High mileage 5 speed drain+fill ATF

[mcbru]

Hey all, recently got an 05 V8 Limited, 217k miles. I have all service records and no mention of ATF service. Pretty sure it has the WS transmission/fluid.

I'm going to use it for some towing and it has a mild shudder in reverse and low speed drive on occasion.

Was planning on draining and refilling the pan with Maxlife ATF. Any anecdotes on high mileage drain and refill experiences? I just did it for the first time on my daily driver BMW, with no negative effects so I feel pretty confident that i won't ruin the transmssion up on the 4R. Wanted to check before going down that route. Thanks!!

 

[randy88fj62]

I followed the manual instructions, very simple to replace the fluid from under the truck on the pan.

If you want to add some extra work you can install a new filter screen in there. Under the truck is the pan, there is a drain plug, fill plug, and auto level plug that drains out any extra.

Why not stick with Toyota WS fluid? it's cheap.

 

[Drcoffee]

Which is it? A 5sp or AT. Could explain why they didnt change the ATF.

 

[patrickufkes]

I had a shudder in my prior 5 speed, chalked it up to the infamous 4th gen/tacoma shudder. I did a drain and fill and added some shudder-fix at the same time. Got a lot better but came back in a more mild form. Might be worth doing a whole ATF fluid exchange. It's very straightforward but be warned, it's dirty dirty job that takes some time.

 

[Bagels]

I just swapped out the atf fluid in my 2008 V6 using the transmission cooler located near the radiator in front of the engine.

You really don’t need to drop the pan, there’s an easier way and the filter is just a mesh screen is doesn’t really need to be replaced.

All you will need to do is disconnect the hose line to drain/fill a few quarts at a time. You’ll turn on the car to pump out a few quarts (takes about 15 seconds per quart) and then use a funnel and hose to add fluid back in to the cooler (takes about 5 minutes per quart without a pump).

My 4Runner only had 117k miles and I did it purely for maintenance reasons and didn’t notice much change before/after. Maybe a little smoother shifting but probably in my head. The old fluid was a dark red compared to the new bright red color going in.

I recommend this video that explains the process in great detail. Toyota 4Runner/Tacoma - Transmission Flush - without getting under your car ! - (Method 2) - YouTube I didn’t bother getting a larger tube to connect the funnel though.

To change out 12 quarts it took about an hour and I was doing other maintenance tasks while waiting for the fluid to slowly flow back into the system.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bagels]

Also I highly recommend only using genuine Toyota WS ATF fluid and nothing else. From my research it is very important to use only Toyota WS fluid.

I got mine here.

Amazon.com: Toyota - World Standard Autom (00289-ATFWS) : Automotive


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[rwh963]

i had mine done at the dealer at about 190k. i had the shudder at about 35 mph. paid about $200 for a complete swap of fluid. no shudder. of course used WS fluid.

 

[rdruss]

I would do a drain/fill, using WS fluid, each day after driving over a 4 day period and call it good.

 

[firebirdguy]

Hey all, recently got an 05 V8 Limited, 217k miles. I have all service records and no mention of ATF service. Pretty sure it has the WS transmission/fluid.

I'm going to use it for some towing and it has a mild shudder in reverse and low speed drive on occasion.

Was planning on draining and refilling the pan with Maxlife ATF. Any anecdotes on high mileage drain and refill experiences? I just did it for the first time on my daily driver BMW, with no negative effects so I feel pretty confident that i won't ruin the transmssion up on the 4R. Wanted to check before going down that route. Thanks!!

its best to do a complete exchange as toyota recommends at 100k miles (60k if towing or abused) especially if it has a shudder, a pan d&f wont replace enough of the fluid to be any real benefit.

its very easy to do a full exchange as mentioned above using the engine to pump out 2 qts at a time, but its much easier to fill the new fluid via the fill hole in the side of the trans as designed... takes about 2-3 minutes for 2qts. the pic with the funnel & a hose is how to do it but run the hose down to the fill hole & not through the cooler in the rad or the aux cooler on v8s.

as for the fluid, yes it takes WS & nothing wrong with using it aside from some who say it doesnt do well with heat since its not synthetic... but, maxlife & the other universal fluids like amsoil are fully rated for use in WS trans & work great, plus are fully synthetic & will stand up to heat from towing better & cost less than half the price. myself & countless other 4runner & tacoma owners & other vehicles its rated for have used maxlife with excellent results. maxlife also states it has high levels of anti shudder additives & its been reported quite a few times that it stopped or improved shudder issues, & adding a tube of the shudder fix too cant hurt.

use whatever fluid you want but saying it HAS to be WS is not true at all. hope you can improve the shudder but getting all new fluid in there is the important thing.

 

[firebirdguy]

Which is it? A 5sp or AT. Could explain why they didnt change the ATF.

the auto trans in 05+ 4runners IS a 5 spd. there are no manual trans in 4th gen 4runners.

 

[Drcoffee]

the auto trans in 05+ 4runners IS a 5 spd. there are no manual trans in 4th gen 4runners.

LOL yes I know. Just being a smart azz. Nobody refers to a automatic transmission as a 5sp. …..Almost nobody :naughty:

 

[mcbru]

Thanks all for the words and suggestions. Yes, it made sense to use the Maxlife considering the additives and synthetic base for my use purposes (high mileage truck and severe service usage)

LOL yes I know. Just being a smart azz. Nobody refers to a automatic transmission as a 5sp. …..Almost nobody :naughty:

Almost nobody... except for a few of us!! Haha mostly called it that to differentiate between the 4 speed and 5 speed, with it being common knowledge that there is no manual transmission in a 4th gen 4runner (at least in the US). Us engineer-categorical types are so annoying :target: