How to: drop, clean, and reinstall the 2nd Gen transmission pan and filter

Thought about that but as soon as the fluid level in the pan drops below the intake part of the filter it would all drain out anyway. Much like if you fill a straw with water and hold your finger over the top. If the bottom is still submerged it wont empty but as soon as the fluid drops below the end of the straw it will empty.

No big deal, just one of those Hmm questions. Will buy enough and a little extra to do the job anyway. And this will be the last time I drop the pan

Does anyone do a little cleanup of the the top (not gasket surface) and sides of the mounting flange on the transmission before changing the pan/filter? Just to keep anything from dropping into the pan during the re-installation?

 

I think its some sort of vapor lock or maybe a baffle. There is definitely extra fluid trapped in the screen assembly, and you will get a bath if not careful

I usually take an air gun to the top of the flange before undoing anything, and have a scraper on hand to CAREFULLY scrape any oxidation off the machined surface before reinstalling

 

I guess we are lucking in the case of the gasket in our case being a single piece (rubber or whatever) than a paper or cork one. i gather it comes off without leaving anything to scrape off.

 

Yup. And on that note I found the genuine Toyota gasket to be much better quality than the parts store gasket that came with the new filter.

My issue is the rust belt.. salt oxidizes the lip of the trans housing more than a southern vehicle

 

Same issue up here in Toronto. They use more salt than the amount of snow that falls and then there is also the nasty de-icing brine shit they spray on the roads.

Was much better when i lived in Alberta. They use a salt/sand mix (only about 5% salt). Cars out there suffer much less corrosion and still get along just fine.

Even if its cost more I would gladly pay extra if they used something like calcium (or magnesium) chloride rather than regular salt. Better for cars and the environment.

 

All that shit is nasty. Doesn't matter what it is. The amount they use around here is insane. Sand and good snow tires would solve so many issues both for vehicles and infrastructure

 

Just doing the pan drop and filter change. Am replacing the corrosion prone washer head bolts with the stainless one piece washer head allen ones. Not worried about the stainless/aluminum issue since no salt water can get in there to act as an electrolyte. No corrosion on the threads of the original steel bolts either.
These are exactly the same thread length and washer size.

This was just a test fit after pulling one original bolt to measure the length of the threaded portion and the size of original washer. If your interested I can look up the Amazon order for this part. And after this pan drop and filter change I will never be doing this again so yes its overkill. But its stainless... Got to have

And while down there will doing the u-joint greasing.



this is old vs new bolt comparison

$16 uxcell Flanged Button Head Socket Cap Screws, M6*12mm Hex Socket Drive Screw, 304 Stainless Steel Fasteners Bolts, Fully Threaded Machine Screw 50Pcs

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B098D95M8T?ie=UTF8&th=1



Heck, the new ones are much smoother and aerodynamic. Probably increase gas mileage

 

The drain hole in the pan is connected to a short tube, so when you drain the pan you do not get all the fluid out of it. If you drop the pan you have to be very careful or this extra fluid will dump all over.

And yes the filter also holds some fluid. When I removed mine, plenty came gushing out.

 

I have step bars on my Tacoma so there is much less room to crawl under when adding fluid, checking fluid etc so i did it all on ramps except for the 115F check which was done on the ground.




And no i am not saying this is the way to do the drop pan/change filter/add/fill/check fluid level. Its an alternate but it works and if you have step bars or rock slider may be better for larger guys. And having it up on ramps made dropping the pan so much easier to work on.


1)With the wheels up on ramps and everything stone cold I pulled the overflow plug and measure the small volume of fluid that came out (don't tell my wife i used a measuring cup). Since this is such a small volume its also much easier to measure using things you can sneak out of the kitchen..

Still up on ramps..

2)I then drained and dropped the pan and changed the filter and buttoned it all up again. Didn't measure that volume because of next step.

3)With the overflow tube still open I then added fluid until it started dripping out of the tube. To as close as possible mimic the volume in the cold pan after draining the small volume from overflow in step 1

4)Then close the tube and added in the volume from step 1 + .5 quarts (make up for excess volume in filter and pan) back in.

