How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

Glad I could help!

 

I found the perfect pump today when i was in the Harbor Freight store in Mays landing,NJ

It looks like it's gonna fit the bigger Toyota WS bottles nicely and only cost about $7.00

I'm gonna do my trans service soon so I'll let you know how my new pump works out

Here's a link I found for what looks like to be the same one but in slightly different packaging

http://www.antonline.com/p_SL4344-GP_402784.htm

 

OK so I made an appointment to get my transmission fluid changed and new spark plugs today at Toyota. They called me back telling me they cannot do the trans fluid change and it doesn't need it ever, and my spark plugs are good till 120k. WTF!!! I'm kind of pissed. I asked them to go ahead and change the fluid anyways and they said they dont have the fluid in stock nor do they have the spark plugs to change. I'm kind of pissed because I made arrangements to barrow someones car for 2 days while this is being done and they didn't even do it. I'm going to try and call a different dealer and see what they can do. This really pissed me off expecially since I made an appointment to get the trans fluid flush. They should have told me this before I dropped it off. DONT GO TO BEECHMONT TOYOTA in Cincinnati Ohio to get your truck serviced!

 

Thanks for the write up! Just did the fluid change and saved some $$$

 

What would be considered a small trickle to you guys who have done this?

 

I just had a trans. flush done by the dealer on my 06 Tacoma with 129K miles on it. It took 12 qts. of

$83 00289-atfws Automatic Transmission Fluid, 192 Ounces, 6 Pack

00289-atfws world standard au and 1 qt. of bg 6600 conditioner. I got 10% off parts and labor because the vehicle has over 100k miles, for a total of $185.95

 

I finally got around to doing this the other day. Pretty damn easy with this DIY. The cheap pump I ended up using was awesome, it only takes 5-6 pumps to drain a quart of ATF. This was really nice after using a bottle pump on the gear oil when servicing the diffs that took around 25-30 pumps to drain a quart.

I bought it at Schucks, but harbor freight sells the same thing and can probably be found at any auto parts store: I just used one of the red hoses and cut it in half so there wasn't hose all over the place.

 

I did my transmission drain and refill today at 28,675 miles

Fluid was not as bad as I thought it would be

It was darker then the new WS Fluid though

I was able to drain exactly 3 quarts of transmission fluid through the drain plug hole

The trick to get exactly 3 quarts out of the pan is to jack up the very front of your truck just a little

 

Just got back from dealer, had an appt. to have transmission flush, i was told they could do it. After 2 1/2 hours and unable to operate flush machine, all I got was drain/fill. No charge for it.

 

28K miles? now that was a waste of money and time.

 

Was it your time or money?

 

I drained mine when I did the IPT valve body upgrade a few weeks ago.

Interestingly, the amount of atf that came out was not what I expected. I drained around 8 qts. Which to me was odd considering I took everything apart and was told it took 10.5 qts.


Well to make a long story short I refilled 8 qts of Amsoil universal ATF. Runs great.

here is my build....

http://www.xr-underground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33980


and a vid of it shifting...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkh793PwnMk

 

My truck is a 2005 and I do allot of towing in the summer months to the boat ramp.

Plus all my driving is stop and go witch is really hard on the ATF fluid

Preventive maintenance is never a waste of time or money

I'll tell you what's a waste of time and money...

Sitting at the Toyota dealership why they empty your wallet because you never did preventative maintenance,

when you could have been out on the water in your Jet-Boat

 

I just tested my 05 Prerunner. It does indeed have the AT TEMP light. The first time I did it nothing happened. Followed the video on my iPhone and it worked.

I hate my dealer. They raped me on the price of ATF. 11.xx per bottle when MSRP is 7.78 and sold for 5.46 via toyotapartsales. Washers, too. 2.54 apiece. Good thing I wanted to get this thing done before the weekend and I was willing to just pay to get it now instead of waiting for a shipment.

This was after the guy selling it to me told me that it was sealed blah blah doesn't need to be serviced til 100k blah blah and I told him Toyota should have changed the maint. interval from 100k to 60k.

Stay away from Atkinson Toyota in Bryan/College Station.

 

No wonder it's taking me forever to do this. I started changing the fluid only a half hour after driving around town for 25 minutes.

 

Just found this thread in a link from TTORA. I have a 2007 Dcab TRD 4x4 V6 auto with 157000 miles on the clock. Yes, I drive a lot and a lot of it is offroad. I'm in the timber business and go offroad everyday.

I got it stuck today and the engine temp got close to the red. Got me to thinking about the trans. temps and whether or not to change the fluid. I did not realize they changed the recommended interval. I always thought it was 150k only if you towed everyday and lifetime w/o towing. Anyway, i do tow occasionally, but not a lot. I do see a lot of 4wd, idling, mud, and clogged radiator/condensor from tall grass.

Also, I do have the towing package with the trans. cooler.

So, should I change the fluid? I know the easy answer is yes, but the old school thing was if you went too long before a change to not change it?

 

I would change it asap. I also don't spend much of any time on the "old-school" dogma. I have yet to see where this dated thinking actually applies to late model vehicles. Older stuff, yes, needs to be considered and understood why, but for late models, no.

 

Going to give this a shot on my 09 2wd trd sport today. I made the "ID-10-T" (go ahead spell it out) mistake of draining the trans rather than the oil, stop laughing, I know it was a bone head move. ANYWAY, I called the dealer to ask where to put the trans fluid in since there was no dipstick. The tech I talked to said "uh oh, you have to tow it into our dealership and we'll put the fluid in at the right temp with an infra red heat gun, costs $150.00 or so..." and that's the only way. Frustrated and perplexed that the tech did not even tell me where to fill the fluid, I logged on to the forum and found this post. You saved me serious money! I have already bought pump, added fluid etc. but I just need to check the level at the correct temp. I really appreciate saving money when possible, especially in these tough economic times. Thanks again!

 

I registered here so I could clarify a couple of facts regarding automatic transmissions in 4 cylinder 2010 Tacomas.
There are a few important facts or assumptions made on this site that do not apply to all trucks. I offer this information as an owner who has just added a trans cooler to my truck.
These are facts.

1. My 4 cylinder 2010 tacoma has the 4 speed auto matic
2. Per the owners manual, it does not take WS trans fluid, it takes Type T fluid. The 4 speed takes Type T.
3. My 2010 Does have a dipstick, it is not a "sealed system" as a few of your posts assume.
4. I was able to check my fluid level and add fluid through the dipstick hole. (I added some due to the cooler)
5. On the dipstick it reads something like this: "You do not have to change the ATF fluid under normal driving conditions" I will be doing some towing and will change the fluid at 40,000 or so miles or when the dipstick shows dirty fluid.
6. In the owners manual it clearly states that the Automatic Trans temp light is not found on all models.
7. My 2010 4 speed, 2 WD, 4 cylinder does not have the light on the dash, My truck is not a prerunner.

I am not trying to be argumentitive or anything but I would hate to see any 4 speed automatic owners going through some crazy auta trans temp mode procedure when they do not have to. I would hate to think someone might put WS fluid in a 4 speed Auto and ruin it because they misunderstood a post here that was reffering to a 4 runner or 4x4 tranny.

 

The first sentence of the third paragraph of my DIY procedure states:

"The drain and fill procedure on the Toyota 5 speed AT (mated to the 4.0L V6) is different than that of traditional transmissions. Since this transmission has no dipstick to check fluid level, the correct level must be confirmed by an overflow plug on the bottom of the pan."

If someone utilizes the procedure on an incorrect vehicle or uses the wrong fluid, it's because they didn't read the instructions thoroughly. I will change the title of the post to clarify matters.