How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

None the less, thank you very much for walking us through this and explaining all the hurdles we may have to overcome. It's much appreciated.

 

It was a funny day. I bought 2 big jugs of the valvoline ATF so I had extra just in case. Even if you have to return an unopened jug, better to have more than you need than be stuck with not enough!

 

Finally got around to posting my writeup on dropping and cleaning the pan/magnets/filter, lots of pics:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...e-2nd-gen-transmission-pan-and-filter.726329/

 

Found I was too slow between the 6 N & D shifts first time I tried. My 2010 DCSB PreRunner shift timing works best to the opening bass line from Van Halen's "Runnin' with the Devil" . . . A/T Temp light comes on every time with that beat. 84 degrees outside air temp, shady spot, took 6 minutes to reach check temp.

 

I just did this myself on the Tacoma for the first time. That overflow plug is supposed to be torqued to 15 ft/lbs and mine was super tight from the factory. I damn near stripped it out getting it loose even being extremely careful. I highly recommend swapping that 5mm hex plug for a second 14mm drain plug.
PN90341-10011

 

This is genius, I play drums and this makes perfect sense. Op should have this edited in!

 

I’d be afraid that I’d mix them up if they were the same.

 

Nothing a quick pic search on TW couldn't fix if you were uncertain.

 

I would be scared to use a torque wrench on any of the 3 screws on my transmission pan.

 

Hey guys I'm hoping on some insight!

Drained the fluid for the first time at 63k.

Drained out 4qts so I filled it with 4 qts even though the original post mentioned 3qts.

Did the warm up procedure and almost a full qt leaked out which brings it back to about 3qts per original post.

Could it had possibly been over filled? Or is there something I may had done wrong?

I'd appreciate any help!

 

If you did the warm-up procedure correctly and left the engine running while you checked the level, you did it correctly and were likely overfilled. If you turned off the engine to check the level, you are now low.

 

Yea I did the warm up procedure using obd fusion and was between 115-120 while I was checking the fluid. I kept it running while I checked it.

Thanks for the response man. I'll test drive it tomorrow and see how it feels.

 

Same thought occurred to me, wasn’t sure if the two bolts had the same thread pattern and specs. Every time I tighten or loose that bolt the hex gets stuck inside. Very ripe for a rounding off.

 

Yep same thread pattern, both use the same crush washer, and both the drain and overflow plug are torqued to 15 ft/lbs.

 

Yeah, if you drained it while idle, fluid had drained back into the pan. You should be fine if you did the check procedure according to the instructions.

 

Assuming you were parked on level ground or truck was level too.

 

By the way, where did you get the torque value for the drain and overflow plugs? Torque values in the service manual posted on TW read as 15 and 21, although everyone says 21 is wrong. I’m just wondering if it’s official somewhere.

 

My Haynes manual says 15 for both the overflow and drain plug. I was curious about that as well so figured I'd try 15 at first and see if anything starts leaking. Been a few days and so far no leaks. 15 definitely feels plenty snug on that flimsy drain pan.

 

Ah that’s good to know, thanks! If the threads and bolt sizes are identical seems the torque values would be too. Unless the hex versus socket makes a difference.