Tranny Fluid Drain and Fill

[SureShot516]

2005 V8 4runner, have yet to do a tranny drain and fill @ 205K i know kill me now, however i do no climbing or towing and the tranny still shifts fine

whats the anser on the debate of Toyota WS fluid or using Valvoline Max Life, and if the max life is OK to use would it do any harm doing a drain and fill versus a full flush (mix of fluids)

thanks in advance
Dan

 

[ZebRuaj]

Maxlife works until it doesn't work, then everyone will come out and say "I told you so" .. but if Maxlife causes a problem, then there was probably a hidden problem waiting to be discovered.

I have 4 spill and fills on my 4Runner with Maxlife, currently at 178k. And Maxlife is all I use on my other Toyotas doing the same spill and fill.

If you want something to make you feel better about Maxlife, read all the posts on WS vs Maxlife on BITOG. Most of the internet specialists there say WS is nothing too special.

 

[djpope09]

Do a drain and fill, not a full flush. Other members have stated that with high miles Toyota advises against a flush.

 

[SureShot516]

Yep, i was just planning on a pull the drain plug, measure and refill the couple of quarts that come out, was just curious if it's ok to refill it with the Max Life instead of the WS Fluid

 

[firebirdguy]

just doing 1 drain & fill is kinda pointless, you are only replacing 2-3 of ~12 qts, so it will still have 75-80% of the old fluid in there. if you prefer to just do a drain & fill procedure, at least do 2, 3 or even 4 of them, driving for a few miles in between.

its best to replace ALL the fluid at the same time. there is a confusion between a flush & an exchange. flushing is when you use a machine that forces new fluid through the trans & can dislodge debris etc that may cause damage if the trans is very dirty, or worn out clutches etc. doing an exchange simply uses the transmissions pump & you replace new fluid via the cooler lines with the trans running... it wont cause any damage & the trans can't tell the difference except that its getting new fluid instead of old. there are many write ups & videos on youtube of how to do an exchange.

ive read a lot about the WS vs maxlife & talked to valvolines tech dept, they say maxlife is designed for the sealed toyota trans except the hybrid version. within the last 10+ years i have not heard or read any stories of maxlife causing problems in toyota trans. in fact, ive read countless posts that say it works great & has fixed or reduced shudder problems quite a bit too. plus its synthetic vs most likely non synthetic WS. the main benefit is getting rid of the old fluid & replacing with new.

im 99% sure i will use maxlife when i do an exchange. just that darn owners manual that says ONLY USE WS or else your transmission may blow up! :shocked:

 

[SureShot516]

I plan an doing a few drain and fills over the course of a few miles, I know there is the method of the exchange via the cooling line. however i'm not very keen on the whole start and shift taking out 2 quarts, filling 2 quarts, draining 2 quarts etc. essentially your always running the tranny 2-3 quarts low during the exchange process

 

[Bluesky 07]

Use what you like but make an informed choice. I suggest reading this thread and listening to the specified parts of the video linked in the first post.

 

[Seasparrow]

205,000 miles out of toyota fluid. Why would you use anything else ?????

 

[2003-4x4runner]

Did a transmission flush on my 03 4Runner at 130k and 230k from the dealership. I'm at 134k now with no issues. Not once did the dealership say not to do it. Paid $200 for labor and fluid with coupon from the dealership.

Correction, Im at 234k miles now.

 

[AuSeeker]

Did a transmission flush on my 03 4Runner at 130k and 230k from the dealership. I'm at 134k now with no issues. Not once did the dealership say not to do it. Paid $200 for labor and fluid with coupon from the dealership.

I'm confused, you did a flush at 134k and at 230k but only have 134k on your T4R, maybe you meant to say 234k?

I guessing that some dealerships have "old school" service managers and go by the older advice not to flush high mileage transmissions.

 

[rwh963]

Did a transmission flush on my 03 4Runner at 130k and 230k from the dealership. I'm at 134k now with no issues. Not once did the dealership say not to do it. Paid $200 for labor and fluid with coupon from the dealership.

