AT Transmission service

Ok guys i have been doing the drain and refill on my trans with toyota fluid about every 20k miles since I bought it at 120k miles now i have 180k my question is should i drop the pan and filter or will i be fine doing what i have been doing??? I have had no problems yet and intend to keep it that way i also installed a trans cooler that kept the fluid so cool even after towing our tent trailer over the i90 pass..well any info is greatly appreciate guys

 

I just drain and refill mine...need to drop pan one day as mine has a tiny leak....however its been visible for 30,000 miles

 

It says in the Owner's manual not to drop the pan and flush unless absolutely necessary. Just drain & refill.

 

Yea there is only a screen to catch large debris, not really a filter. Drain and fill and drive on.

 

I bought a new gasket & filter but after searching & reading here deciding to not use them. I have no drips so just did the hot drain & refill, I'm at 156k miles but have no maintenance history to go by. Needed 2.5 qt to refill with Dextron iii.

 

pan and filter good for me at 250k miles, doing 30k drain and refills. pan drains use about 4 quarts of fluid(reality) but the owners manual says 2.5 quarts(fiction)

 

Dextron is not recommended. Only Toyota type 4 should be used.

 

Mine holds 4 qts also

 

4 quarts, I also have reused my old gasket a few times but its not a bad idea to change it or have one as a spare. better check your tranny fluid level at operating temperature with engine running cause its kinda of common knowledge with GEN1 s that they really need 4 quarts as opposed to the manuals 2.5 quarts. Its also another good thing about GEN1s is the ease of changing out the tranny fluid its just drain and fill as opposed to the ordeal that the GEN2 crowd has to go thru with changing it out WTF

 

In the manual it says T1 or T2 transmission oil. That is what mine says anyways with the Base 4wd 3.4V6 automatic transmission. And I have 232,000 so I got the bottle that says T1,T2 on the back and it isn't Toyota brand it's Valvoline 75,000 miles and over Tranny oil

 

It didn't say anything about t4

 

I used t 4

 

I see the the T4 is for the 3RZ and 5RZ engines. I have the 5RZ but put in the Valvoline T- 1 & T-2 for high mileage trucks About 30,000 or 40,000 miles ago and it shifts perfectly. What is my next step to put T-4 in it like the manual says belongs in it? Will that mess up the formulation that has been it for the last two - three years? I know the V6 engine runs a little hotter so that transmission uses a different oil to deal with the higher amount of power when it shifts. But I haven't had a problem with the T-1 or T-2 for the last three years. Even though that tranny fluid is for the 4 cylinder engine

 

At this point, there is nothing you can do except completely swap the fluid. I don't think that it will hurt anything. If it still performs fine as far as shifting then I wouldn't worry about it. In here is an additive a guy mentions but if I was worried about it I would just swap the fluid. http://www.yotatech.com/f2/transmission-fluid-use-my-03-tacoma-32051/

 

T-IV fluid for the 04. I would at least redrain out the tranny and refill 4qts. T-IV or a T-IV compatable fluid to be safe,should be good to go after that.

 

Thanks. Synthetic or not?

 

No opinions on Synthetic tranny oil or not?

 

Is it 4 quarts to drain & refill or 2.5? Like the manual says for the 5RZ engine? I'm going to change it tomorrow to the T4 from the T2 I screwed up and put in. I was gonna go with the Royal Purple ATF

 

My 04 3.4 dbl cab holds 4.

 

If you are not going to use genuine Toyota type 4 I would just stay with what you have.