unknown
AMSOIL 9050
ML 10200
LG unknown


So In theory ML and AMSOIL appear to have very similar chemical makeup. (unsure about anti wear properties but viscosity values). I know a lot of people don’t like ML due to it being a universal product. Since AMSOIL don’t list as much compatible make and models I feel that both are a great alternative even though they don’t match the WS numbers perfectly.

 

what would have caused a glazed clutch pack? Pan sediment from the new detergents?

 

As the original fluid ages with heating cycles , the coefficient of friction decreases significantly causing your clutching to glaze up .

 

Worked great. Thx. My only issue is that I had a 12pt 24mm socket and could not get the fill plug loose. It started to strip. I got a 6 pt socket and was good and I have a replacement on the way to put in later. Lesson for me is to ensure my metric socket set is 6 point all around. It was 55 outside and took 20 minutes to reach temp. THANKS!

 

It looks like me and my tundra’s AB60e are going to get very acquainted this weekend.

 

I got around to putting my zip in. Not for the beginner but is doable with enough time and patience. I pulled every valve out and cleaned and reassembled. I didn’t find anything out of the normal and no valves appeared to be stuck. After reassembly I went for a test drive... no changes noted. But I still need to get my trans memory reset at the dealer.

EDIT: dealer reset trans a week ago. No changes.

Also filled with 8 quarts of this. Seems to work just fine.

 

It’s going down, bought 10 quarts to be able to drain and fill it 3 times since I’m at 110k miles and this will be my first time doing it

 

Done this many times. Take your time and make sure to put back a 1/2 a quart more to be sure. Then once you have it to the correct temp let the excess drain off

 

For sure

 

9 1/2 quarts later and I’m done

 

Great info here, but there is a lot to read. I did a few drain and refills, and here's my experience.

My 2006 V6 4.0 SB with towing package just hit 200k (I've owned it since 160k). I wanted to be a good owner and do some fluid replacements since I was not sure when or if anyone had done prior. Transfer case was easy with

$30 75W-90 Synthetic Gear Lube - 1 Quart (Pack of 2)

75W-90, not too bad in color, then onto the transmission.

The transmission never felt super crisp, so I thought maybe a drain and fill would help. First drain was darn near black, so I'm not sure it had ever been serviced. I did two drain and fills with MaxLife, 3 qts each, short 5 mile trips in between, then a final with the LubeGuard. On the final fill, I did the jump OBDII wire trick and got it up to temp then shut the engine off before releasing the overflow plug. Almost a quart came out, which I thought was odd, but figured it was from 3 slight overfills without resetting overflow. Rechecked with the engine on the next day after I realized my mistake and had to add about 3/4 a quart.

I took it out for a test drive, and now I'm getting some shudder under load (uphills, with acceleration) mostly recognizable in 3rd gear and higher. Even when I took it on a short interstate 70mph test, it has a little vibration under the seat that makes my butt tingle, if that makes sense (high frequency).

Gear shifts are smooth, but it feels like a clutch slip. Did I just f--- up by changing fluid on an old truck when I should have just let it be?

EDIT: I'll also note I got a code a couple weeks ago, 0300 series I think, misfires with cylinders 3, 5, 6. I put in NGK iridium spark plugs last week. Coils looked good, no issues since. Gaps on old plugs were waaaaay off, like 0.8-0.9 with rusted electrodes, so they definitely needed to be changed.

 

I thought the directions on the lubegard said not to add to high mileage vehicles. Check me on that if you still have the directions.

 

Can anyone recomend an obd bluetooth scanner or dedicated one for checking the temp ?

 

So you have to pull the overflow plug with the engine running. Are you saying that's what you did the next day?

 

Why not just use the check method? It's not difficult.

Get a cheap OBDII connector from Amazon and permanently jump the pins. No wire jamming necessary.

 

Just for clarification, I used the LubeGuard Full Synthetic Transmission Fluid here:

$15 Lubegard 69032 Complete Full Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid - 32 oz.

https://www.amazon.com/Lubegard-690...d=1588103185&sprefix=lubeguard,aps,188&sr=8-1

Here's the product info:
Lubegard Complete Full Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid is a lubricant formulated for outstanding performance and efficiency in meeting or exceeding OEM requirements for reduced viscosity. Lubegard’s unique, proprietary LXE technology provides superior wear protection with improved frictional and shear stability (high film strength for the life of the fluid). This unique technology prevents and eliminates torque converter shudder, improves shift quality, and imparts excellent torque carrying capacity for long clutch and component life. LXE technology is seal and O-ring friendly, ideal for new, older and higher-mileage vehicles. Lubegard Complete Full Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid is recommended for automatic transmissions that require a fully formulated low viscosity ATF. It is suitable in use for DEXRON VI, Ford MERCON LV, MERCON SP, Toyota WS, Honda DW-1, Nissan Matic S, ZF Lifegard 6, and many more.