Wow! A $200 tranny flush resulted in a 100k mile odometer reversal. Sign me up!!

 

[sharpie223]

Just to add more confusion, I drain/filled mine with amsoil signature fe atf. I wasn't having shifting problems @ 129.5k miles, but after the swap there was a significant improvement. A machine flush would dislodge sludge in my mind, but I've also heard that just new fluid with new detergent could theoretically break off sludge deposits with its cleaning action. I don't quite buy that but you should make up your mind on it for your own risk management.

If you do go through with the drain/fill note that I was able to get an extra quart out by propping the front of my car up half a foot on an already sloped driveway, plus making the passenger side just a little higher.

 

[Chubbypanda]

After 3-4 drain and fills would you members recommend dropping the tranny pan and replacing the filter or is that not necessary?

 

[AuSeeker]

After 3-4 drain and fills would you members recommend dropping the tranny pan and replacing the filter or is that not necessary?

There's no true filter in the transmission, it's perforated screen, no real reason to change it but it could be cleaned and reinstalled but I doubt it will have any real debris to clean, others have dropped the pan to change the "filter" and also clean the pan magnets which would be the only reason I would consider dropping the pan, i.e. cleaning the magnets.

That being said if you do drop the pan make sure you have a new gasket, also it's easy to remove the pan on the V6, but with a V8 you will have to remove part of the exhaust to get the pan off which could be a deciding factor for some to do or not to do.

 

[Bluesky 07]

To clear up any confusion, the ideal service is a full-fluid exchange, where all of the old ATF is drained & replaced with new but not under pressure. There’s a machine that does this or it can be accomplished DIY.

 

[keakar]

2005 V8 4runner, have yet to do a tranny drain and fill @ 205K i know kill me now, however i do no climbing or towing and the tranny still shifts fine

whats the anser on the debate of Toyota WS fluid or using Valvoline Max Life, and if the max life is OK to use would it do any harm doing a drain and fill versus a full flush (mix of fluids)

thanks in advance
Dan

like someone replied when i asked this, you doing this maybe once in the time you own the vehicle so why even try to save $20 doing it? just buy the toyota fluid so you know 100% its right.

its a very easy job with the v8, just open hood and remove the top hose on the auxilary tranny oil cooler, add 3/8" clear hose (so you can monitor fluid color) to cooler running down to a bucket and stick a funnel in the hose running back to tranny.

drain tranny using the drain plug then refit drain plug, now add about 4 quarts fluid using the funnel, its a slow process taking about 3 minutes per half quart, now that tranny is full of fluid again use an old gallon jug to catch the old fluid in and start the car, it will take about a minute to get a half gallon old fluid out then turn off engine and refill with 2 quarts new, repeat this until its only clean fresh red fluid coming out which means you will use around 9-10 quarts of fluid and then add at least 1 extra quart so you can be sure its overfilled. then just go under truck and open the fill level plug and let the excess fluid drain out.

you can do the whole drain flush and refill with new fluid in about 40 minutes start to finish, 30 of that is the slow wait for fluid to drain through the hose to refill the tranny

 

[2003-4x4runner]

I'm confused, you did a flush at 134k and at 230k but only have 134k on your T4R, maybe you meant to say 234k?

I guessing that some dealerships have "old school" service managers and go by the older advice not to flush high mileage transmissions.

:lmao: Typo, I meant to say Im at 234k miles.

 

[AceSpades]

Question on the "refill" - could we refill through the cooler return line? I figure since i will have it off for the flushing, why not refill through that? And you will not need a hand pump since the cooler sits higher than the transmission and simply gravity feed it in

 

[AuSeeker]

Question on the "refill" - could we refill through the cooler return line? I figure since i will have it off for the flushing, why not refill through that? And you will not need a hand pump since the cooler sits higher than the transmission and simply gravity feed it in

Yes you can, just attach a hose and funnel and pour the fluid in, it'll be a little slow but any have done it that way either at the cooler or the radiator.

 

[RonJR]

A hand pump works really well into the cooler line. Just force the hose from the pump output into the upper cooler line and you can put in a quart in <15 seconds.