DIY: Full Flush for Automatic Transmission

I wouldn't worry about the screen with that low mileage it should be fine, I'm getting ready to do my 05 with 107K miles and bought 12 quarts of RedLine D6 and I'm not dropping the pan because it has had drain and refills before, so 12-14 should be enough, probably better to have a few extra if you need it. Welcome to Tacoma World....

 

If you don't off-road or pull anything heavy with your Truck you probably don't need to worry about the tranny fluid screen I have not seen it personally but I read where it's just a metal mesh and no maintenance is required. why Amsoil? Valvoline maxlife/dex is just as good and cheaper. Other folks in here have used it including myself and still working fine. Make sure you get a good pump and lots of towels handy cause the fluid get's everywhere. I flushed about 11-12 quarts through mine.

 

I am going to use amsoil because I've been using amsoil in my Harley's and vehicles for a few years. I love their product and would continue to use. I'm not to worried about price.

I have towed my pop up camper a few times with the liar these was about 300 miles. I have screwed around when it snows really good so it's probably not to bad but peace of mind is what I want.

 

sorry for my ignorance, im not anywhere near a mechanic, i fix computers...

I just got my first Tacoma, and the dealer told me the tranny on the '14 does not need to be replaced as its a "sealed" tranny and transfer case.

This true?
I also didn't see it in the stealership "suggested maintenance" schedule..

Thanks.

 

Rtf-thread. Sorry had to do that.

'14.. I hope your Tranny doesn't need replaced already
The service schedule notes to check the Trans fluid if towing. You're in the right thread give it a good read.

 

250+ post was too much.
Plus we all know its easier to ask for forgiveness then permission

Will read the thread sooner or later now that i know salesman was full of it.
Tnx

 

Just drained and flushed my '09 with 119,000 miles on it using Mountain Lion and Fortech's guide. Thank you for creating these guides for us mechanical FNGs.


Everything pretty much went off without a hitch by carefully following their instructions. Took me approximately 3 hours to complete. I used Toyota WS Type IV ATF fluid ($79.15/12qt; $6.60/qt;

$93 TOYOTA Genuine Lexus ATF Type T-IV Automatic Transmission Fluid OEM 12 Quart Type-4 ATF

http://amzn.com/B00EV5A5NC ). I bought a couple extra quarts from the dealership just in case. The pump I bought from Autozone for 6 bucks. It's slow (~100 pumps per quart) but it didn't break.

I drained and filled the pan, draining ~3 quarts. I drained and flushed twice, each time flushing ~2.75-3 quarts for a total of 12 quarts. I pumped in an extra 1/3 quart to top it off. Once I brought the transmission to temp, I ended up having to pump in another 1/6 quart to get the fluid coming out of the overflow.

You can see the comparison of the old fluid, the left bucket after the first flush, and the right bucket after the second:


The old fluid was black like motor oil. I definitely should have done the drain and before 100,000 miles (almost all city/highway driving, no towing). My truck shifts so smoothly now, I think better than when it was new

 

I believe you used the wrong fluid... Toyota WS Type IV ATF fluid doesn't exist. its either WS or Type IV...

 

Yes he did. This is the ws fluid.

 

Damnit!

Type T-IV should be fine, right? Just a shorter maintenance cycle?

 

It's not like you added gas or motor oil, so in that respect you're OK. The friction modifiers, viscosity, or other additives may not be what our trannys need though. Unless you get a more definitive answer stating it's not going to do any harm, I wouldn't wait a long time to replace it.

 

Re-did the drain and flush with the correct WS ATF fluid. I doubt any permanent damage was done, but just in case, I performed step 6 an additional time to remove any leftover type iv fluid.

 

I did the change and flush of the auto trans. today, everything went great, I first drained out 3 quarts from the pan. I want to thank Mountain Lion and acrossawire for the great write up and tips. I screwed the 3/8" pipe nipple in the fill hole and used the clear tubing to run from there to under the hood and then stuck a funnel in for fast filling, it worked great. I flushed 12 quarts of Red Line D6, the old fluid looked a little dark, it has been drained and refilled a few times. I put some old fluid on a paper towel and it looks a purple color and new is a pinkish red. The truck now shifts so smooth especially from 1st to 2nd. The truck has 107,150 miles.

 

Glad it helped! Good lookin' rig

 

Thanks for the detailed write-up. I had to extrapolate to make it work as I have a 2007 2.7 but the basic -ness of it was right on the money. It's a cakewalk to do by your method - although I also had to pull the dipstick tube out along with the transmission pan.

In case you're even more interested -

Someone mentioned only having a metal screen in the transmission pan but the replacement unit was a nice elaborate deal with an all metal body, cork gaskets up to the body ports, etc. so I replaced that too. And boy am I glad I did! <g>

Oh; the drain plug on mine lets out More than a gallon - not three quarts. Any guesses what size catch pan I was using? <g>

The drained out, and the pumped out, ATF all looked Much worse than the 15,000 mile Mobil 1 I drained out of the engine yesterday. Whew! Pretty nasty black looking - especially for ATF. The old filter looked nasty too. Although the three pan magnets weren't more than slightly fuzzy. It just looked like oily soot when I wiped it off.

BTW: 140K miles but the 100K service must have either been a drain & fill without flush - or more likely; skipped all together. The duty has been all street, mostly highway, flatland work, and no towing.

I flushed about four gallons through by your '2-3 quarts at a time method' and, although I thought the exiting fluid, only just might, maybe, possibly, be a little lighter in color at that point - I still called it a day as I was out of fresh fluid by then.

I used MaxLife for some reason that I can't remember right now (maybe you all suggested it?) topped it up with a few quarts more and so far it's all happy.

I'm thinking that maybe a simple drain&fill of the ATF at every engine oil change (15,000 miles) might be sufficient from here on out?

Oh; I also read on the ATF dipstick that the fluid never needs to be changed under normal driving conditions. No mention of what they are though - or how long they can last. I can't imagine that it means infinity. <g>


PHM
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Last night I took the truck out for a run with the all new and fresh synthetic ATF pulsing through it's veins. If there are any differences in the sounds it makes or in the way it shifts - I must be too numb to notice them. Everything about it seems exactly the same to me. Well; except that the end of the dipstick is now red and not the former black. <g>

 

Why not use the return line adding the new fluid just like they do at the oil change places?
That way it's faster, cleaner, and no guess work with the fluid capacity. You can run 5 gallons through it without adding any extra- same capacity in that comes out.
That's all they do at the oil change places. They have a very simple machine gizmo that has two large clear tubes they put new fluid the one, hook up the return and pressure lines, start the car to let the torque converter pump out the old and pull in the new, very simple and much quicker. Very nice job with your write up!