transmission flush or drain?

[judoant]

Should the transmission on a 99 Runner be drained or flushed? I have read many articles that suggest both. I have heard....

1) draining will not get all the fluid out of the tranny

2) flushing can clog-up the tranny and is more expensive than just a drain and fill.

What have you guys done?

 

[Kramer420]

Drain fill and filter

 

[bflooks]

obviously an auto?

if so, i would say...drain (being sure not to lose the magnet), change the filter out, and refill. if you do this at the recommended intervals, there should not be any reason to flush it.

 

[judoant]

yes it is an auto.

what would you consider regular interval. 10, 30k?

 

[Lexusbstrdchild]

whats funny is that in chilton's guide to the 4R it says that the filter is not a replaceable item, and there is no need to remove the pan. then the next chapter tells you how to remove the pan, and replace the filter. wtf?! im sure youre supposed to replace the filter, but its just confusing.

 

[bflooks]

you can contact toyota service at any dealer and ask if the filter is a replaceable item. as for the service intervals....the owner's manual should say, but i would guess every 30k, unless you tow a lot. i do my manual tranny, diffs, and transfer once per year (25-30k with synthetic, and they come out clear...except for the rear diff that gets a ton of wear.

 

[JARVAS36]

Regarding the trans. filter, it is replacesble but the filter is reusable. You just want to make sure that whatever you use to clean it with has completely dried up. Don't bother relying on the owner's manual for how many quarts you would need to do a drain and fill. I just did ine last night and the book said 2qts. but I actually used up 6 full qts. If you aren't using tranny oil from the dealership I would highly suggest gettin the system flushed out first. Then once the factory oil has been replaced you can use any dexron III you choose. Remember that the truck has to be on to check the fluid level on the dip stick and that you have cycled the gears first (go from park all the way down to your low gear then back up to park). Then your reading on the dipstick will be accurate.