How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

i got it in temp mode but the thing was flashing. Before I did it went and got a drain pan. Waited a little bit for it to cool but I'm down in Orlando so it didn't cool down enough cause the light was flashing when I put it in temp mode.

 

I know the write up says 4-5 quarts. Just wanted to double check that's what others have used as well. It would suck if I realized I didn't have enough after starting this process.

Thanks fellas

 

Is the temperature important for a simple drain & fill? If I parked my truck for a while in the shade and put the new fluid containers under my truck so both existing fluid & new fluid are the same temp, can I do the simple drain & fill & replace what came out with new?

 

owned many Fords and always dropped the pan, drained fluid, cleaned the pan and replaced filter if they had one every 30 - 40k and never had a tranny problem.

 

You can but its not acurate. Maybe it came under filled from the factory and you will underfill it again. Its best to do the Temp Mode.

RJM

 

Thanks! I was planning on doing the full flush (60K) at the Dealership ($199), but then thought about a simple drain & fill. Then this week, I talked to the lead Toyota tech and my dealership and he said he/they rarely do the full tranny flushes or drain & fills on Tacomas and he's seen many, many over the years with over 200K miles that have never had the tranny fluid touched. Interesting for sure.

 

very nice write up i have recently purchased an 05 prerunner 2wd and no nothing of its maintenance . i was going to change the fluid and filter in my tranny . it has 185000 miles on it . i just passed on my 95 t100 to my daughter which has 320000 miles on it

 

Too bad I have a 3.4 V6. Not a 4.0. I am pretty sure I have a 5 speed transmission. It is an automatic 4 wheel drive I have a dipstick though. What would be the difference? Does the tranny I have, have a filter to change also? It is a 2004 Double cab.

 

So I'm guessing a person could use their Scan Gauge 2 for the temp on the level check and just make sure it reads in the 115-130 range rather than the jumper wire procedure?

 

I used my elm327 adapter (same idea).

 

Cool, seemed logical....thx

 

ok so I have 75k on my 2012 Tacoma, double-cab, 4x4. I have read the thread about doing the flush with the 14 or so qts. and I have read this thread about draining the pan and doing the temp thing. anyways my questions is wouldn't the flush be better since you are replacing all the fluid? or is it to do this drain and refill more often with a few qts and always keep fresh fluid running in the tranny? I do light towing, I am getting ready to haul about 3500 lbs on a 1000 mile round trip (about 500 out and then 500 back). curious to know what everyone thinks

 

Countless opinions about doing a "flush". My gut feeling is if they are done starting early in the life of the transmission - like every 20K-30K - change/clean filter screen as well - a flush might be OK. My other gut feeling is they bring doom when a person does one for the first time at 100K or >.

Who knows? I once knew a skilled independent repair shop owner who swore them off after killing a few customers transmissions. He had to eat the cost of replacement.

Again - there are countless opinions. I do what I do - rotation drain/refill every 25K - has never let me down. Will likely do the same for my Tacoma and the wifes 4 Runner when it comes time to do them.

Then there are people who have gone over 200K w/o ever doing anything to their 2nd Gen Tacoma transmissions.

Pick a card.

 

I used the Torque Pro app connected to a Bluetooth OBD2 dongle to read transmission temperature. For later year trucks, the FSM says to check the fluid level at 36-46 C. I checked mine at 40 C. Been driving for a week with no problems and no nuisance warning lights.

Another note: the Toyota WS fluid now comes in a wide-mouth bottle. Older hand pumps won't fit. I ended up using a half-quart Lumax suction gun.

 

Forget the pump. Run a length of clear tubing that fits inside the transmission fill hole up to the top of the engine. Connect a funnel. Pour slowly. Been doing this for years. Works like a charm.
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Thank you for this post. Being a new Tacoma owner had no idea how to check the fluid level. Bought mine wrecked and had lost trans. fluid so this was very helpful, had to shift mine a few time extra to get light to show but it came on just like you posted . Thank you

 

Need some advice. Left the truck over night in my garage without driving it and when I went to put it check mode everything goes fine, but after I put it back into park the light comes on goes off and within a few seconds it comes right back on. Tried it multiple times and the same thing keeps happened. The last attemp I just left it to see how long it will take before the light started flashing and it did after about 5-10min of idling.

I live in Orlando, FL and while I was doing it I noticed the temperature display on the roof panel said 82 degrees, but I don't get how ambient temp would make the transmission oil temp ready to check almost instantly.

UPDATE: Gave it a few more tries, and the light kept coming on almost instantly after putting it back in drive. Started looking for an alternative route of checking the temp with gauges, and found post's about getting the ultra gauge which I already have upgraded so I can enter the transmission codes to read the temp, same goes for the scan gauge, but you can enter the codes in through the x-gauge function already in the scan gauge. Got a scan gauge from a friend for, entered the code to monitor the TFT and on a morning start after sitting all night it took about 20 min to reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Did you remove the jumper wire?

 

Does anybody know the part number for the overflow plug? I spent a few minutes searching but all I can find is washers, gaskets, and various transmission service how-to guides. I set the torque wrench for 15 lb-ft but I must not have got the bit in all the way or held it perfectly straight because it stripped the top of the plug a bit. The metal on the top of the plug is very soft, which is probably a good thing. I was able to get it to seat firmly but I'd like to have a new plug on hand to replace it with the next time I need to do this.

 

Poke around here:
http://www.customtacos.com/tech.old/files/05FSM/repair.html