Transmission flushed... New problem

[DallasEng]

I jumped back into the T4R community two months ago when I bought a 2000 4Runner Limited 2WD with the 3.4L. The truck has 238K miles, only two previous owners with all the service records and a spotless CarFax. It has a couple of typical high-mileage issues. I just replaced the leaky valve cover gaskets (all the bolts were loose), and dropped the transmission pan to replace the filter, gasket and flush the tranny fluid. All went well... Until yesterday.

The owners manual says the auto trans capacity is 1.7 quarts. After pouring in the fluid, there wasn't anything showing on the dipstick. I went to Autozone and they said it could take double that amount with a new filter. Now the dipstick shows more than full, but it's not shifting right.

Too much ATF? Drain it out and put the 1.7 in again? I've heard too much can be as bad as not enough.

Please advise. Thanks again for the great forum. And it's great to be back!

 

[StreetCreeper]

So many whys... :suspicious:

 

[AirOlson]

Yes, drain and add the 1.7 again, then see if the dipstick reads the right amount. You are right about the too much fluid can be just as bad as too little.

 

[DallasEng]

So many whys... :suspicious:

After scouring through all the service records, the one maintenance item I couldn't find was changing transmission filter.

The fluid poured out nice and dark brownish-red, and when I dropped the pan, there was minor accumulation of metal slivers attracted to the magnets.

Why the transmission filter... I'm trying to stay on top of all the maintenance. Why Autozone... it's close and convenient. What other whys can I try to answer? Thanks for the quick response.

 

[absalom]

I was always under the impression that with that high of miles, it was better to let sleeping dogs lie and not flush our trans.

You really need to get a FSM to see what the exact fill amount is. Autozone is great for parts and convenient, but it's unreasonable to expect them to know the idiosyncrasy with each car. FSM, forums, and a keen mechanic are your best friend.

 

[fallout4runner]

You could drain a little out at a time until its at the right level. This way you don't waste too much fluid. For future reference you can always get a rough idea of how much you need to put back in by how much came out if you don't have access to a repair manual.

 

[ridefast]

Id start with a drain and fill. Remember to check the level with the truck running and after shifting through all the gears a few times. Then test drive till at operating temp and check level again with truck running.

I used Castrol Transmax Import multi-vehicle ATF, this is controversal based on who you talk to.
Lots of good results with these too:
napa atf
redline
amsoil
valvoline
Id personally take advise from stickys and members from this site before autozone.

My t4r took exactly 4 qts after drain and fill and the addition of a B&M cooler and new lines.

 

[BlackCat914]

The truck should be running, and the fluid should be warm. Check in either park or neutral after cycling through the gears on level ground.

 

[3bears]

Id start with a drain and fill. Remember to check the level with the truck running and after shifting through all the gears a few times. Then test drive till at operating temp and check level again with truck running.

I used Castrol Transmax Import multi-vehicle ATF, this is controversal based on who you talk to.
Lots of good results with these too:
napa atf
redline
amsoil
valvoline
Id personally take advise from stickys and members from this site before autozone.

My t4r took exactly 4 qts after drain and fill and the addition of a B&M cooler and new lines.

mine took almost 5 qts with drain and fill and new cooler and lines, and I thought 4 qts when it did not have new cooler and lines

 

[68dave]

On all my vehicles i use a BG trans fluid exchange machine, no matter the vehicle's mileage. What i like about the BG machine is it works off of the transmissions own pressure, the new fluid simply pushes out the old fluid by means of trans pressure. Another plus is this machine only puts in the amount of fluid that it takes out. It's not a high pressure flush like most machines which can result in trans issues shortly after. No excessive added pressure to disrupt any internal trans components. Just recently added a external cooler and performed this flush to my 02 runner. The machine shows the difference from the old fluid to the new fluid, see pics.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Drain and fill is the method of choice here. If you are finding fragments on the magnet, you do not want to "flush" the engine in any way since those fragments will find their way into places they should not be, wearing down parts faster and creating more fragments.

Overfilling your transmission is bad. You should drain some out here real soon.

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

Just to be clear the BG machine is not a flush machine, it is an exchange machine and uses the transmissions own pump pressure to move the old fluid out and "exchange" with new fluid. There is no way it can move debris to places that the tranny pump itself wouldn't move around. The T-Tech unit is another style that uses the vehicles pump pressure. Now there other types of machines that use pumps to exchange the fluid (Motorvac, Snap On - Made by Fluid Dynamics) which, in my opinion, should also be OK, but if not operating correctly, can overfill/underfill and cause problems. There's also several machines that exchange through the dipstick electronically using the same procedure that some have used on here to exchange fluid by emptying the pan refilling , starting vehicle and running for a small timeframe then repeating the process. Also, many shops use flushing chemicals and additives which really should not be used in high mileage machines.
Just my 2 cents.

To the OP overfilling/ underfilling could definitely cause problems. The pan hold about 2 qts (I think it's 1.7qts) so drain the pan and refill it correctly.

 

[cashmoney]

I was always under the impression that with that high of miles, it was better to let sleeping dogs lie and not flush our trans.

You really need to get a FSM to see what the exact fill amount is. Autozone is great for parts and convenient, but it's unreasonable to expect them to know the idiosyncrasy with each car. FSM, forums, and a keen mechanic are your best friend.

Yup. Lost a perfectly running transmission one time after just a pan drain and new filter. The fluid in my trans now needs replacing for sure but I think I'm just going to put a magnefine filter in line and just change it every oil change for a while to help clean the existing fluid up. Won't make it any less old but it'll at least (in theory) make it less nasty.

 

[BamaDrewski]

hate to say it, but it could be the AutoZone filter contributing to the problem.

The "filters" on these is little more than a mesh screen in a flat housing. When I did the same thing as you, I had purchased an AutoZone transmission filter and it was DIFFERENT and did not fit well. I cleaned it up, took it back and went OEM. This may or may not be the case with you.

On something as important and the transmission, go OEM. It's pricey but you know it is right (aka "Peace of Mind")

 

[68dave]

Just to be clear the BG machine is not a flush machine, it is an exchange machine and uses the transmissions own pump pressure to move the old fluid out and "exchange" with new fluid. There is no way it can move debris to places that the tranny pump itself wouldn't move around. The T-Tech unit is another style that uses the vehicles pump pressure. Now there other types of machines that use pumps to exchange the fluid (Motorvac, Snap On - Made by Fluid Dynamics) which, in my opinion, should also be OK, but if not operating correctly, can overfill/underfill and cause problems. There's also several machines that exchange through the dipstick electronically using the same procedure that some have used on here to exchange fluid by emptying the pan refilling , starting vehicle and running for a small timeframe then repeating the process. Also, many shops use flushing chemicals and additives which really should not be used in high mileage machines.
Just my 2 cents.

To the OP overfilling/ underfilling could definitely cause problems. The pan hold about 2 qts (I think it's 1.7qts) so drain the pan and refill it correctly.

I agree. BG does have a chemical kit that you are supposed to add to the fluid before the fluid exchange begins, i personally never use the chemicals.