It seems fine so far. Nothing really to report differently since I'm running around 1/3 synthetic right now. I'm doing a slow transition since I do drain and refills of my pan every 10k miles instead of waiting around 30k for a full flush. Drain and refills done on a regular basis keep the fluid in good shape and it's simple to do. I made the switch hoping it will improve the life of my transmission.

I exchange the 3 gallons all at once. I was planning on going to valvoline. it exceeds the dexron standards and I think these transmissions will love it.

Well I mostly clean the pan magnets every other full exchange of fluid. I exchange every 100k if heavy towing would do every 50k

I remember you saying you prefer the spill and fill method for changing your fluid.



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I advise against it. It meets WS spec = way too thin compared to a Dexron III. It might not show it in a good transmission, but an older one with more wear may act up. Generally had good luck with multi-vehicle fluids despite the haters, but this one definitely pushes the limit with compatibility. There's a reason why even generic fluids are distinguishing between regular ATF and LV ATF these days.

Hmmm, I think your opinion is the exception to the rule. The high percentage of people who have used this product have reported great results.

The situation you might be describing is when somebody takes a high mileage transmission that was abused and then decides to perform a full flush. When a auto trans hasn't seen a fluid change in a very long time or maybe never, that dirty fluid is holding suspended clutch material that the transmission is relying upon to operate without slipping. Once that fluid is swapped out for new fluid, the clutch material is gone and the transmission has issues.

Another thing is an abused trans will have sludge build-up inside. New ATF has very good detergent qualities. The new fluid acts on the sludge and can break it loose. That sludge could get lodged in fluid channels in the valve body and cause a partial or complete blockage starving the trans component of fluid.

So, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. The reports on the fluid are contrary to what you're claiming.

I think you're causing yourself a lot of unnecessary work by dropping the pan. When i dropped the pan on my 2000, there was minimal accumulation of metal debris on the magnets. And, the filter was probably 97% unclogged. I'm never dropping my pan again unless i have to to replace a shift solenoid.

I'm also running an in-line magnetic filter to enhance the fluid filtration. As you know, the trans filter is just a fine mesh metal screen. With the additional in-line filter and renewing that filter at a regular interval ( I renew mine every 10k), the trans filter will never get clogged and it will also limit the amount of debris collected on the magnets. Those magnets could effectively collect debris for the life of the trans without being overloaded. It's only when the trans has a catastrophic failure that the magnets could get overloaded with debris, but then it's a non-issue, because the trans has to be replaced anyway.

Here's the In-Line Filters I use in both of my 3rd Gens:

*Magnefine 3/8" Magnetic In-line Transmission Filter
Amazon.com: Magnefine 3/8" Magnetic Inline Transmission/Power Steering Filter: Automotive

@mtbtim ... where did you choose to locate the magnefine filter? I like this approach.

I generally take reports here with a grain of salt. It's generally the same crowd that claims X muffler is "just right" but in reality there's a massive drone at 70mph. Generally subjective, and not based on OEM specs. It's essentially saying that WS is also safe to use. People are already scared of using straight up Type-IV. I wouldn't call my transmission abused, 230k and has towing history. It has a good service history and fluid always came out red. The issue came about when I switched to Maxlife. Under 50%+ throttle the 2-3 shift became hard. Switching to Type-IV (essentially a dexron in thickness, with improved additive), got rid of this issue. Also read reports of slipping caused by the fluid viscosity from others (@LittleCaesar ?)

They've changed the formula of Maxlife over the years as well to meet other fluid specs like Dexron 6 and Mercon LV. Viscosity index is 156 for Maxlife vs 183 for OEM Toyota Dexron(the holy grail, OEM factory fill. source: Mobil - OEM fluid maker). The Valvoline fluids have a lower viscosity index in general. BUT - perhaps additive package is more of the issue than viscosity. And perhaps the A340F is tough enough to not care as much. But long term that thicker fluid may come in handy in dealing with higher heat and increased tolerances of an older trans that comes with age and/or older build specs. Plus the issue of planetary gear failures on 01-02 transmissions may warrant the benefits of thicker fluid. So yeah, Maxlife probably works for now but we'll see long term. I had good luck with older Maxlife formulations back in 2008 or so.

My personal recommendations other than OEM are Castrol IMV if you're on a budget or Redline D4 is you want to shell out the cash. My transmission shifts like a damn dream with Redline D4, even in the cold where it is normal to be a little firm.

on full syn in the diffs... have the comments I've heard about synthetic gear oil leaking past the axle seal been bogus?

Probably more related to breather issues, or the existing seal was already going to fail and didn't like the detergents in new fluid.

I could see full synthetics leaking out of seals. As old seals may not handle the thinner oil. On most of the drivetrain not and issue its rust proofing in the salt belt. ;)

Except, in the rear diff as we have drum brakes that can be soaked in gear grease.

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I put it in my trans cooler return line before it goes to my external trans cooler. The return line is the one attaches to the trans cooler nipple on the driver side of the radiator. There's plenty of room there to install it. I zip tied the filter to the radiator fan shroud.

The filter in the video is a plastic version of the filter. They have since upgraded them to metal filters which are more durable. Not seen in the video is I ended up putting a section of foam pad between the filter and the fan shroud to offer some shock absorption so the filter doesn't get rattled to death.

Go to playtime 38:53 in the video below and you'll see exactly where I installed it.

I was basing it more off the Amazon reviews which are highly positive and lots of these reviews are from people with older model transmissions like ours that had Dextron 3 as the original spec fluid. I guess I'll see how it goes since I'm only running 1/3 synthetic right now.

You've definitely got me thinking about this though, especially since the formula now has a lower viscosity. The Redline D4 gets excellent reviews, but like you said, it's pretty pricey.

You could be right but at exchange intervals at every 100K its 200k before my pan will get dropped again and I use feel pro gasket on it..

I will add the magnefine 3/8 to all my rigs though.. :-)