Once on the ground and doing the 115F adjustment only about 1/4 cup of fluid exited the overflow tube..

The only real difference is I measure that small volume whereas the other methods measure the large volume and in both cases just add that back in plus a little.


Same method works for a regular drain and fill but you wont need to add as much as the .5 quarts at the end.

 

Measured original Toyota pan gasket. 1.92 mm. The Beck/Arney was 1.63 so not really concerned there. Original may have even swelled a bit over time. Magnets where only slightly coated.

One thing great about this gasket is that holes are a teeny bit smaller than the bolts so you can put all the bolts in ahead of time and don't have to fiddle with trying to line up the gasket and holes as you try to install them.

Installed new drain plug and overflow tube gaskets. And since I would not need to open the drain plug again as part of this I torqued it to 15 ft/lbs while it was on my table.. Saw that the steel gasket compressed and and fine with that setting.

Looking at original filter (screen) (visibly quite clean) and pan and magnets this is probably one of the only times I feel that maybe this a nice to have rather than needed. But its done and that the last time for me

 

C'Mon man, get those magnets in the correct orientation!!

 

Which pole of the magnet should face forward ? North or south??

Yep, I better undue all 20 bolts and fix or it may explode

I will not be held responsible if the earths magnetic poles suddenly switch

 

Noticed that the drain plug and the overflow plug are exactly the same thread size M10X1.5 but are different design.
One hex, one 5mm allen key. Any thought on why? Why not both the same so we only need one tool

 

Probably to differentiate them so they’re not misidentified during service. You wouldn’t want to pull the drain plug when you’re just trying to check overflow.

 

Can anyone think of mechanical or metallurgical reasons for the different types of crush washers.

On the Tacoma where its steel bolt on steel surface I have aluminum washer (oil pan drain plug), Copper washer on front diff drain plug, Steel crush washer on rear diff drain plug? Steel crush washers on both transmission drain and overflow.

All are exposed to oil. All are exposed to the elements. All can see about the same temp range. Cant be to concerns about dissimilar metals corrosion since they are all different exposed to steel in all cases

 

What you think are steel are likely aluminum without looking it up and checking. Both aluminum and copper are soft allowing for them to perform their job in conforming and sealing. Copper is softer so its use in certain applications likely has to do with the torque value of that plug.

Edit: the transmission drain and overflow plug crush washers are definitely aluminum.

Edit#2 this is incorrect and several sellers are incorrectly identifying the material as aluminum. And it makes no fucking difference to…anything.

 

The steel ARE steel. The one on top of magnet is steel crush for transmission and the two large steel ones under the magnet is sticking to are for the differential. They are not solid steel. Sort of tubular so they can crush and flatten. If you looks at the one sitting inside the copper one you can see the design better. And on my 2nd gen the transmission are not aluminum, they are steel also. The only aluminum one is for transfer case drain plug.

I just replaced the original ones when i did the filter change. They were flat and rusted around the edges and steel and stuck to magnet.

The one sticking to the top of the magnet is the transmission crush washer. Toyota part # 35178-30010

Aluminum ones are solid , not folded like this. Like ones used for transfer case and engine oil pan.





https://www.winzer.com/product/801-0121

Steel Foldover Gasket Drain Plug Washer Toyota - 35178-30010
M12 Steel
Foldover Gasket
Toyota
OEM #35178-30010

 

steel crush for transmission

 

Likely an aluminum alloy then. I can’t find the Toyota site where I looked up the material but some other sites call it aluminum alloy. Doesn’t really matter, the answer to your question is different materials are likely used for different levels of softness.

 

From my previous note

I just replaced the original ones when i did the filter change. They were paper thin flat and rusted around the edges and steel and stuck to magnet. I know because I had them on the workbench and they stuck to the pan magnets i had removed to clean out the transmission pan.

Aluminum alloys don't rust and stick to a magnet. And new ones where from Toyota and also stick to a magnet. The ones for the rear diff are exactly the same design (just larger) and also folder steel.