4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

[RL Lemke]

I had my 2004 SE V8 transmission flushed and the super Toyota fluid re-installed. Later I learned that the optimum temperature to check the fluid level is 115 F. More than that temperature and you reading will be off, and your transmission will not have enough fluid for proper operation.

Bottom line: Never check fluid level with a warm engine. Not that we can check it anyway.

I learned all this the hard way.

 

[Iowa4Runner]

I had my 2004 SE V8 transmission flushed and the super Toyota fluid re-installed. Later I learned that the optimum temperature to check the fluid level is 115 F. More than that temperature and you reading will be off, and your transmission will not have enough fluid for proper operation.

Bottom line: Never check fluid level with a warm engine. Not that we can check it anyway.

I learned all this the hard way.

What temperature has to be 115 degrees and how are we supposed to measure it?

To check the level you use the "fluid temperature detection mode" and run the engine until the temp warning light comes on. That's what the Toyota service manual says to do. I've done this a few times and the engine was definitely warm.

 

[RL Lemke]

Re: Re: 4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

What temperature has to be 115 degrees and how are we supposed to measure it?

To check the level you use the "fluid temperature detection mode" and run the engine until the temp warning light comes on. That's what the Toyota service manual says to do. I've done this a few times and the engine was definitely warm.

The dealer used an infrared scanner and checked the driver side of the oil pan.

Mine was so low that I was having a lot of problems, due to checking the level when the fluid level was too hot. Problems including the computer switching to safe mode for operation.

 

[Iowa4Runner]

Re: Re: Re: 4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

The dealer used an infrared scanner and checked the driver side of the oil pan.

Mine was so low that I was having a lot of problems, due to checking the level when the fluid level was too hot. Problems including the computer switching to safe mode for operation.

Hmm that's interesting. On two occasions I've done a three-quart flush on my tranny, checked the level according to the manual and never had any problems. Maybe the fluid wasn't that warm when the light came on. Who checked your level previously and how did they do it?

 

[RL Lemke]

Re: Re: Re: Re: 4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

Hmm that's interesting. On two occasions I've done a three-quart flush on my tranny, checked the level according to the manual and never had any problems. Maybe the fluid wasn't that warm when the light came on. Who checked your level previously and how did they do it?

Dealer flushed the transmission. I took it back to have them check the level because of a concern. Don't know how they did it. All is well now.

I think the 4Runner 5 speed auto is still new to many. Too bad it doesn't have a dip stick.

 

[Fro-Runner]

The 2004 Toyota 4Runner 4 speed transmission has a tranny dipstick to check the fluid.

 

[Sac State]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: 4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

Too bad it doesn't have a dip stick.

I have a dfipstick on my '03 5spd. Nice feature.

 

[RickyCRX]

Re: Re: 4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

What temperature has to be 115 degrees and how are we supposed to measure it?

To check the level you use the "fluid temperature detection mode" and run the engine until the temp warning light comes on. That's what the Toyota service manual says to do. I've done this a few times and the engine was definitely warm.

What is this mode and how do you activate it?

Ricky

 

[TechWrench]

Re: Re: 4th Gen 5 Speed Auto-Trans Lesson Learned

What temperature has to be 115 degrees and how are we supposed to measure it?

To check the level you use the "fluid temperature detection mode" and run the engine until the temp warning light comes on. That's what the Toyota service manual says to do. I've done this a few times and the engine was definitely warm.

I'm curious about just what the manual gives for the exact procedure to check the trans fluid level on the new 'sealed' units. I worked on transmissions for years, and the 'standard' procedure was to bring the trans up to operating temp before making the final level check with the engine running, in park. With the new sealed units, I am assuming that a 'sight' plug has to be removed on the side of the unit somewhere to check the fluid level since there is no dip stick. Are you supposed to have the 'sealed' units running, or shut down when you check them?

 

[Mulepick]

Looks like I found this thread just in time.

I'm in the process of attempting to drain the 3 or so quarts of atf out of the bottom then top it back off.

You start out by popping the overflow cap off, allow to drain. Install cap. Pop off refill plug, pour WS (atf) until you hit the bottom of the refill hole. Now comes the warmup and final level determination.

To do this properly one must "using an SST, short-circuit between terminals TC and CG of the DLC3". OK. The Data Link Connection (3), I believe, is the left most plug left of the cabin fuses. You've got 3 big honkin' plugs, one to the right, two to the left of the fuse panel. My guess is based on wire color.

Now. Which are the CG and TC tabs that are jumped? It is a 16 hole plug (8x2). The left side has all 8, the right has only 4. The manual is not clear about which side is L/R and the plugs/tabs aren't numbered.

Anyway, after you get things jumped properly you start the engine, play with the shift lever in some double-secret ways which turns the "atf temp warning" lamp on. You then removed the jumpers, warm the engine up, and top off the atf after the light goes out.

If someone has good info on which tabs to jump, I'll take some photos of what I'm talking about and post them.

Bob

 

[Jeff Kleb]

WTF??


That sure sounds like a lot of bovine fecal matter thrown at us by Toyota -- just to check the tranny juice.

Sheesh!
:bash:

 

[Mulepick]

Actually, I believe the V-6 tranny has a dipstick. It's just the post 8/03 V-8s that are all buttoned up.

Bob

 

[Fourty-four]

A tip for the do-it-yourselfers:

If you know that you don't have a trans fluid leak and you want to drain and refill your transmission, just measure the amount of old fluid drained from the tranny and refill with an equal amount of new stuff.

Pretty basic, huh?

 

[Mulepick]

All respect but...

too basic for my tastes. Your method presumes that it was done right previously which, according to previous posts, is not always the case.

Anyway, if I trusted Toyota's mentality, I'd be waiting until 100k to change it. Since I tow/operate in the desert, I'm not prepared to do that.

Toyota also says to check the atf level every 30k. How is that done w/o pulling plugs and replacing fluid?


Bob

 

[Fourty-four]

All respect but...

too basic for my tastes. Your method presumes that it was done right previously which, according to previous posts, is not always the case.

Anyway, if I trusted Toyota's mentality, I'd be waiting until 100k to change it. Since I tow/operate in the desert, I'm not prepared to do that.

Bob

Okay, if you had your vehicle since it was new and you are a true do-it-yourselfer, then the odds are that your vehicle was correctly filled at the factory and nobody has ever messed with it. If the transmission is shifting properly and not experiencing any issues, it shouldn't be a problem to measure what came out and replace it by the same amount. At the very worse, you'll have clean fluid in the same exact amount as before. No harm done. If you were underfilled in the first place, then you'll still be underfilled.

Most dealership techs (like me, years ago) simply drain and refill with the amount specified in the manual. Unfortunately, some of the fluid always manages to remain in the transmission, so adding the full spec will overfill it. Same thing applies with the cooling system, only worse. The total capacity and the refill capacity of a cooling system is completely different. You should really put back the same amount you took out, assuming you're doing drain/refill of a healthy and properly filled cooling system. The good thing about the cooling system is that it will spit out any amout of fluid that is overfilled.

 

[TeCKis300]

This all seems soo voodoo to me and cumbersome for a simple drain and fill.

I wonder if the problem comes with the tranny cooler. You have to run the motor/tranny in order for the ATF to circulate through the cooler to remove all air at which point you need to fill at the tranny again to reach the recommended fill level.