transmission fluid flush/replacement

N

noex318

New member
I have a 1999 4runner ltd and as far as I know the transmission fluid has never been replaced. I got my o2 sensor replaced and the technician said my transmission fluid was black.

My question is what kind of transmission flush/replacement should I get? I plan on going to the dealer, do they usually also replace the transmission filter as well? From my limited research it seems like you can get it drained/refilled or completely flushed. I'm not sure which is the better choice for my circumstance. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
Register to hide this ad
If you go to the dealer they will do what's necessary. Just make sure that the filter replacement is part of the deal.
 
Definitely go to the dealer in this circumstance. Chains tend to "flush" the transmission with a machine, ones that Toyota, Honda, Nissan etc etc have all told their dealers not to use. People will argue that they work, but if the person that made my car says don't do it, I'll take their lead.

Just tell them you need all the old fluid to be cycled out and replaced with new OEM tranny fluid and that you'd like the transmission filter replaced and pan cleaned.

Or, you can do it yourself, but you need a torque wrench and lots of patience getting the old sealant off.
 
Black fluid and it still drives? Pull the dip stick and look at the fluid for yourself. This isn't like engine oil, there's no reason the fluid should be black unless your clutch packs are about gone. Bad joo joo!

YOU WILL NEVER GET ALL THE FLUID OUT. There will always be some residual fluid in the torque converter. I've never had any of my transmissions flushed. I just drain it till it quits dripping, crank it up for 30 sec, let it drain some more and refill.

But when my radiator busted I did my own home flush before adding an external cooler (highly recommend the B&m 70264). Take the lines off of the radiator and drop them in a 5gal bucket. Drain the pan, reinstall drain plug. Start the engine and watch it puke all that old fluid out into the bucket. When it quits, reconnect lines, dump 3 qts down the fill tube and run it for a few min. Drain the pan, reinstall drain plug. Throw the lines back in the bucket. Start the engine and watch it puke all that old/new fluid out into the bucket. When it quits, well you get the idea. Just repeat until the fluid coming out looks like the stuff your dumping in.
 
What ever you do don't start the engine and run the transmission dry or run the engine at all while draining the transmission. You are looking for possible pump failing if you do.
If you do not know how to do it correctly or just don’t want to mess with it take it to someone who does transmissions. The dealer is fine, but they have a knack of raping people with their overly high prices. I will say that black fluid is not a good sign.
 
Saved said:
What ever you do don't start the engine and run the transmission dry or run the engine at all while draining the transmission. You are looking for possible pump failing if you do.
If you do not know how to do it correctly or just don’t want to mess with it take it to someone who does transmissions. The dealer is fine, but they have a knack of raping people with their overly high prices. I will say that black fluid is not a good sign.
Click to expand...


Ernt. Wrong.

It's fine to run the engine while draining the trans fluid. I wouldn't do it 5 quarts at a time, I'd just do it 1 quart at a time. Some people do 3 quarts at a time, I still feel better about doing just 1 and going slow. Bottom line, it's ok to do, and it's the best way to flush the transmission yourself.



Here's a great How-To...

http://home.centurytel.net/stevenjackie/transmission flush/tranny.html
 
Since we have two lines running from the transmission to the radiator, one a flow in and one a flow out would you be able to stick the line that runs cool ATF back to the tranny in a 5 gal bucket so it can suck up the new ATF?
 
ryankmasuda said:
Since we have two lines running from the transmission to the radiator, one a flow in and one a flow out would you be able to stick the line that runs cool ATF back to the tranny in a 5 gal bucket so it can suck up the new ATF?
Click to expand...


That would be nice. Problem is, it doesn't suck. The only reason the fluid gets back to the transmission is because it's being pushed. As soon as you get rid of the pressure pushing from behind, you got nothing.
 
I did mine 3qts at a time. Not 5. You will not hurt the pump ru ing the motor for a few minutes, I didn't say drive it around dry! If you've never rebuilt a trans then you don't know what's going on inside, I've built a few.
 
Jiffy

When I did work at Jiffy in S.W. Portland, Oregon in 1997, I did T-Tech trans flushes often. It's a cool machine. Employees would fill the machine with our pennzoil supply and it pushes a floating piston up to the top. There was a flourescent light behind the glass you could see the clear red fluid. after hooking up the cooler lines to the customers' car and started the engine, you could see the old nasty dark brown fluid was pushing down on the floating piston on the t tech machine and the underside of the t tech machine was the new fluid being forced into the transmission cooler lines. The new would physically be pushing out the old.

link to the machine. It is very easy to hook up.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
 
Last edited:
I just had mine flushed at a Toyota service center. They quoted me $185, but after changing it they said our older 4runners use a different machine or process than the newer runners, and they only charged me $140. Not too bad. My tranny fluid was brown, which is really bad. If yours is anywhere near a shade of black, then like Jon said you may have some internal damage. You might want to get it inspected. It's like a $250 job, but thats alot cheaper than a new or rebuilt tranny. Now that mine is fresh Im gonna just drain and fill like 5 quarts at a time every 5000 miles or so.
 
Doesn't sound good if the fluid was actually "black".
I just did mine about a month ago and it had around 65,000 miles on the fluid, dropped the pan and it looked like new inside and had almost nothing on the 4 magnets in the pan. Fluid still looked very good and bright red.
The "screen" looked like new still, there is really no reason to replace the screen unless it is really filthy or damaged in some way in which case you might have bigger problems than a dirty screen to contend with.
We don't actually have a Trans Filter so not much need to replace it.

I would drain it a quart at a time, replace a quart, drain a quart until you see fresh fluid only coming out then you are good to go.
Also wouldn't hurt to replace it with synthetic fluid, trans should run a few degrees cooler if you do.
 
The best way if there is a drain plug, drain the fluid out then refill it and drive it for what ever. Then pull the pan and put a new filter in and refill. Something I also will do is let it drain for a day or two and that will drain out another qt or so.
 
drain/refill

In March I did pull the pan, replaced the filter and gasket (no rtv or liquid bead style sealant on my pan anymore.), and refilled the same amount of trans fluid then. Last Saturday I drained the pan and refilled it two times in the same day. I seems like it would drain near a gallon when I did it. So, in my opinion, I think I have 12 quarts, 3 gallons in it new..ish.
 
New here and new to Toyota in general. Just bought a 97 SR5 with 192k miles and noticed that my fluid looked black on the stick but a drop on my finger looked only slightly darker than it should be, like it was ready to be changed but not like all the clutches were burned and in the fluid. You might look at a drop on your finger before you go into panic mode. The guy at any particular shop may not take a real close look either. Glad to be here and soaking up the accumulated knowledge.
 
I'm in the market for an automatic 4runner after my accident. anything I should really look for when im looking at a 3rd gen related to the transmission? other than things as far as maitnence records, and nice red fluid on the dipstick?, possible funny driving characteristics or noises? thanks guys
 
BillIam said:
I'm in the market for an automatic 4runner after my accident. anything I should really look for when im looking at a 3rd gen related to the transmission? other than things as far as maitnence records, and nice red fluid on the dipstick?, possible funny driving characteristics or noises? thanks guys
Click to expand...

Should shift smoothly without jerking. With brake depressed, shift through each gear.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 174 (members: 0, guests: 174)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,306
Messages
3,554,045
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top