2006 automatic transmission maintenance Q?

i'm finishing up getting all the supplies to do a bunch of maintenance work to my truck. i just need to buy the correct crush washers and i am good to go. i plan on changing out the tranny fluid, front and rear diff fluid, and transfer case fluid. my question here is geared towards the transmission fluid change. i had planned to follow the DIY fluid flush on this site, but now i am second guessing this. My truck has 76K on it, and i've owned it now for 5K of those miles. i really dont think the original owner did any maintenance on this truck at all. When i changed the spark plugs a couple of weeks ago, they were the original plugs.

so here is my question: Do i go for the full DIY fluid flush described on this site, or do i drop the pan and replace 3-4 quarts now, then do it again a later this year, then do it again, until i have gone through the 13-14 quarts to replace all of the fluid?

i dont want to "shock" the transmission with all new fluid but in the DIY it sounds like that shock should be eliminated with how you exchange out the fluid. maybe i'm not giving this transmission credit where it is due. i have not owned an automatic transmission since my old s-10 that i sold in 2003, so my only experience is when i did a transmission flush on that @ 90K miles and 5K miles later i lost all of my gears.

 

I wouldn't be worried about "Shocking" the Transmission. I think that is just a silly notion brought on by shops that want to take your money. New oil in the transmission is just like putting new oil in your engine. It acts as a lubricant/coolant/friction modifier/etc. You aren't throwing a child into an ice bath on a 100* day... Yes it could dislodge some contaminants that could possibly block small passages, but that risk is very low. The oil breaks down and needs to be replaced. The way a shop does it is very similar to the DIY Full flush.

I have done mine (DIY full flush) and there was no trouble.

 

thanks!!

 

For a truck that has never had a trans fluid change, I would recommend a pan drop and filter clean first. There's magnets in the pan that need to be cleaned, pan needs to be cleaned, and filter/screen needs to be cleaned. Get a new gasket from Toyota along with new crush washers for the drain and check plugs. Take note of how much fluid actually drains, and add one extra quart. The filter and pan bolts are a very low torque, inch pounds, so be careful not to over torque them. Also the drain, fill, and check plugs have specific torque specs as well, follow them, or else you run the risk of stripping them. Once you have the trans bolted together and fluid in, do the temp check as listed in the tips thread in the second Gen forum. One additional tip, when the trans gets to temp, turn the heater on high, and it will keep the temp within range for a longer period of time. Once you have cleaned the pan, magnets, and filter, you should be ready to do a flush using the cooler lines.