Transmission Filter

[xStePheNyz]

hey everyone. i'm due for the 120K service and i was wondering, has anyone ever changed their transmission filter? is there a reason to change it or a reason not to change it?

 

[quicksilvr]

hey everyone. i'm due for the 120K service and i was wondering, has anyone ever changed their transmission filter? is there a reason to change it or a reason not to change it?

If it has never been changed, then you're at a good spot to at least drop the trans pan and remove the filter. Quite a few people are comfortable with simply cleaning the original filter and reusing it. However, replacement filters are not very expensive so you can go either way.

I don't know of any good reasons not to change it. Seems like the best recipe for good transmission health in our 4Runners is to change the filter on the same interval as the timing belt/water pump service....and drain and refill your trans fluid every 30K miles.

 

[Jon]

Definitely a good thing to change. Easy and inexpensive. $30 1hr

 

[pat161]

There's really not much to the filter, just a mesh screen. The first time I dropped my pan I simply sprayed it out with brake cleaner and re-installed. My fluid looked brand new and there were no metal shavings, thus my decision. The next time I changed it just because I figured 100k was enough, it still looked brand new, but as another said, for $30 how can you go wrong. The kit I bought came with a nice rubber gasket, much better than scraping RTV each time.

 

[BamaDrewski]

I just did the transmission filter clean/swap last week on my 2000 T4R 3.4L, 4WD. I went to autozone and they sold me a filter. (It was not the right one so I went back and asked for one specific to the Toyota A340F transmission. They looked it up under a 2000 tacoma (4WD) and it was the right one. The filter looked absolutely identical to the Toyota OEM filter at much less than Toyota charges. The autozone filter came with a rubber gasket. Despite what I have heard about FIPG, I decided to clean the flange of the transmission pain of the old FIPG (used a wire brush on a dremel tool and worked like a champ). I also scraped the old FIPG from the transmission bottom with a nylon scraper. Once it was all clean and I installed the new filter, I put a little grease on the rubber gasket to hold it in place on the pan, bolted the pan back up and it sealed like a drum. NO LEAKS! With the rubber gasket, the next time I do this, it will save me lots of time because I wont have to scrape all that FIPG off. I RECOMMEND FLUSHING YOUR TRANNY AND REFILLING WITH MOBIL1 SYNTHETIC ATF!

 

[Jon]

One thing I forgot. Ensure to thoroughly clean pan. Mine had 4 magnets, no metal shavings but a small amount of residual clutch material all along the bottom. About 1/16" deep, about right for 330K+mi, no harm, it doesn't slip at all. I don't know exactly how many Q's I refilled with. It calls for 2.2Q but I think I ended up with 3-3.5Q. It just had a hard time dropping into gears from a stop, like P to R and then to D. So I just added 1/2 a Q at a time till it acted right.

 

[Daretofish]

Qoute from above-It calls for 2.2Q but I think I ended up with 3-3.5Q.

When I drain and fill, it takes 5 quarts. thats without dropping the pan, I guess at 162K I should think about the full service?