How to: drop, clean, and reinstall the 2nd Gen transmission pan and filter

@Hook78 awesome "tutorial" on how to perform a routine maintenance on our trucks. Thanks for the write up that should inspire others to do this task themselves.

 

Glad it was helpful!

 

Thanks Hook78
Fantastic write up
I have been trying to convince the boys to service their transmissions this way since I joined Tacoma World back in 2011.

If you guys scrolled through hooks write up and noticed the sludge on the magnets and sludge in some of these transmission pans , well thats the stuff you risk flushing through your valve body when you flush a transmission without removing the pan first .
This is critical if your pan has never been off .

Do you know what the bottom of your pan looks like ?

Does the Tacoma World member who just flushed his transmission know what the bottom of your pan looks like because you guys have the same mileage ?

You cant base your opinion on how to service your transmission based on what the other guy did with their truck at the same mileage . It just doesnt work that way .

Take the pan off to be sure


THE PICTURE ABOVE IS A PEFECT EXAMPLE OF WHY YOU SHOULD NOT FLUSH WITHOUT REMOVING YOUR PAN FIRST . DONT BE THIS GUY . THERE ARE TOO MANY GUYS AT TACOMA WORLD MAKING THIS MISTAKE .
THE TRANSMISSION WORKS SO I AM JUST GONNA FLUSH IT !

WHY ARE WE REMOVING THE PAN ?
When you introduce new transmission fluid with " SUPER DETERGENTS " into a dirty pan , the detergents in the new fluid will lift that junk rite off the pan and magnets . When the junk lifts ,it goes through the hydraulic circuits acting like sand paper on your " all aluminum transmission " .Those particles on the magnets are steel and the particles dont play well with your " all aluminum valve body ".

Those particles plug up your shift solenoids . A solenoid from Toyota is $400 bucks and your pan will have to come off to change it

Those particles plug up the shift valves behind your solenoids . Now you have to remove the pan and drop your valve body . Thats over $1000 bucks to have perfomed at a transmission shop . Toyota dealerships dont drop valve bodies to free up stuck valves . They will just quote you for a new transmission

Those particles block cooling passages in your internal radiator cooler, then your trans starts to overheat . Now you have to replace the radiator $$$$$$$

Most of you wont know there is an issue until its too late because this computer controlled transmission compensates for wearing internal components .

I dont listen to Toyota , I listen to the guys who built your transmission ...Aisn Seiki say to change your fluid every 30k.

Take the pan off when you service these transmissions please and thanks .

Taking the pan off involves more work than a flush ? ...Yes

Is removing the pan the proper way to service a transmission ?
Yes ,removing the pan is a much more thorough service and 10000000 times safer than just flushing .

When you remove the pan , you get a baseline on the internal condition of the transmission and how long its going to last .




You are not doing yourself any favors by flushing a transmission with a bunch of crap in the bottom of the pan . The pan , magnets and filter should always be cleaned before you flush the converter , cooling system and hydraulic circuits


Do you mind if I add your write up to my transmission write up ? https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...th-pics-for-second-gen-4-liter-trucks.289913/




Now we need a 3rd gen member to do a write up using the same procedure Hook performed

 

Holy cow, I was just looking at your transmission thread, heck of a resource. Much of that over my skill level. You’re more than welcome to link this thread, I’m honored!

 

Exactly why I did not do a flush on my truck.

 

I've heard conflicting opinions on whether or not to drain and fill the fluid on a high mileage truck that has never had it done. What are your thoughts? I've heard numerous accounts of people who have flushed their transmission for the first time at 200k or whatever then later had issues with it. My truck has 203k on it and I know it's never been done.

 

This from post #63 above as posted by @gearcruncher

"the sludge on the magnets and sludge in some of these transmission pans , well thats the stuff you risk flushing through your valve body when you flush a transmission without removing the pan first .
When you introduce new transmission fluid with super detergents into a dirty pan , the detergents in the new fluid can lift that junk off the pan and magnets . When the junk lifts ,it goes through the hydraulic circuits acting like sand paper on your all aluminum transmission .
Most of you wont know there is an issue until its too late."


Check out his thread on the subject.

And actually if you don't have any problems with your AT at your mileage, you may just want to leave it be.

 

Not sure how I missed that but thanks. I'll probably just drain and fill the fluid and replace the filter. I generally like to change all the fluids out when I get a new vehicle but hearing horror stories about high mileage transmission fluid changes had me weary of doing it.

 

Got my ATF analysis back from Blackstone Labs a few days ago. Figured Id share it here for what its worth. As I noted before this was my first pan flush, just over 90k on the original fluid. Had a decent amount of gunk on the magnets and a few small particles in the old filter. I wheel a decent amount, but overall Id say Im fairly 'easy' on the trans and try to drive in a manner that keeps the temps low (torque converter locked up as much as possible) when on the highway. So I feel good about doing this service at 90k. Going to do a D&F with each oil change over the next year to continue to flush the factory fluid out.

 

Thanks for posting that info, interesting. What does Blckstone mean by average 21,000 mile intervals for the tranny?

So basically you had some elevated iron, copper and zinc leftover from the initial break in. Great to hear that you changed out just when the viscosity was starting to drop.

 

x 2

 

It might be the Aisin specified change interval, although that seems quite low. I would expect 30k min to match Toyota’s recommendation

 

Yeah pretty much along the lines of what I was thinking. Maybe it’s a number that comes from a database pulled directly from manufacturer recommendations, regardless of what vehicle they’re installed on.

 

Was actually wondering the same thing myself. Seems like a very low average, even for the regulars here on TW

I just sent them an email out of curiosity.

Dont think Toyota has a recommended interval on these, since they say its a 'lifetime' fluid. They do reference changing the gear oil in a manual trans every 30k if you've been towing.

 

Ah good point. I suppose it is a “lifetime fluid” per Toyota. I just woke up dudes, just need some coffee in me haha

 

Blackstone got back to me last week. Apparently they have one customer who has changed ATF 19 times over 200k miles (and sent in a sample every time). So he skewed the results a bit

Now we take bets on which member here is doing that haha

 

That’s an interval of about 10,500 miles…just saying…

Must be some guy who’s towing a 10K trailer across the country three times a year…

 

160K Update!

Just did my 3rd drain & fill after completing the drop/drain/strainer a few weeks ago! Wanted to share the progression. Transmission is performing great! Many thanks to the OP and all who have contributed to this awesome thread!

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154296598310
This is good stuff ?

 

I'm a firm believer in changing your transmission fluid regardless of age and mileage. Yes, there is an inherant risk with doing that but at the same time the fluid that is in there is worn, heat cycled and has lost its ability to filter out any metal particles. The transmission hands down gets the most wear out of any component on a vehicle and usually gets serviced the least.
Even though I'm an AMSOIL Dealer there are lots of great Transmission fluid available I just prefer AMSOIL because they are one of the few companies that share their data to an extent to show how well their product holds up. I like to service or do a drain and fill every 30K depending on driving habits and if you tow or drive a lot in stop n go traffic.

I'm running the signature series trans fluid in both my 08 V6 Tacoma and 06 V6 RAV4. My girlfriends 2016 Ford Fusion is also using AMSOIL for Transfluid as well. She had just shy of 85K on hers before I did a drain and fill on hers. Her Trans fluid was very dark and needed to be changed. Thank You to Gearcruncher for sharing a massive wealth of information.