Finding transmission fluid, Pain in the ***

S

Seasparrow

New member
So this might be part rant and part please help me. It took a short time to figure out my tranny and it's need for type IV, 04 V6 340 transmission. So I try to find a local mechanic that would change the fluid, (West Central Florida). The Stealership service manager idiot said I didn't have a pan or filter and there was no pan or gasket. "Ya just change the fluid that's all" Ok I know the filter is not a small particle filter and It would better than nothing getting the fluid changed so I said how much, he said 125, not bad but I said no thanks, My 04 has 154k on it and probably never been touched so I said no thanks. So I went to some local shops that were $150 and didn't know if they had a gasket, so I said no..

Long story a little longer, now I am hunting for fluid for DIY and cant find it, stood at the parts counter a while and no one showed up, tried on line and can't find it except fly by night ebay, (is it really OEM or ?). Looked to see if someone else made a comparable fluid but it is always safe with OEM stuff.

Is there a credible source for Toyota ATF type IV fluid.

Thanks ( I should have just asked that in the first place).
 
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I got a filter for mine at O'reillys and bought whatever Valvoline was compatible with Toyota Type IV. I wanna say I just used RTV for the gasket.
 
2004 V6 would have an A340 which absolutely does have a pan and a strainer. Any toyota dealer will keep Type IV in stock, the dealer telling you it doesn't have a pan... never go back there.

You can also use Dex III in a pinch, basically the same stuff. The A340 is built by Aisin Warner and is the same transmission that Jeep puts behind the 4.0L inline six (Jeep calls it the AW4) and that trans calls for DexIII.
 
Thanks everyone, found a dealer 30 miles away that says they have them for 6 dollars and 95 pennies per Quart. (OEM type IV) ???? will see monday if this holds true.
 
You are asking for trouble changing the fluid. I know it has a big peace of mind value, but that is about all you will gain. The risks are just not worth it.
 
Pistonslap said:
You are asking for trouble changing the fluid. I know it has a big peace of mind value, but that is about all you will gain. The risks are just not worth it.
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Seasparrow said:
Never heard that one, always heard the opposite ??????
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I believe what he's referring too is the old school advice of not changing transmisson fluid old high mileage transmissions because of the buildup sludge and debris deposits in the transmission becoming dislodged by the cleaning action of the new fluid and blocking the many passageways and porting in the valve body/transmission and thusly causing the transmission to fail.

That being said, I'm an old school mechanic starting out in the mid 60s but I have continued into the modern times doing mechanical work, the old advice was true on older designed transmissons up through the 80s and early 90s or so, if you didn't change the fluid before 70,000 to 80,000 miles it was best not to do it at all, transmission designs have come a long ways since the 90s, but the transmission fluids which is the extended life giver to transmissions have advanced as well and possibly moreso, they have much better lubricating and cleaning qualities and as such don't produce as much sludge and deposits, and the same qualities helps break down any possible sludge that may be in the transmission. so the same doesn't apply to the same degree as it did in the older transmissions using older tech fluids.

So do these facts mean that the same failures can't happen in modern transmissions, no it doesn't...BUT lubricating fluids do lose their lubricating properties, viscosity and cleaning abilities as they are used and get older and as such affects how the transmission performs, causing such issues as the "shudder" issue, hard shifting, etc. reported on these forums, the "shudder" issue is the torque converter having trouble locking up, so the fluid should be changed at some point to correct the issues in performance or to prevent them from occurring at all, these old school types of failures are few and far between now-a-days, and I have no problems changing fluid in higher mileage modern transmissions that have been using quality modern fluids.

This is just my opinion from many years of doing mechanical work and seeing the tech progress as time goes on and how this tech affects the mechanics of the equiptment, that being said you need to use your own best judgement and will have to make the decision as to proceed or not.
 
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Change the fluid, you'll be fine... If you put too much or too little then it wont work right. But there is nothing wrong with putting new stuff in.
 
Change the fluid, it will not hurt the transmission. I did mine at 130k and today at 230k. Dealer had a special going on for $200, for the transmission flush. Was in and out in 2 hours.

FYI... My co-worker HAD a RAV4 and he never changed his transmission fluid and his tranny went out at 250K miles.
 
AuSeeker said:
I believe what he's referring too is the old school advice of not changing transmisson fluid old high mileage transmissions because of the buildup sludge and debris deposits in the transmission becoming dislodged by the cleaning action of the new fluid and blocking the many passageways and porting in the valve body/transmission and thusly causing the transmission to fail.

That being said, I'm an old school mechanic starting out in the mid 60s but I have continued into the modern times doing mechanical work, the old advice was true on older designed transmissons up through the 80s and early 90s or so, if you didn't change the fluid before 70,000 to 80,000 miles it was best not to do it at all, transmission designs have come a long ways since the 90s, but the transmission fluids which is the extended life giver to transmissions have advanced as well and possibly moreso, they have much better lubricating and cleaning qualities and as such don't produce as much sludge and deposits, and the same qualities helps break down any possible sludge that may be in the transmission. so the same doesn't apply to the same degree as it did in the older transmissions using older tech fluids.

So do these facts mean that the same failures can't happen in modern transmissions, no it doesn't...BUT lubricating fluids do lose their lubricating properties, viscosity and cleaning abilities as they are used and get older and as such affects how the transmission performs, causing such issues as the "shudder" issue, hard shifting, etc. reported on these forums, the "shudder" issue is the torque converter having trouble locking up, so the fluid should be changed at some point to correct the issues in performance or to prevent them from occurring at all, these old school types of failures are few and far between now-a-days, and I have no problems changing fluid in higher mileage modern transmissions that have been using quality modern fluids.

This is just my opinion from many years of doing mechanical work and seeing the tech progress as time goes on and how this tech affects the mechanics of the equiptment, that being said you need to use your own best judgement and will have to make the decision as to proceed or not.
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AuSeeker Is correct.

I would like to add that if you tow a lot, then you should change the fluid frequently.
 
sport2004 said:
would the proverbial 'drain and fill' be less of a concern?
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Some think so I guess thinking that it would slow down the process of lossening any sludge since the majority of the fluid still in there is old fluid...but I don't see a benefit until you do the drain and fill 4 to 6 times to get to almost all new fluid in there.

But as I stated above if the transmission is experiencing issues getting all new fluid in there is what I think is the best to do to solve those issues, the issues themselves are telling me that the transmission is not working correctly because of the old fluid being degraded.

But in the end each and everyone of us needs to decide what is best for them to do since you will be the one who has the live with the success or failure of whichever method you choose to do or if you decide to do nothing.

However the one thing I would advise everyone to do even if you decide to do nothing is to at least learn how to properly check the fluid level and add some if it's low, I know it's a pain in the ass because of there's no dipstick....BUT how else are you going to know it is or isn't low on fluid, running the transmission low on fluid is much worse than keeping old fluid in there and will for sure at some point cause failure of the transmission!!

These transmissions are about as bulletproof as you can get for a mechanical device..BUT not so much so if you neglect them.
 
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AuSeeker said:
Some think so I guess thinking that it would slow down the process of lossening any sludge since the majority of the fluid still in there is old fluid...but I don't see a benefit until you do the drain and fill 4 to 6 times to get to almost all new fluid in there.

But as I stated above if the transmission is experiencing issues getting all new fluid in there is what I think is the best to do to solve those issues, the issues themselves are telling me that the transmission is not working correctly because of the old fluid being degraded.

But in the end each and everyone of us needs to decide what is best for them to do since you will be the one who has the live with the success or failure of whichever method you choose to do or if you decide to do nothing.

However the one thing I would advise everyone to do even if you decide to do nothing is to at least learn how to properly check the fluid level and add some if it's low, I know it's a pain in the ass because of there's no dipstick....BUT how else are you going to know it is or isn't low on fluid, running the transmission low on fluid is much worse than keeping old fluid in there and will for sure at some point cause failure of the transmission!!
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isn't that the truth
 
Hiker865 said:
Curious why everyone is changing transmission fluid so often?

