ATF Exchange (using the cooling line)

[Drcoffee]

I do my own basic work on my cars, but this will be my first auto. (Not as common over here)

Where in the fluid 'circuit' would this be added and is it as simple as slipping a pipe off and adding this filter?

Cheers

Yes, you cut out about 3” of hose and hose clamp it in place. To make it easy to replace in the future, I install it in the top radiator cooler hose before the elbow. ATF flows from trans->upper radiator port->lower radiator port->back to transmission.

Side note: there are two steel ATF cooler lines at the bottom on the radiator. Mine had nearly rusted through on the drivers side. So I cut the rusted section off and slipped the ATF hose over the cut end and hose clamped it in place. There is very little pressure in this hose, but I would suggest a worm gear hose clamp for security.

I also add one to my power steering fluid.

 

[SurferUK]

Yes, you cut out about 3” of hose and hose clamp it in place. To make it easy to replace in the future, I install it in the top radiator cooler hose before the elbow. ATF flows from trans->upper radiator port->lower radiator port->back to transmission.

Side note: there are two steel ATF cooler lines at the bottom on the radiator. Mine had nearly rusted through on the drivers side. So I cut the rusted section off and slipped the ATF hose over the cut end and hose clamped it in place. There is very little pressure in this hose, but I would suggest a worm gear hose clamp for security.

I also add one to my power steering fluid.

That's superb info mate thanks very much. I am getting as much info and materials together as I can before it arrives.

I ordered mine today. It should be on the big boat from Japan soon. :bounce:

 

[sundance21]

Its interesting the conversations about tranny fluid replacement causing transmission failure. Its old school to add ATF to motor oil to clean the engine. Or mix ATF with acetone to make a penetrating fluid. The reason is ATF is a detergent. When you swap out old dirty ATF with new ATF all the crud attached to internal parts will suddenly be freed up to float in the new fluid and block passages, ruin valves, etc. this is what I theorize is the ruin of the transmission. Not that the old fluid has better friction than the new fluid.

What I do when I get a used vehicle is replace all the ATF and most importantly add a MAGNEFINE 3/8” filter and ATF cooler. The filter will catch any old crud released by the new ATF and prevent it from causing future damage. Check out what these filters caught on my other vehicles.

The magnefine filter has a strong magnet to catch ferrous material, then filters the fluid with a paper filter to catch non-ferrous material. I leave it in 50,000 miles and it costs just $25. Well worth the money and effort to install. I have never had a tranny failure. My last car was a Lexus IS300 2001 I bought with 96,000 miles. I just sold it with 286,000 miles and the trans shifted like new still.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6pFct7Zrgs&feature=youtu.be

On my 07 4runner I just replaced all the ATF with 10 Qts Amsoil synthetic. And added a cooler and filter. Runs great at 223,000 miles, shifts like new, better than when I bought last summer.

The filter is the key IMHO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6QeXRMp53Y&feature=youtu.be

Filters are always good. Can't hurt unless you clog it completely. If I were to use anything except WS fluid from Toyota or Aisin, I'd use Amsoil. I just filled mine with 12 quarts of Aisin.

You are absolutely correct about ATF cleaning. However, it not because of the detergents. ATF has a fraction of the detergents that are in the average motor oil. ATF does have dispersants. It is a myth that ATF would clean a engine.

Is it safe to use automatic transmission fluid as an engine flush?

The new ATF does help clean the components on the transmission but not to the point of contaminating anything much worse than it was before. If somethings solid turns loose and it is big enough... its going to potentially hang up somewhere important. A filter can definitely help with that but it just depends on where it turns loose from.

 

[808g19]

10. Attach the 3/8" clear tubing to the metal pipe at the connection you just removed, and route the other end of the clear tubing into the milk jug.

View attachment 155011

11. Start car, and it will pump ATF out into the jug at about 1 qt every 15 seconds. Shut engine after 2 qts have been pumped out.
12. Hand pump in 2 qts (or the amount that came out) through the refill hole, and empty the milk jug.

View attachment 155012

13. Start car, cycle through all the gears. This time 2.5 qts were pumped out when I stopped the engine.
14. Hand pump in 2.5 qts (or the amount that came out) through the refill hole, and empty the milk jug.

View attachment 155013

15. Start car, stop after 2 qts have been pumped out
16. Hand pump in 2 qts (or the amount that came out) through the refill hole, and empty the milk jug

View attachment 155014

17. Start car, stop after ~2 qts have been pumped out
18. Hand pump in through the refill hole the amount that came out, and empty the milk jug

View attachment 155015

19. Start car, stop after 1.25 qts pumped out. I wanted to get 12 quarts in there.
20. Hand pump in through the refill hole the amount that came out, and empty the milk jug. At this point, I've pumped in 12 quarts total.

View attachment 155016

21. Pump another half quart so you will have some fluid flow out during the Fluid Temp Check. So now I have pumped 12.5 quarts of new fluid in there.
22. Reconnect ATF line and return the hose clamp to its original position
23. Finger tighten fill plug

Next is the fluid temp check...

At each new 2 quarts pumped in at start up, do i need to cycle through all the gears or just at the first 2 quart exchanged?

 

[Drcoffee]

Filters are always good. Can't hurt unless you clog it completely. If I were to use anything except WS fluid from Toyota or Aisin, I'd use Amsoil. I just filled mine with 12 quarts of Aisin.

You are absolutely correct about ATF cleaning. However, it not because of the detergents. ATF has a fraction of the detergents that are in the average motor oil. ATF does have dispersants. It is a myth that ATF would clean a engine.

Is it safe to use automatic transmission fluid as an engine flush?

The new ATF does help clean the components on the transmission but not to the point of contaminating anything much worse than it was before. If somethings solid turns loose and it is big enough... its going to potentially hang up somewhere important. A filter can definitely help with that but it just depends on where it turns loose from.

These filters have a bypass valve just in case they get clogged.

 

[firebirdguy]

At each new 2 quarts pumped in at start up, do i need to cycle through all the gears or just at the first 2 quart exchanged?

No need to cycle the gears when filling the 2 qts each time.

 

[88skisupreme]

Appreciate all the info in this tread, mostly the OP and the guys who suggested the inline filters.

Has anyone tried Idemitsu ATF Type TLS-LV ? I've seen some speculation on othe forums that this is where Toyota actually gets their ATF.
Amazon.com: Idemitsu 30040096-95300C020 ATF Type TLS-LV (WS) Automatic Transmission Fluid for Toyota/Lexus/Scion-5 Quart: Automotive

 

[sundance21]

Didn't say they didn't.

The point being that there are plenty of very small passages in any transmissions. Smaller than the bypass valve on any ATF filter. Depending on where the debris comes from and gets to, the filter may not help.

 

[sundance21]

Just think about it. How smart is it to run your ATF 2 quarts dry multiple times in this process?

 

[BlackWorksInc]

Just think about it. How smart is it to run your ATF 2 quarts dry multiple times in this process?

What do you mean?

 

[88skisupreme]

Just think about it. How smart is it to run your ATF 2 quarts dry multiple times in this process?

Its not going into gear or anything, just letting the pump run for a few seconds at a time and replacing that amount.

 

[firebirdguy]

Its not going into gear or anything, just letting the pump run for a few seconds at a time and replacing that amount.

& the pan holds ~3.5 qts so nothing ever goes "dry."

 

[Drcoffee]

Just think about it. How smart is it to run your ATF 2 quarts dry multiple times in this process?

It never runs dry. Thats the point of only purging two qts at a time. This method is tried and true.

 

[88skisupreme]

I just did the proceedure on mine. I used a paperclip as a jumper for the temp check, added an inline filter too.

It felt like it was shifting better instantly, I could tell the difference pulling out of the driveway.

 

[808g19]

I used the auxilary ATF cooler to pump out old fluid on the left side and pump in new fluid on the right side. I got this info here @ 13min into the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPky1Jf2PWQ&feature=youtu.be

Sent from my M2006C3MG using Tapatalk

 

[huskylover]

It does feel smoother. (1) I used to hear it go into gear when gassing it between 10-30 mph, now that's muted and (2) it used to have a pretty loud harmonic hum when the gas was applied between 60-70 mph, now that is muted.

For Sale: leftovers from this project. One (1) quart unopened ATF WS Fluid, a 2 foot section of 3/8" ID tubing, used milk jug with markings, fluid pump (already primed with Toyota ATF haha), 20 gauge wire. For the low low price of $12 plus shipping cost from 02111 zip code.

I also changed the ATF on my 2005 4 runner. But, I used a valvoline transmission fluid that says its compatible with WS.
Is that ok or was I only supposed to use toyota WS for the transmission fluids change?

 

[AuSeeker]

I also changed the ATF on my 2005 4 runner. But, I used a valvoline transmission fluid that says its compatible with WS.
Is that ok or was I only supposed to use toyota WS for the transmission fluids change?

Many have used Valvoline Maxlife with it seems good results.

 

[pjbrownva]

Many have used Valvoline Maxlife with it seems good results.

That's been discussed at length on this forum... try doing a search on Valvoline Maxlife.

The short answer is that there are two deeply divided camps. One camp feels that either there is no difference, or the differences don't matter.

The much longer answer is in this thread https://www.toyota-4runner.org/1818330-post1.html



Enjoy!

-Philip

 

[firebirdguy]

I also changed the ATF on my 2005 4 runner. But, I used a valvoline transmission fluid that says its compatible with WS.
Is that ok or was I only supposed to use toyota WS for the transmission fluids change?

yes its ok to use & happy to hear you used the correct WS fluid in your 2005 4runner that came new with WS...

maxlife is excellent fluid & rated to use in WS transmissions just like any other modern universal fluid like amsoil, redline, etc. its also full synthetic & will stand up to abuse & heat better than WS that has been stated is not synthetic, but regardless of that maxlife is perfectly fine to use, myself & countless other members here & toyota vehicles out there have used it with good results. my 08 V6 is shifting great after 2+ years of doing a full exchange with maxlife. i have also used it for 10+ years in my last daily driver jeep cherokee & many miles & drag race use in high horsepower muscle cars.

of course there are naysayers & haters that will google up a couple of negative reports out of millions of users, but so far none of them actually prove maxlife caused any issues. theres one example posted on a couple threads here recently where a guy with a old & high mile gm vehicle claims it caused a problem but the info provided in no way proves it was the fluid, the trans was having other issues prior to using it & 9 out of 10 people replying to his thread said it was not the fluid.

use it without worry, just be sure you check the fluid levels the right way on the sealed WS trans.

 

[DougR]

Maxlife is excellent fluid & rated to use in WS transmissions just like any other modern universal fluid like amsoil, redline, etc. its also full synthetic & will stand up to abuse & heat better than WS that has been stated is not synthetic, but regardless of that maxlife is perfectly fine to use, myself & countless other members here & toyota vehicles out there have used it with good results. my 08 V6 is shifting great after 2+ years of doing a full exchange with maxlife. i have also used it for 10+ years in my last daily driver jeep cherokee & many miles & drag race use in high horsepower muscle cars.

use it without worry, just be sure you check the fluid levels the right way on the sealed trans.

I agree with firebirdguy. I did a full exchange with MaxLife, and noted a slight shift improvement. Drained WS fluid was still looking good after 100K miles on it. After 8000 miles on MaxLife, I highly recommend it.