My dad never changed transmission fluid 1st gen 160k miles

Shit Joe
I was thinking of complete tranny flush
Saw video (from members here)
Dude had close to 5 GALLONS needed for complete tranny fluid change
Vid showed 5 gal bucket almost full of dirty fluid

i couldn’t afford that
Just changed pan gasket/filter and 3-4 qts

flush looked simple enough
Disconnected transmission cooler lines
2 buckets
One clean fluid bucket sucked into tranny
One dirty fluid bucket flushed out old
While taco running

 

Hi controlcar and others,

Would using synthetic dexron III ATF fluid be okay? I want to extend the life of the transmission as much as possible.

I assume using synthetic ATF fluid would extended the transmission as the ATF fluid will not breakdown as easy as conventional ATF fluid by heat.


Thank you for any help you can give.

 

The smallest of these use just over 9 qts counting the TC....

So if you dont know whats in there you have to completely flush it.

Dont want to mix anything.....

so you can see its gonna take almost twice that to do a decent flush....

a lot here run the MaxLife atf.....synthetic is always better, especially for extreme cold or heat.

buying an old tacoma and thinking its still the oem atf would be a foolish assumption.

Same on the diff fluid, change.....run it for a while, and then change again...

dirty fluids of any kind are like cutting fluids.

It cost me $120 in atf to do mine.

the rock screen filter in the bottom of the tranny is worthless.....
be better to get one of the mag in-line filters, and replace it every 30K...


Here's what I used to do the flush....

12V 60W Oil Change Pump Extractor Oil Diesel Fluid Pump Transfer Suction Pump | eBay




About every 10 months I pull 2 qts out using that ridgid long straw right out of the dipstick tube....and stick 2 new ones back in........like 5 min turn around...

I use same straw to drain steer pump reservoir once a year and replace....with the exact same atf.....maxlife....
again like a 5 min job.


If you have an older tranny thats starting to leak around the seals....
walmart sells a high milage formula thats about half the price of the Valvoline high milage.

 

Well it kind of went from a manual to automatic. More modern vehicles generally don't have issues with high millage changes and the manuals more often than not never had the oil changed. The oil doesn't ware out but they can be contaminated (not so much with a manual) Have at it. Two of my first gen's had pretty damn close to 300 and fifty thousand miles only thing I ever did to the manuals was check the level. I worked for a transmission shop in the 70's I was the manual guy and the biggest issue with the manuals was bearing failure but as time marched on the Japanese figure out how to make better bearings.

 

Back to original poster. Check the owners manual for specs on the fluids. Manual trans will either be gl-3 or gl-4
Diffs probably GL-5. Just don't throw GL-5 spec oil in the manual trans.
Now that is assuming it even uses gear oil. The 5 speed in my 1982 5.0 mustang used ATF...

 

I use that same pump. But when doing the PS fluid I do the following
1)plug input line to PS reservoir
2)Hook pump input line to PS return line
3)Put output line from pump in a pop bottle.


When I turn the pump on it sucks the fluid from the reservoir all the way thru the system. I keep adding new fluid to the resivoir until the fluid that is being sucked out by the pump is clean and clear.
This way you replace all the fluid. Not just whats in the reservoir.

And I also have a magnefine filter in the return line as well.

And yes, someone else who agrees the transmission pan filter is a meant to catch boulders and an inline filter is the way to go

And yes to this also "dirty fluids of any kind are like cutting fluids." After seeing the normal break in wear after my initial diff oil change I feel better knowing that metal isn't wearing away at the bearings and chewing up the axle seals.

 

I remember them they were wanky transmissions! 5th gear shifting left a lot to be desired.

 

And for brake fluid... Its hygroscopic (absorbs water right from the air) . That's why is says never use from an open bottle. As the percentage of water increase the boiling point decreases. And so does the possibility of corrosion of brake components. With new ABS components being in the order of thousands of $ this is something you want to prevent. Since i do my own summer/winter tire swaps I purge all the old fluid every 3 years at the same time since wheels are off. I have stainless speed bleeder screws so i can do it myself without needing another person. This is a time dependent activity, not mileage based.

http://www.speedbleeder.com/

This is new vs 3 year old fluid (not vodka vs scotch )

 

Howdy Ezra, oh to be 17 again! Don’t think of it as fixing your dad’s mistakes, think of it as taking advantage of some great learning experiences gifted to you by your dad. The feeling you’ll have driving your new(to you) truck after you catch up all the maintenance will be awesome!
1. Get some decent tools
2. Get as good of a repair manual as you can find. Something you can get a little grease on the pages.
3. Have plenty of mom’s kitchen towels ready to soil. Just in time for Mother’s Day.
4. Torque wrench.
5. be sure and leave a big puddle of dirty diff fluid on dad’s driveway. It’ll make him so proud that you’re picking up his slack every time he sees it!
6. Once you turn 21, you’ll want to add a cold beer as the final step, after finishing your hard work.

 

And buy a whole box of cheap medical exam gloves. Keeps the oil/dirt from getting under your finger nails. There is also mention of used engine oil being carcinogenic so keeps it off your hands.

 

Add a bottle of Lubegard to that tranny!!

 

I hope Ezra sees your advice. He hasn't shown up since last July 2023 when posting about having a broken frame...

 

I use Valvoline Maxlife ATF on pretty much everything it says it's compatible with. Drain and refill is the recommended procedure, not full flush, on high mileage. You want to mix the old and the new. You can repeat the process a few times if wanted after a few hundred miles each to get a purer ratio.

 

Not so sure about using an in-line filter on the PS.

It makes since on a mostly metal parts grinding against each other in a tranny.

But for a power steering its really just valves and passages, if it were a mesh filter, that would be different.

So me thinks best for PS is just change the fluid every couple years........or half like I do every year.

 

From the following article

https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/129-1002-automatic-transmission-and-power-steering-filters/

"We also installed a Magnefine into the return line of the rack and pinion steering and ran it for 552 miles before resampling the oil. The ISO code dropped from a dirty 20/17/12 to a clean 17/15/12. Similarly, when installed into the long-overdue-for-an-oil-change power steering of our '86 test rig, it dropped the code from a filthy 21/18/14 to 18/16/13 in just 289 miles."

That first # is particles of 4 micron size, second is 6 micron and third is 14 micron. Might not seem like a drop from 21 to 18 is a lot but the count for 21 is 10,000 to 20,000 particles and 18 is 1,250 to 2,500.

The counts are base on 2 raised to the # power so 2^21 is of course much larger than 2^18

 

Hi, I purchased the high milage ATF fluid from O'Reilly 3 quarts. Does high mileage ATF fluid help or is it just marketing? Tacoma 2002 prerunner 4cyl 2.7L has 246k miles. The more I read from what others write the more I feel confused. ‍♂️


https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...truck-2002-toyota-tacoma?q=Dexron+3+ATF&pos=3


Thank you for any help you guys can provide.

 

Just as long as Dextron III u good

My 96 taco says Dextron II but D III is now the option bc D.II no longer available
Think I remember reading the same on the qt container

which brings my to my old man point.

As long as u maintain whatever ‘fluid’ system regularly…….
The best oil/coolant/pwr steering fluid/etc is BWIOS Brand...hands down.


Buy
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Is
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OP has a manual.

 

OP has a manual.

 

OP has a manual.