Auto transmission dipstick location? Really?

I have a 2WD Tacoma with the 2.4 motor. I'm looking for the location of my auto transmission dipstick and I can't believe where it is? Is it really below the intake runners on the driver side and way down in the engine bay?

For those of you who have the same motor, how do you pull the dipstick without burning the crap out of your hands?...use a long pair of needle-nose pliers to grab it?

Also, do we have a post(s) you might recommend (I've searched but didn't find anything) on changing the transmission fluid?

Thank you!

Ed

 

Can't help you on the dipstick issue because I have a V6, but as far as changing the fluid goes I highly recommend a flush and new filter. Many guys are against flushing transmissions, but I work in a repair shop and have probably done around 100 flushes in the past 2 years I've worked here and not a single complaint from any customer no matter the mileage on their trans at the time. And believe me, I've seen some pretty dirty, cruddy, nasty shit come out of old high mileage transmissions and when refilled with the new stuff, ran and performed better than ever. Never understood where all the horror stories about tranny flushes stems from, maybe the older flushing machines they used "back in the day" caused issues? Our shop's machine just hooks into the tranny cooler lines on the radiator and pulls the old fluid out and circulates the new stuff in while the car's running. On bigger trucks, we have to manually add a few quarts through the dipstick tube in addition to the machine's job.

You can also just drain and refill with 3.5 to 4 quarts until the tranny fluid starts to look new like many guys here do, but then you still have the same old dirty filter inside so that new fluid will become contaminated quicker. Again, it's just easy all the way around to go with a flush and new filter, IMHO. Take it for what it's worth and decide, in the end it's all up to you!

 

for checking just use leather work gloves would be my best solution

 

Hmmm...that sounds like the easiest idea!



Ed

 

Check it while the motors cold?

 

You certainly could do that, but unless I'm wrong, the only way to be truly accurate is when the motor's running and the vehicle in park.

Someone please correct me if that's not correct.

Ed

 

Should be a "cold" and "warm" reading on dipstick so it doesnt matter