Super Crap!.... Milky Trans Fluid.....

Well.... shit hit the fan now. Quick recap, 3 days ago I got my truck stuck in water up to the headlights. Truck never turned off. I was in for about 20 minutes before a buddy pulled me out. I knew the diffs would be full of water since I haven't done the breather mods yet. While there I picked up 4 quarts of Mobil 1 ATF today while I was getting gear oil. Was going to do it as good measure since I need to drive from Vermont to Florida ASAP.

So I pulled the trans dipstick 5 minutes ago.... MILKY PINK. my heart sank. I've put about 40 miles on it since the water incident. Getting home, and then today running around town picking up gear oil and a 10mm Hex head.

I obviously need to get the milky stuff out, but how? I was going to drain the pan, put 4 new quarts, drive to florida, drain, refill. then a few more times etc.

But now..... my trans fluid is water contaminated.... how should I do this??? Should I refill it, drive 10 miles, drain, refill, 10 miles etc? I want to run it as little as possible with the water contaminated oil....

Also, I bought 4 quarts of mobil 1 synthetic. A bit pricey.... Should i flush it with cheaper stuff, and then when the milkyness is gone, drain and fill with the good synthetic stuff????????????

 

No bueno. I would say the flush it, 10 miles thing. But I am no transmission expert, or novice.

 

Not a back-flush, but yes... it needs a complete replacement.

A shop can do it easily, but a DIY procedure:

Drop the pan, replace the filter, clean the pan, replace the fluid.
Disconnect the return line from the cooler, run it until you have 2 quarts in the bucket, add 2 quarts to the pan.

Repeat until nothing but clean fluid is coming out.

The trans picks up fluid from the pan, circulates it through the system and TC, then out to the cooler, where it returns to the pan.
The main thing is there will be some mixing in the TC, but it won't be as bad as multiple 4qt drain/refills plus driving on contaminated fluid.

 

I see. So i need to find this return line from the cooler you speak of....

Is it the "oil cooler pipe" on this schematic?

 

Should be similar process for the 1st Gen...

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/68462-diy-full-flush-automatic-transmission.html

 

the return line is on the radiator. The bottom part of the radiator had a small cooler inside of it that cools transmission fluid.

 

Thank you for the link. Right off the bat i can see the 2nd gen has a fill point and an overflow plug the 1st gens dont. if I understand correctly the first gen has to be filled through the dipstick. Other than that, hopefully the rest is similar. gives me an idea of what im up against.

 

2nd Gen V6 went to Toyota WS fluid, considered "lifetime" so yes, no dipstick.
1st Gen used either Dex or Toyota T-IV.... your dipstick should tell you which.

 

Cool. I can't see it right now because one of my skid bolts is stripped. I'm gonna have to get a cutting wheel tomorrow and cut it off. On the 2nd gen link the return line is the bottom of the two. Is that the case with the 1st gen?


So if im understanding this right. the hot ATF travels through the inlet line to the rad, where it is cooled and then travels through the outlet line back to the pan. If i disconnect the outlet line i'll intercept the milky fluid on it's way back to the pan? But if that's the case, why do both lines run to the pan, adjacent to one another?

 

My sons best friend played submarine commander with his Ford, did the same thing. Slipped like crazy and would not shift on his way home, happened in Azusa for the So Cal folks. He changed the fluid several times and all is good now, no problems over the last few years. For the first year or so he was expecting problems, never happened.

 

Passage inside the case on the feed line leading from the valve body.

 

Im really surprised.... it drove and shifted very well. Completely normal.

 

Hopefully you have the same end result, he thought he killed it for sure.

 

Say wha?

 

yeah im kinda freaking out because i try to be really up on my maintenance, and my last car (dodge neon) had two auto trans go out within 15k miles.... hated it.

I always said that down the road if the trans went out, i'd swap for a manual but.... i was hoping that wouldn't be for another 3-4 years...

 

There's a thing inside the thing that pulls the fluid from the thing and pumps it out the thing.

 

The return line is the bottom of the two steel lines, connects at the middle/rear of tranny directly above the pan and on drivers side of radiator.

 

This shows the 1st Gen line routing

http://www.trdsparks.com/install/PT901-16491-02inst.pdf

 

ROFL! Somewhere inbetween those please.

 

Okay, doing this today. Anyone care to guess how many quarts of new ATF i'll go through before it's clean? Still now sure if i should do it with cheap ATF or Synthetic ATF. Leaning towards Synthetic, since i figure once all the fluid is red and clean, it will be very difficult to then pump that out and replace it with synthetic since they'll look the same.

what do you guys think? 14 quarts to be safe? i need to get a ride to the auto parts store and i might not get a second lift lol

Also, why disconnect the line at the rad? Couldn't you disconnect it right where the return line meets the pan?