What ATF do you use, and why?

I put in valvoline last time, next time I will be going with amsoil

 

Factory issue, these transmissions are wickedly expensive to deviate from factory fill. Oddly enough Toyota doesn't even recommend changing it? I did anyway cause it looked a little brown. It takes nearly 4 quarts not two like the manual states. There's no filter to speak of, just a screen to rinse out if you choose to do so.

 

Just to get a feel for different brands? Or did you have a bad experience with it?

 

Mine started to fail shortly after my first drain and fill...

The guy who rebuilt my tranny said to use max life. Before this I went to the dealer and they told me to go to Napa and get any dextron III.

 

Amsoil is highly recommended as its been proven to give a boost of 20hp, let you drive up Mt. Everest, and add both length AND girth.

 

Dex 2 & 3 are not Toyota type 4 compatible. But the newer Dex 6 states it is compatible with Toyota type 4. I have only ever used type 4 for two drain and fills and have no issues as I approach the 200000 mile mark. Bogh those drain and fills were done around 160000 miles and made a big difference in shifting. There have been numerous people on here that have used Dex 2-3 and have experienced slipping in the past.

 

I work at a GM parts dept and can tell you that Dexron VI is backwards compatible with Dexron III in automatic transmissions. In fact GM doesn't even sell or license Dexron III anymore. However, it is not backwards compatible in some transfer cases and manual transmissions that originally used Dexron III. For those applications we have a different fluid with the very original name of Manual transmission and transfer case fluid.

 

It's my understanding that T4 is synthetic and has friction modifiers that Dex 3 doesnt and so they are backwards compatible. Here is a bit of info that I found on another forum.
http://www.toyotalexusforum.com/toy...e-t4-dexron-iii-transmission-fluid-issue.html

 

I use Valvoline max life full synthetic, simply because its the only full synthetic they sell around here that also came in gallon sizes so I could do a full system flush.

 

I use the tears of my enemies.

 

ramonortiz55 was asking about full flushes. If your trans failed after a drain and fill, it would be for one of these reasons:

• Transmission was already on its last legs.
• Fluid level was off by a gross amount.
• Rare bad reaction between two different brands of fluid - both fluids claim to meet Dexron III performance requirements, but chemically different and the additives worked against each other. To prevent this, either be sure to refill with the same brand as previous, or do a full flush.

Max Life is a good fluid that's claimed to meet almost all the import-vehicle specs in common use (Dexron III, Toyota T-IV, Toyota WS...). The guy who rebuilt your trans might prefer it simply because it reduces the number of fluid types he has to stock. And if you use Max Life in subsequent fills, you avoid the mixing issues.

 

I've ran amsoil in my truck for oil for a while now and now I'm a dealer so I'm gonna flush and refill

 

Many carmakers re-brand their own flavor of whatever the current version of DEXRON is available for license from GM. This is what T-IV and WS from Toyota are.

DEXRON VI is a synthetic and it's better than any previous DEXRON, which is why it supersedes them and why GM doesn't even license the earlier ones anymore.

And so any other brand besides GM, such as Valvoline MaxLife that specs out to DEXRON VI is just as good.

Fresh DEXRON III/IV is better than nothing, but it's certainly not "better" for an older vehicle simply because it "matches" what came with it.

 

Because people don't go in for trans service usually till they have a problem. They get a flush and shortly after they have failure it was coming either with or without the flush..

 

It mostly depends on what kind of flush. Any type that pulls the fluid out of the transmission vs pushing it out is bad. The best way is to pull a return line or just do regular drain and fills.

 

Im more confused now..... i whent to the dealer they told me to just use dex lll was using toyota lV now i dont know what the hell to use and dont want to lose a trany over a simple mistake..... so is the Valvoline synthetic the one i should switch over to???? I just do drain and refills about 2x a year with about 190k miles. HELP!!!!!

 

T-IV is Toyota's version of DEXRON III !!!111!!1!!!!!!111!!!!!

I sympathize with your confusion. So many here jockeying for the brand of fluid that they would lay down their lives for. Like i said before, it turned into a religious argument.

The truck calls for Dexron II/III, so use Dexron II/III. If you go to the dealer for the fluid change, they will use T-IV. If you want to kick it up a notch, go with any high end synthetic fluid thats compatible for $12/quart. It wont change anything.

 

As Caligula (and me, I think?) said, don't think of them as different fluids so much as good enough vs. better fluids. The confusion lies in the fact that everyone is striving for greater longevity today --- where possible --- and ultimately ya gotta have something better than DEX III/IV for that.

Would it matter to an old transmission with nearly 200K on the clock? Probably not, especially if you're already in the habit of regularly swapping out at least some of the fluid each year.

 

Ok thanks guys im going to just use up the rest of the 2 gallons of standard Valvoline Dex 3 then I'll just switch back to Toyota IV im about to hit 200k miles and never any kind of trans issues what what ive been doing

 

I drained and filled mine today, I drained almost 4 qts and it took a little over 4 to bring it back up to where the dipstick indicated. What's up with the owner's manual stating it only takes 2? The toyota dealer parts guy looked for a while then told me there was no filter to replace but the haynes manual that I have states to replace it. I hate haynes manuals, they want to give all sorts of generic info then tell me how to overhaul my engine. Why can't they actually include info that I can use?