Tutorial how to do a full sealed transmission ATF flush

[benjuca]

Ok, I know there are countless treads that do show a few ways to do this, from pan drop to disconnecting your transmission return line and turning on/of and refilling.
This is assuming that you decided to do a full ATF change, Toyota says that the transmission is sealed because it does not need the fluid to be changes for life, however they also state that if you tow have loads or put your 4runner to hard use and abuse, it is recommended to change it.

After much research I just came across to this simple and mess free technique.
AL you do require is to buy a fluid transfer pump, thats tight, it cost about 10 bucks, and the beauty of it is that it can be used as a pump to either fill or suck.

Yes i know i did not use original toyota WS ATF, but where i live it was not available, not even from toyota itself, so i did the research and found that this MOTUL oil is JWS3324 (the one that this sealed transmission MUST have) and since is 100% synthetic and from a very reliable brand, i did go for it, it runs smooth!

Now is as simple as to remove the drain plug, you should have almost 2 quarts from there, once it has drained all it can be drained from there, go ahead and put back the plug, with it new crush washer and tighten to specified torque (20Nm if i recall, double check that).

Now open your hood and disconnect the trans oil line that goes to your radiator, insert your fluid pump hose (the "sucking" end) inside that hose, make sure there is no air leak and pump out all the oil left in there, once you are done and no more oil comes from that hose, remove your fluid pump from there and connect it to the bare nipple that the hose was connected to, repeat the process of sucking all oil from there, once all oil is pumped out, you have almost 6 quarts of used ATF.
Now clean your fluid pump and connect the fill end to that same niple, and the other end of the pump to your fresh ATF, pump all 5,4 Liters/5,71 quarts, i use this as is way more easy and mess free compared to use the refill plug located in the transmission, as if you use that plug, you will be pumping against gravity, so i prefer the method described abobe.
Once done, remove the fluid pump, reconnect the hose and VOILA, you are done, fast, easy and clean.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

How long of a hose extension did you make? If you aren't accounting for fluid volume in the hose and are using a long enough hose, you'll still need to perform the fluid level check process to make sure you were accurate.

 

[benjuca]

How long of a hose extension did you make? If you aren't accounting for fluid volume in the hose and are using a long enough hose, you'll still need to perform the fluid level check process to make sure you were accurate.

Thanks for the observation, since all the oil I took out was put on a see trough and measured container, I knew exactly how much went out, so i did put the same amount in, the length of the hose does not matter as you empty it both ways, anyhow, after all is done, and you drive around to check is working properly, the next morning with a cool trans all i had to do was to remove the overflow plug (5 hex), a bit of ATF came out, once it stopped i just plugged it back and set it to torque (39Nm).
Works like a charm and is way easier than all the other methods i came across in the web.arty:

 

[Atlanta_man]

Either or a particular pipe that goes to the rad ?

 

[montana_jeepn]

How long of a hose extension did you make? If you aren't accounting for fluid volume in the hose and are using a long enough hose, you'll still need to perform the fluid level check process to make sure you were accurate.

How hard is the fluid check process? I was at the dealer today for some parts and was quoted $570 (minus 10% for military....so a little over $500). Seemed a little steep, but I haven't priced out materials yet.

 

[BlackWorksInc]

How hard is the fluid check process? I was at the dealer today for some parts and was quoted $570 (minus 10% for military....so a little over $500). Seemed a little steep, but I haven't priced out materials yet.

That sounds ridiculously expensive, I mean it'll be like $100+ for 8~12qts of fluid to do a proper "flush" (by draining and filling multiple times.) But even including labor that's ridiculously high.

Its not very hard, there's methods shown on the forum and the easiest by far is to use an IR Thermometer on the transmission fluid pan (the temperature range is wide enough that a few degrees difference from the pan isn't a big deal.) But these transmissions do get sensitive to as much as a 1/4-1/2qt of difference in fluid level.

 

[JB.]

...the next morning with a cool trans all i had to do was to remove the overflow plug (5 hex), a bit of ATF came out, once it stopped i just plugged it back and set it to torque (39Nm).

Don't know what you mean by cool but check temp range is 97-115F and is done with the engine idling. Toyota also recommends moving the shifter through each gear beforehand.

Basically, you just drive until the coolant needle fully reaches its max position and then check it while at idle.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-g...r-ways-check-ws-transmission-fluid-level.html

 

[JEL]

The dealer near my place quoted me $390 for a SINGLE drain and fill, maybe they're putting in oil of bald eagle. I know Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the country, and the burbs I live in are much worse than even Seattle, but that seems ridiculous to me.

 

[Gatafly]

I personally do not like this method for 2 reasons. 1) I don't believe you are actually removing all the fluid as you are doing it with the engine off and you need to have it running and cycle through the gears. 2) you are sucking fluid out through the nipple which is actually moving the fluid in the opposite direction that it normally flows. . . i.e. back flushing. Also, you must check fluid level with engine running and ATF fluid temp at 97-115 degrees. If you did it cold you may have it under filled and will cause future problems. I did mine by removing the line that connects to the cooler and letting the transmission pump the old fluid out while I poured new fluid in the through a hose to the cooler. This makes sure ALL the fluid is replaced and that it is done in the direction the fluid normally flows. After only clean fluid comes out it is brought up to temp and check plug removed to purge and excess fluid or add if needed. Simple, safe, ffull fluid change that takes 30 minutes. Of course you will need a friend or spouse to start and stop the engine and shift through the gears for you.

 

[mliebal]

I did the o.p's method of fluid change. Not hard to do and to me, minimal risk of damage of have engine running (and I did not have a helper, lol).
I got the 6.5 qts of nasty fluid out (not burnt but dirty). I added an equal amount plus some. I used the amsoil signature series fluid. After letting the temps get into range by calibrated hand temps . No fluid came out, ugh. So since I had enough fluid left (10 qt container) I drained the pan one more time. I added that drain amount plus 1/2 qt more. After getting back to temps (and doing the shift through all gears) I did get about 1/3 qt to drain. So I feel done for now. BTW, the second pan drain looked much better, but I must say it did not look anywhere near new fluid. So 6.5 of 12/13 qts is significant but in my case, 2005 v6 w/ 125k miles, a full swap would be much better. The final drain off fluid looked much better. This is just one persons experience.

 

[radlynx]

This is how I did it too. old fluid goes to to the old fluid container and new fluid was pumped into the cooler. i used the engine to pump the fluid out by starting it and off, 2 quarts at a time, then 2 quarts of new fluid in, until a red color starts to come out the old fluid container. easier and full flush.

I personally do not like this method for 2 reasons. 1) I don't believe you are actually removing all the fluid as you are doing it with the engine off and you need to have it running and cycle through the gears. 2) you are sucking fluid out through the nipple which is actually moving the fluid in the opposite direction that it normally flows. . . i.e. back flushing. Also, you must check fluid level with engine running and ATF fluid temp at 97-115 degrees. If you did it cold you may have it under filled and will cause future problems. I did mine by removing the line that connects to the cooler and letting the transmission pump the old fluid out while I poured new fluid in the through a hose to the cooler. This makes sure ALL the fluid is replaced and that it is done in the direction the fluid normally flows. After only clean fluid comes out it is brought up to temp and check plug removed to purge and excess fluid or add if needed. Simple, safe, ffull fluid change that takes 30 minutes. Of course you will need a friend or spouse to start and stop the engine and shift through the gears for you.