How to Drain/Refill Automatic Transmission

It took about 20 seconds to get to temp (after it was running for the circulate fluid step)

 

Just did mine today and yea ran trans through gears and got it to temp check mode and when put in park AT temp lite stayed on. Drop pan to weld sending unit bung on so checked when temp gauge hit 125 and went with gauge temp . So 2010 prerunner temp check is 97 to 115 ?
Guess need to read more .

Read more .97to 115 it is then

On my 2010 prerunner AT Temp lite on tach side

 

I posted this in another thread and thought I'd share it here.

I just ran some numbers for if you decide to do a drain only and fill. Assuming you use a full 4 quarts of fluid at each drain and fill, and round off the capacity of the tranny to 12 quarts, here is how it will break down. This is assuming the vehicle is driven long enough to mix old and new fluid completely (I have no idea how long that takes).

Here is how much new vs old fluid you'll have at each fill and drain:
First drain and fill: 8 Qts old, 4 Qts new (simple, duh)
Second fill: 5.34 Qts old, 6.66 Qts new
Third fill: 3.56 Qts old, 8.46 Qts new
Fourth fill: 2.37 Qts old, 9.64 Qts new

As you can see, at about 3 drain and fills, you are replacing a much higher ratio of new fluid vs old fluid. So, in my opinion, at 3 fill and drains as long as the original fluid wasn't completely shot (burnt) then this method of exchanging fluid may be the easiest and less risky for most people.

I'll still be doing a complete drain and fill myself, but this is an alternative with a much lower risk factor.

 

I just did a drain and fill using Valvoline Maxlife synthetic. I did not do the temp check, I used a paint mixing bucket and measured exactly 3.25 quarts drained, then I marked it with a marker and put the same amount back in. My old fluid wasn't really brown, but more of a burgundy color... def needed changing though. The old fluid didn't have much of a smell, but the new stuff was pretty strong.

One thing I noticed about the MaxLife full synthetic fluid, is that it no longer says "high milaege" or "over 75k miles" on the bottle like the original Dexron III type does.

 

You really should do the temp check. What if you were low? I know mine was low when I changed the fluid.

 

Yeah I may still do it this weekend. If anything I may be slightly overfilled, considering I drained 3.25 quarts and it seems like most others here drained 3 quarts, although I did drain it after it sat all night.

 

Hi Fortech,
Great post. I have put up a post about my 06 4wd Tacoma having a rumble up slight hill at about 35 to 40 mph. Tranny serviced at dealership around 125k miles frame replaced just before. Problem started after the frame was replaced.

A tech went on a test drive with me and witnessed the problem. The diagnosis was a bad torque converter.

The truck has about 151k miles on it now. Too soon for this sort of failure on toyota hardware.

I also had a worsening u joint issue with the front drive shafts after the frame repair which had to be repaired.

I would greatly appreciate your oppinion if you could look at my original post and share your oppinion.

Thank you,
Tom

 

I just noticed Pennzoil has a 'Platinum LV' fluid that is rated compatible with Toyota WS. I have never seen it for sale anywhere though.


http://www.pennzoil.com/en_us/produ...6b2lsLzIwMTZuZXdzbGV0dGVyLz9sb2NhbGU9ZW5fdXM=

 

Search button isn't being too friendly or maybe it's just because it's Monday. I just added a shift kit on my truck and it has been sitting for about 2 months or so. About 6.7 quarts of oil came out, to re-fill should I add the 6.7 quarts that came out?

 

That sounds like a lot. Mine sat overnight and I only got 3.25 quarts out. Maybe put in four quarts, and then do the temp check and see if anything comes out of the overflow tube.

 

That's what I thought too, when I initially drained it I got 3.5 quarts and the truck had been sitting for about a month. Forgot about it, and went back to continue on the truck about a month later and the pan had some oil again. I did remove the valve body and the trans cooler check valve came out so maybe the cooler got drained also? The manual seems to state to just do as your suggesting but not too sure since 6.7 quarts came out.

 

I guess you could put the 6.7qts back in, when you do the temp check and pull the overflow plug any excess should come out.

 

I'd put about 4 quarts in and run it through all the gears and check it

https://www.tacomaworld.com/attachments/a750f-automatic-transaxle-for-tw-pdf.1463804/

 

So my 2006 DCSB TRD OR is at 109K miles and I've now owned it for two months. I can't log into Toyota Owners so I can only see on the Car Fax that the transmission was checked at 45K miles. I'm planning on doing the drain and fill rather than a full flush as I don't know enough about the previous owners driving habits to feel comfortable replacing everything. My two questions are:
1)If I want to do four Drain and Fills to slowly change all the fluid, how long between intervals?
2)Am I crazy and should I just flush the entire transmission?

 

Just a few minutes of driving will be enough to mix the fluid up. From what I've seen, some people like to do a weekly drain and fill until the atf looks clean, but the atf will be well mixed with just a few miles of driving. If your goal is all new fluid, rotational drains are a waste of ATF, IMO.
If it were mine, I would do a cooler line flush on it without hesitation.

 

I guess stating my goal would be a good place to start.

I want my truck to last as long as possible in as good of condition as possible. I have a very slight shudder or vibration (not sure if drive line or transmission) and I think that starting with preventative maintenance would be a good idea. Since getting the truck I have been changing all the fluids and doing any regular maintenance.

I have heard all the horror stories of flushing a higher mileage transmission and figured that a drain an fill would be a good place to start and based in the characteristics of the old fluid and effects of the service would help me figure out it a full flush is the next step.

Looking near the transmission pan seal I can see that something was done to it by the previous owner because there is a stain on the transmission from old fluid, but not a leak in sight.

 

In that case you could do a drain and fill and see if the shudder goes away, these transmissions will sometimes shudder when the fluid needs changing, I've heard of this a lot on the FJ cruisers. The torque converter on the A750 transmissions have a partial lockup from what I understand and will shutter when the friction modifiers in the ATF start to break down.
Try a drain and fill and see if that helps, if it does I'd go ahead and flush it. Look at all your u-joints and make sure they are all good.

 

I'll try to remember and post results...as the most frustrating thing is when someone asks a questions on here that hundreds of other readers have, gets a recommendation, and then never posts and update.

 

What ever you do, note that the drain plug will strip if you attempt to torque it per the manual specs. Some people suggest 15 ft-lbs, others say snug. Either way DO NOT torque to 21 ft-lbs. I had just finish installing a shift kit and flushing the tranny when I stripped the drain plug yesterday. Now I need to drain it again and see what I need to replace/fix.

 

Just buy a new pan
http://parts.toyotaofdallas.com/aut...d-lubrication-cat/automatic-transmission-scat