Transmission oil change

https://youtu.be/FglBsUEOSEk

I just watched this video on changing transmission oil on my truck. It seems much simpler than I thought. My truck is at 112k and I don’t know if the transmission oil has ever been changed, I bought it at 80k.

I’m going to use regular ATF fluid from Toyota, but I’ve heard royal purple turns your truck into a race car.

Many years ago someone told me a transmission on a car is a closed vacuum system, and that only a shop can do it, it’s very delicate. Once I got a motorcycle I realized that was bullsh*t

I had some guy on this forum tell me “Well Toyota says their transmission oils never need to be changed in the life of the truck so don’t do it. Lol

 

Valvoline max life full syn. Full syn, Cheap, good. Here it's like 17 bucks for a gallon at the wal mart

 

I looked up the maintenance intervals for a 2004:

https://www.toyota.com/t3Portal/document/omms-s/MSTOYALL04_MS0017/pdf/04n1smt.pdf

It doesn't actually specify that you should replace the trans fluid at regular intervals, it does merely say to inspect it (at least for 4x4 tacomas) regularly (+/-30k miles).

So yeah, probably doesn't "technically" NEED to be replaced regularly, but it is cheap insurance. Minimum yo need to inspect it regularly. Also be careful about doing flushes, as in some instances that can break gunk free and cause more problems than you are attempting to solve.

 

Skip the royal purple.

 

But that stuff adds like 40 hp!! doesn't it?

lol

 

Yeah, but without flushing your simply changing part of the fluid - there will be a bunch of old fluid immediately mix with the new fluid once you start it. I've done it this way before and just drained and filled it 3 times over a few weeks and it was pretty clear at that point, but again took 3 drains... You can flush it yourself, lots of articles online about that but more complex.

 

Right, but with the added pressure of the flush you also run the risk of breaking small particles free that end up getting lodged somewhere else.

IIRC, the rule of thumb is that if it's been a long time, or you don't know if it's ever been flushed before, it's probably best not to flush it and just do a drain and fill, or in your case, a series of drain and fills.

But this kinda goes back to just inspecting the trans fluid. If it appears fine (no metal shavings, not burnt smelling), IMO just leave well enough alone.

 

People just want to make the job alot more complicated than it needs to be. Look, if youre a shade tree mechanic without a nice flush machine (yes that's a thing) or dont want to mess with ATF spraying all over the place while trying to slip a hose on the cooler lines, do a couple pan drops and fills. Completely flushing/ getting every last drop isnt as important as keeping the overall health of the fluid in good shape and keeping a clean filter. When I buy a used vehicle Ill either extract and re fill a few quarts for the first few oil changes rather than deal with a flush.

 

I agree with what your saying, but what I was thinking of is the home flush job - not a machine, so I don't believe there would be any added pressure as your simply rerouting the trans line from the cooler/radiator to a bucket with fluid - a simple substitution.

 

Im on your side, like I mentioned I chose to just do 3 drain and fills on my last Tacoma - after reading the entire home flush forum post I said screw it, but its an option.

Main thing is that the OP knows that one drain is not enough, your looking at 2-3 and a lot of money in fluid to do this right. If fluid is fairly clean I imagine 2 would work, but if its trashed like mine was then it took 3.

 

Opinions on if you should even bother changing the filter - its basically a strainer screen - not a filter, so only major stuff would get caught - and if thats the case perhaps your screwed anyway?

Here is a good pic I found showing the screen:

 

X1

 

might as well do your filter while you're at it

 

It's easy to combine a fluid drain and refill along with an oil change. The drain plug is 14mm same as the oil plug. Just get the correct Toyota crush washer for the drain plug. I like to keep the ATF fresh and smelling sweet. As a result, I have avoided transmission problems through the years.

The only transmission problems that occurred in my family (parent's cars) were Chevy and Oldsmobile transmission that been built to use Type A, Suffix A and original Dexron (B) with whale oil. By the early-1970s the whales had been hunted into near extinction. Consequently, whale oil was banned from use in ATF. Dexron II was introduced without whale oil. So when they started changing their transmission fluid in the mid to late 1970s to Dexron II in those older transmissions, problems would soon start.

 

clean'd mine by pour'n paint thinner through it, then let it dry. read a lot of post by tw's transmission guru @gearcruncher. tran cooler, clean filter & ~3gals of fresh valvoline max... ready for the heat!

 

That's one guy that you definitely wanna pay attention when he's talking dude knows his stuff