Auto Trans - 93k - Should I do a 4 Qt. D/F or do at home flush?

It's an '03 with an auto trans. I haven't had it too long, so I don't know if the fluid has ever been serviced. I believe it had 30k and 50k services done at dealership, but not really sure what they did at those dealerships as I didn't own the truck then. It doesn't smell burnt, but when I added a trans cooler the other day, the fluid that was lost looked dark. I'd like to replace it.

I know opinions will vary. Should I do a series of 4 qt. drain and fills *OR* disconnect the send and return hoses at the radiator and feed 12 qts (roughly) of new fluid into it using its pump to do the work, thus changing all the fluid at once? I'm not sure if the second option is considered a flush or the kind of flush that could be harmful.

Real world experience trumps technical chat.

 

4qt drain and fills. Just my opinion and what ive done to may trucks and buddies cars.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...mended-for-a-99-taco-v6-4x4-automatic.423734/

We talked about it in this thread briefly as well. Hope it helps.

 

Thanks for chiming in. I think that's the way I'm going to go. I'm not trying to learn (or re-learn) a lesson with this truck.

 

LOL, thats how I felt about it when I was working on it. It sure did like a taste of the synthetic tranny fluid though.

 

Drain and fill.

Do it again in the fall if you. Have an OCD condition.

 

My truck had 97k on it when I did 12qt flush with synthetic AT fluid and it shifts like a dream. I too didn't know if the previous owner had done any maintenance as the owners manual was untouched. the fluid did look dark and not burnt so I thought I'd go for it.

 

My opinion, drain the pan. Then drop the pan and remove the filter. Clean both thoroly. You will see the magnets in the trans pan covered in shavings, clean those. Replace whatever gasket there is for the pan. Be prepared, have new drain plug handy, have all torque specs. I know the pan bolts are a low torque, like 25 inch#'s and the filter bolts are close to the same. Do this at your next oil change, then again at the next. This will catch a large majority of contaminants in the trans. Then after these two cycles, you should only have to do drain and refills.

 

What kind of synthetic fluid did you use? Did you also add any additives (like lubeguard)? A few years back I had a '99 with an auto trans. I did a series of drain and fills using Redline D4, with no other additives. At first it seemed to make it shift better, but over a few months it started shifitng hard (especially in the heat). I didn't keep the truck very long after that and I don't really know if the trans already had problems before the Redline or not. But when I replaced that truck with an '03 with auto trans, all I ever did was do a drain and fill at each oil change using only Toyota Type IV. That trans never had a problem. Then I hit a deer at 70 mph so that truck took its perfect tranny up to Toyota heaven.

Now I have this new one and my current dilemma. Flush, don't flush? Drain and fill? Synth or Toyota only?

When I told the above story to a mechanic who works at a trans shop, he told me that there are additives in Toyota brand fluid. So, if you use something else, you are supposed to add lubeguard to it. I'm not sure he was the best guy for info though.

 

Unfortunately, my current living arrangement doesn't give me the opportunity to drop the pan. (Apt. with public parking area.). Drain and fill type work is fine, but flatbacking, removing the pan, and exposing the underside of the trans might not be the best idea right now. I could see a gust of wind splattering the underside of the trans with a spray of dust/sand. I also don't have a solid work area or bench.

I want to do it but I think I'm gonna have to wait until I'm somewhere else, or meet someone in the area with the space and tools. I would like to see whats on the screen.

 

What type of fluid did you use?

 

Could always wrap the exposed areas with plastic and masking tape. It is a pain to do that work in a parking lot though.