Transmission check help!

Tried to do the check yesterday and am a little stumped. When toggling from n to d. My dash is showing the shift pattern icon. Am I supposed to be looking at the D in the lower left corner of it. What and where does this D appear for 2 seconds? I eventually got it too warm and the bottom left D started blinking. I'm not seeing the meter that matches the toyota instructions. Top image is what I'm looking for. Bottom is what I see.

 

Try going back(with the back button on the wheel), that screen is a pop-up that covers whatever else is on the screen, it might be there. I'm just guessing tho

 

Do i need to turn off pop-ups in settings?

 

You don't have to, you can just dismiss the pop-up

 

Every time you move from d-n the pop-up comes back on. I'll just disable it when i recheck.

 

Mine didn't have a separate icon.
Looks something ike N-D-N-D-N-D-D-D.

 

Same situation here with my X2 TRD Sport ACLB.
Your indicator is the bottom left "D".
If you notice, once you enter the temp detection mode the "D" stops changing D-N-D-N.
It goes blank, and then solid once in the check range, blinking when too hot.

Interestingly, my AT was 3/4 low; after toping it off I didn't immediately notice any changes in the way the truck drives. After about 500 miles the truck has improved immensely.
WTF, now I like the truck again.

 

Ok. So it holds D after 6 seconds or so. Then goes blank. U then shift to park and pull jumper. Then wait for the D to reappear, then check fluid. I think I got it.

 

Yes, that's how it works.

I practiced the technique to get the trans in temp check mode a couple of times before I even had the ATF and pump, just to be sure of the procedure.

One of the posts I had read, said that running the trans through all the "gears" pumped the trans fluid to every internal passage and made it easier to get into temp check mode. ( P-R-N-D-then pull shifter to the left and engage 4-3-2-1, THEN do the N-D-N-D-N-D until you get the D to flash in the lower corner, disappear, then display D again when in temp check mode)

I figured what the hell, why not? and tried it. It went into temp check mode quicker/more consistantly than just doing the N-D-N-D-N-D

 

Ok. P-R-N-D-S-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-S-D-N-R-P-R-N-D-N-D-N-DDDDDD

NoDnoDNoDnoDnoDnoDnoDnoD


DDDDDDDDCheckDDDDDDDDD

DblinkDblinkDblinkDblinkDblink
Too hot!

And how is this better than a dipstick? Unbelievable!

 

It actually isn't all that bad. It works, and it works with a home-brewed method of jumpering the OBD terminals.

The real problem is not with how it was engineered, it's the application. Why the factory is sending under-filled trans and dealers are allowing selling them without checking is the real issue. If they were filled from the factory or at a minimum physically adjusted at point of sale....there would be no issue.

 

Did it work? Which pins did you jump? Where in all those letters
and when did you pull the jumper wire?

 

I'm gonna do it saturday after its cooled all night. When i tried yesterday after work. I let it cool for 2 hrs. And the D was blinking. Then waited another hour. Same thing. I believe the jumper gets pulled after the D comes on solid for 2seconds while doing the D-n-d-n. When D goes out, pull jumper and wait for it to reappear solid. This is all too funny, shifts pretty nice now, I just must have ocd. Want it perfect.

 

Please write up your exact working method. thx

 

I'm still stuck on the first D... how do you spell that???

 

I performed this check last night. After jumping terminals 4 and 13 start the truck. A few lights will be flashing on the dash the entire time the terminals are jumped and the truck is on.(traction control/ warning lights etc...). The Engine idle is also a bit inconsistent while the terminals are jumped.

The indicator in the lower left corner of the display is where u want to look. In your picture it is the Green "N" next to ODO. Per the Service Instructions Shift from P to S then back to P. (I went kind of slow just enough to hear the transmission fully shift). Then Shift to N. Shift N-D-N-D-N-D-N. Be watching the indicator in the display while you are doing your N-D shifts. Once you have shifted 6 times (roughly a second between each shift) you should end up back at N, however the indicator will still be showing "D" for about 2 seconds even though u are at the N position, then will disappear. Shift to P and remove the Jumper. Engine will idle smoothly and lights will stop flashing on dash. My trucks fluid was at about 60 deg F. It took about 10 minutes for the D to come on. I had someone watch it while I performed the check. It probably took 10 minutes to check waiting for the flow to turn to drips after adding the fluid. At no point did the D start blinking, so plan on having about 15 min to check.

A couple of tips: while waiting for the truck to warm up and indicate the solid "D" I held the cooler thermostat valve open for 30 sec by pressing it in with the end of a hex key, just to make sure fluid had filled the cooler.

Also, Before I even started the truck I removed the fill port plug (15/16 socket) and fitted my bottle pump tube up into the port (its kind of hard to get to when the exhaust is hot). Also had my 5mm wrench for the check plug handy.

This was probably more info than u needed seeing as u already got it into check mode but maybe it will help someone else.

 

Good read wyant! What was the outside ambient air temp at the time? And is the bottle pump/tube sold at Totota or you make yourself?

 

Ambient temp was about 60 deg F. I bought this bottle pump at O'reilleys Auto (maybe $8?). This pump fits quart and gallon size jug threads. Threaded right on to the quart size Toyota World AT Fluid. They give you two different sized hard plastic siphon tubes. In order for the flexible tube to be long enough I attached the extra siphon tube into the end of the long clear plastic tube so that it would reach the fill plug. It was also flexible enough to be able to kind of bend it about 60 deg and stick it into the port and stay.

 

Thanks Wyant!

 

Great write up Wyant, Thank you!
This is the easiest clear cut post I’ve seen so far on this subject. The only thing missing is the ALDL pin image, but I’m sure I have one somewhere, or can find one somewhere.

I’m gonna save these steps, and add it to my service folder for future reference, or in case I ever need to check the level due to a leak in a line, cooler or what not.
Cheers!