The manual in my 2006 doesn't recommend it and having spoke with two dealerships while getting oil changes....both said they don't advise doing it unless the transmission starts to have issues. 04-08 comes with lifetime fluid and only needs to be checked for correct fluid level.
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It's telling that you don't know much about and do your own mechanical work, first by you saying that you get the dealer to change your oil, one of the most simplest thing to do on these T4Rs, second is if you knew even a little bit about mechanics you would known that there's no such thing as "Lifetime Fluid", especially when it comes to lubricants, lubicants lose their viscosity, cleaning, cooling and lubrication properties after being used for long perioeds of time, e.g. mileage, a good expample is engine oil, transmission fluid is the same but does last much longer, but should be changed somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 miles, no matter what name Toyota calls it.

Just think about it, how long is the common warranty in 2006 on Toyotas, 36 months/36,000 miles, so this is telling me that Toyota says that's the life of most of the vehicle since thery're no longer willing to fix it after that time/mileage period, so lets just say that's the half-life giving Toyota the benefit of doubt, so that tells me around 72,000 miles is what Toyota at the most considers to be "Lifetime", that being said if you look in not the owner manual but in the "Scheduled Maintenance Guide" you will see that Toyota does recommend if you use yor T4R to tow that the transmission fluid should be changed at 60,000 miles, now this fact tells me that Toyota does know that the fluid will degrade and even faster if under more stress than normal driving conditions but it still degrades under normal driving conditions only a little slower.

Now we all know that Toyota vehciles last much, much longer than the warranty period and even many, many times that period... but I can tell you if you asked a Toyota engineer how long that "Lifetime Fluid" truely lasts and he answered honestly it would be around 100,000 miles or less, at that mileage is the fluid still oily and slippery(?), yes it is and it's still better than water but it has lost much of it's properties compared to new fluid, so now knowing all of this you tell me which would you rather have in your $3000 (not including labor) transmission??

I'm not trying to talk down to you for not knowing about mechanics and or doing your own maintenance because I know most people don't have the mechanical abilites and or the tools, but instead just trying to educate you a little bit on the true lifetime of mechanical devices and fluid properties
 
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Valvoline MaxLife Multi-Vehicle ATF. Says right on the bottle that it works for Toyota/Lexus Type T, Type T-II, T-IV, and WS. $18 per gallon at WalMart.
 
Hiker865 said:
Curious why everyone is changing transmission fluid so often?

The manual in my 2006 doesn't recommend it and having spoke with two dealerships while getting oil changes....both said they don't advise doing it unless the transmission starts to have issues. 04-08 comes with lifetime fluid and only needs to be checked for correct fluid level.
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You may want to find a new dealership or go to a Independent shop to get your transmission fluid flushed/changed. ItÂ’s odd that a dealership is refusing a customers money. DonÂ’t believe that lifetime fluid shit, nothing is lifetime when it comes automotive fluids.
 
AuSeeker said:
Some think so I guess thinking that it would slow down the process of lossening any sludge since the majority of the fluid still in there is old fluid...but I don't see a benefit until you do the drain and fill 4 to 6 times to get to almost all new fluid in there.

But as I stated above if the transmission is experiencing issues getting all new fluid in there is what I think is the best to do to solve those issues, the issues themselves are telling me that the transmission is not working correctly because of the old fluid being degraded.

But in the end each and everyone of us needs to decide what is best for them to do since you will be the one who has the live with the success or failure of whichever method you choose to do or if you decide to do nothing.

However the one thing I would advise everyone to do even if you decide to do nothing is to at least learn how to properly check the fluid level and add some if it's low, I know it's a pain in the ass because of there's no dipstick....BUT how else are you going to know it is or isn't low on fluid, running the transmission low on fluid is much worse than keeping old fluid in there and will for sure at some point cause failure of the transmission!!

These transmissions are about as bulletproof as you can get for a mechanical device..BUT not so much so if you neglect them.
Click to expand...

What is the best way to check the Transmission Fluid level on the 2005 V8 sealed transmission?
 
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