2006 Auto 5spd Tacoma Transmission Fluid Concern

So I recently purchased a 2006 4.0l automatic Tacoma. Usually when I purchase a vehicle (new to me) I like to change the oil, spark plugs, trans fluid etc. So that way I know everything is fresh in there and I can keep up with the intervals of changing things in my brain. So I've been reading up on the forums here about doing a transmission drain and fill and seeing that 9/10 people are saying they drained between 4.5-5.0 quarts from the system via the drain pan on the bottom of the transmission. I set the truck level, pulled the check plug (no dip stick on these trannys) and the drain plug out. In total I only got out about 2.5 quarts from the pan. Ive been trying to read up if anyone else has had this issue and can't find a thing. But any way, I put back what I drained so I can get to work today but the total amount leaves me scratching my head on how and why I only pulled out 2.5 quarts when everyone else drained almost double that. Mind you its an automatic 5spd tranny. Anyone else had this issue?

 

Yep.....its not full. It wasn't full before.

YOU need to do the A/T method to verify its full.

I just did a drain & fill with filter change on mine in Oct 2020. My truck has the same engine/tranny combo as you, same year. Drained about 3.5 quarts. In the end, I added 6.5 quarts back. Look in the Maintenance Sticky for the complete process. Its simple, just follow the procedure.

 

Awesome. I was thinking there wasn't enough fluid in there to begin with. I appreciate the help! Where can I find the process to do the procedure properly?

 

see the Sticky threads at the top of the 2nd Gen section

Or go here....
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/how-to-drain-refill-automatic-transmission.63851/

 

I couldn't thank you enough. I need to jump on this asap as to seeing im like 2.5 quarts or so shy on the fluid. I never understood why they didn't put in a dip stick into this model tranny

 

You were likely low on fluid from new or there was a leak at one time or another and wasnt topped off
. Its a very common issue .
Considering you have a 2006 and we dont know what your mileage is , anything is possible at this point .
I highly suggest ordering up a pan gasket and filter , dropping the transmission pan to perform a proper transmission service . This means no flushing until a contamination threshold can be determined .

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/

 

FWIW, my truck had 109,xxx miles when I did the fluid/filter change. Got the filter w/gasket from RockAuto. IIRC, it was around $11 + shipping, then fluid (Valvoline MaxLife ATF). This is compatible with the WS requirement, read the labels. In all, my expense was about $60 and a couple hours.

Dealer quoted $650 for the same service.

A tip when jumping the pins in the OBD port. Use a metal paper clip. It fits really nice. Finding a wire the correct size was a fiasco.

 

A drain and fill via the drain plug should be 3.2 quarts. You’ll get more out if you pull the pan.

 

I've done a number of ATF fluid changes(pan drain-fill) on 2 different A750E transmissions - '14 4R and '15 Tacoma.
Draining a cold unit on a level surface with all 4 tires on the ground drains exactly 3 qts.
After the pan is done draining and you measure, elevate the front of the vehilce as high as it will go.
Another qt. will drain for a total of 4 qts.
Anyone draining 4.5 - 5.0 qts the way I just described has an over-filled A750x transmission.

 

Okay so one may call me a dumba$$ on this one. But I followed the procedure of the drain and fill posted from the first comment here. I went to jump #4 and #13 off the OBD, I saw all of the gages blinking and what not and knew that was normal. When I went to shift from N to D for the 6 times required and never saw the AT temp check light come on. Tried again and saw nothing. So I thought why not turn the truck off and back on and try it again that way. Once I cut it off I had no ignition to the truck whatsoever but I still had lights. So I tried jumping from my wife's van to start my truck and it fired right up. Unhooked the jumper cables. Let the truck idle for a bit to charge the battery and tried cutting it off and back on just to make sure I didn't mess anything up. The truck still won't start without a jump for some reason. Did I burn up the battery, is the truck stuck in some weirdo mode from jumping the #4 to #13 in the OBD? Im freaking out that I may have caused some serious issues here

 

Sounds like you smoked a fuse

 

Also. On the last note, driving home from work today i started the truck up and heard an obnoxious whine noise coming from the tranny pan. It speeds up as I hit the acceleration. But I looked into it a bit on this site and I saw where someone said to pull the pan and clean the screen to the transmission fluid pump. And I did so before I filled the trans back up with fluid and followed the temp check procedure. Also very concerned with that noise.

 

I was thinking the same thing there on a fuse being blown. I pulled the start/alt fuse and it was good. Ill have to look at the others tomorrow when the sun comes back out

 

Is there another location of fuses inside the cab, outside of the motor bay? I looked and didn't find anything. Also only found the one box of fuses within the bay.

 

Interior fuse box is behind the little flip out box in the knee bolster to the left of the steering wheel.

 

Or better yet. $7 from Amazon. Mark the pins and permanently jump them. Plug-and-play.

 

OK , have to wait until daylight to check the fuses . We get that .
On to the next question . Was your engine running when you performed the transmission fluid level check ?
You had the transmission pan off ?
What did the filter look like ? any contamination ?
What did the pan and magnets look like ? any contamination ?

 

Yes, the truck was running when I performed the temp check procedure. I had no luck getting the light to flash so I attempted to cut it off and back on to reset things and try again and thats when I had the issue of it not starting. Ive still got power from the battery so I don't think thats the issue. And when I pulled the pan it really wasn't as bad as I was assuming. The screen was fairly clean except for maybe a bit of burned fluids. I used some carb cleaner and sprayed it down, let it dry. And then put everything back together

 

There was very very very minimal metal shavings the in pan as well.

 

If you can’t get the temp light to work, how did you verify the pan had the correct amount?