Transmission Oil Change

I did mine around 100'000 miles, used valvoline. my research led me to believe the transmission fluid needs a bit of the ultra-fine impurities for proper shifting, so i opted to essentially, change the filter and dilute the ATF since a lot of the fluid stay in the gearbox not the tray. A flush seemed more likely to cause issues.

Further down the road ~120'000 miles i installed a tranny fluid cooler so again drained the pan and added new after the cooler was in so again diluted it.
 
I did mine around 100'000 miles, used valvoline. my research led me to believe the transmission fluid needs a bit of the ultra-fine impurities for proper shifting, so i opted to essentially, change the filter and dilute the ATF since a lot of the fluid stay in the gearbox not the tray. A flush seemed more likely to cause issues.

Further down the road ~120'000 miles i installed a tranny fluid cooler so again drained the pan and added new after the cooler was in so again diluted it.

It’s a wive’s tale that the transmission needs wear material for proper shifting, otherwise they would not shift properly from the dealership.

In most cases where people experience transmission failure shortly after flushing the fluid, the damage was already done before the flush. Just had a friend who had this happen. 225K on a Highlander, never changed the fluid. Transmission started having issues, so he took it to a dealer for a power flush and it started stuttering at highway speed shortly afterwards. It’s done and 225K is good amount of mileage for never changing the fluid. Say hello to a $5K to $6K transmission change.
 
A/T temperature oil light

Hello guys,

Please if i can have the members insight and views. My 4runner/hilux surf A/T temperature oil light came on yesterday.

Drain the transmission oil, changed the filter, cleaned the pan and replaced the transmission oil. the old one was not cooked or in a rough shape but perhaps needed an early change.

The problem is that the light doesn't seem to go away. Ran the scanner and no error codes. the A/T temperature after some running and idling is normal and within range.

What could be the problem ? Any suggestions or advises please.

Thank you

Edit: It's a 2004 with a 3000cc Diesel
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hello guys,

Please if i can have the members insight and views. My 4runner/hilux surf A/T temperature oil light came on yesterday.

Drain the transmission oil, changed the filter, cleaned the pan and replaced the transmission oil. the old one was not cooked or in a rough shape but perhaps needed an early change.

The problem is that the light doesn't seem to go away. Ran the scanner and no error codes. the A/T temperature after some running and idling is normal and within range.

What could be the problem ? Any suggestions or advises please.

Thank you

Edit: It's a 2004 with a 3000cc Diesel

First thing I would check is the cooling stack for cleanliness. Is the radiator clean? Not sure if this model has an external transmission cooler, but if it does is that clean? Depending on where you live, these can get chocked full of bugs and lose their cooling efficiency.

You say the light does not seem to go away. Is it on from start up?

You state that the A/T temperature after some running and idling is normal and within range. How was that temperature taken? Was the light on when this temp was taken?

Trying to figure out if you have an issue with the sender with these questions.
 
The only thing I would add to what others have said is to try and measure what you drain out. That would benefit from the "warm up and open the vent line" method. I wish I would have done that and put exactly what I took out versus the fill, warm up, and vent through the standpipe.
 

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