Another Trans Fluid Exchange Question

[J.A.P]

Hello again, been here a lot lately, catching up on PO maintance. I want to to change the trans fluid (have it done) but dont want to do a flush. I talked to a local trans shop who for $50 will remove the pan, drain the cooler and refill (he also said he'd change the filter but from reading posts it does'nt have one). He mentioned that the fluid in the torque converter housing would'nt be changed. Is this a decent way to go? I, like others have called numerous shops asking about a fluid exchange machine where the trans pump does the work only to be told that no such machine exists, basically sayiing I'm an idiot but I know better. I've also read about the pan leaking after it's removed and replaced (even with a new gasket), is this really a problem? I'm not going to mess with this project myself so the do it yourself exchange method is out for me. Basically I'm asking if removing the pan, cleaning the screen and replacing the gasket will be good enough or should I just do a drain and fill? Thanks for the help.

 

[RavenTai]

What year? Please put in Signature

If you want someone else to do it $50 sounds reasonable, draining removing and cleaning the pan and filter is a fine way to go about it. A few drain and fills after during oil changes (just push the pan back a few feet and drain the transmission) will get you close to all new fluid.

No gasket it is a RTV seal. As far as transmission pans go the 80 is pretty easy to drop yourself (at least on the '95 and later A343F) I personally feel better doing this kind of thing myself instead of leaving it up to a unknown mechanic who may or may not take all the steps to do a good job, time is $ for a mechanic.

 

[Eric_FJ40]

Doing it yourself is easy, although it won't be a complete flush as you know.

I got a new pickup screen at the dealer and a tube of sealant and did it myself. Very straightforward - remove and replace and no leaks afterward.

-this was on my '91.

Eric

 

[NorCalDoug]

I'm changing mine in the most non-invasive way possible -- 4 quarts at a time at the same time I do my oil change -- as RavenTai suggests.

Even with the 4 quart drain/fill, I noticed improved shifting. If you follow this procedure, you'll always have fairly clean transmission fluid.

Depending on how the fluid looks, I may switch to changing the ATF fluid at every other oil change.

 

[J.A.P]

NAPA has a screen and screen gasket kit for $22 should I get this as well?

 

[JerryLX450]

By the way.. Does it requires to replace the filter once in few times while do the trans fluid? Consider im the 2nd owner of the car and probably the previous owner hadn't replaced new one yet.

 

[sjcruiser]

The screen is cleanable so it's not neccessary to replace it.

 

[sixsracing]

There are machines out there that do indeed exchange all of the ATF including what is in the torque converter. Make sure that the shop puts in clean fluid before they do your truck. These machines supposedly remove the contaminants from the ATF and re-use it. That's fine if the machine is maintained regularly, but a lot of them are not. Have you tried a shop that specifically performs transmission service? This job should be about $90.00 and any shop that works on Taurus's or Caravan's either has one or knows somebody that does.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Transmission drain/flush/fill is fairly easy to do. I have done this on my LX not too long ago and I used synthetic Mobil ATF that I bought from Autozone for $4.99 per bottle. I bought 18 quarts and I used about 17 and 1/2 quarts.

I used the oil cooler line method. I warmed up the truck's tranny by driving 7 to 10 miles. Once warm enough, jack it up, place a jack stand at both ends of the front axle, then place a chock on the rear tires to prevent the truck from rolling back.

Drain the transmission and catch all the fluid in a 3 gallon bucket with a marked line or scale on the inside to determine how much fluid was drained from the transmission pan (write how much fluid was drained on piece of paper for future reference).

Once the pan stop dripping, proceed to remove the 19 ten millimeter bolts holding the transmission pan, remove the pan by knocking it with a rubber mallet if it is tightly joint by the sealer/fipg/rtv, separate the filler tube (14 inches from the tranny pan) away from the dipstick tube located in the engine bay. Carefully pull the pan away from the transmission.

Clean the transmission pan and transmission mating surface with a sharp razor blade to scrape the old FIPG rubber material. Wipe dry pan and tranny mating surface with lint free cloth. Remove filter screen, wash or spray it with brake cleaners until there is no more sign of sludge. Place the filter back to its place, torque the bolts to 6 ft lbs.

Once the pan and tranny mating surface is clean, place a bead of Toyota FIPG to the inner side of the pan approximately 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick. Install the pan and mate it with the tranny (I used two 3 inches 10 MM studs screwed to the tranny on both forward and aft as guide to simplify the installation). Once the pan is in placed, secure it with 19 ten MM bolts using a criss cross pattern and torque them to 5 ft lbs. Let the sealant to dry for 1 to 2 hours.

After 2 hours or so, fill the transmission with ATF the same amount that was drained from the pan (amount you wrote on that piece of paper). Once filled with the same amount of tranny fluid, crank the engine and warm the tranny. Shut the engine off as soon as you get to the normal operating temps.

Remove the screws holding the front grille, remove the front grille, locate the oil cooler, once located, removed the top return hose, put a clear plastic tubing/hose and place the end of this tubing on a 3 gallon bucket to catch the old fluid. Crank the engine and measure how much fluid came out, then shut the engine off, fill the same amount of fresh fluid to the dipstick tube, crank the engine again, fill it again and so on until you see a clear transmission fluid flowing out of the clear return hose and smell the fresh ATF, once you get to 17 or 18 quarts you are done. Let it sit overnight, crank it and warm it up in the morning and take the measurement.

That is pretty easy and you will gain confidence, saved you a lot of money and you can have a lot of #6.

Hope that helps.

 

[J.A.P]

Thanks for all the awesome responses. Big help. Maybe I will try to do it myself.

 

[4x4CPOSEADOG]

Hey J.A.P. and JerryLX450, you guys need to update your signature. Remember to put in you sig the year, model, and mileage. This will be helpful for us in assisting you with your vehicle problems.

Thanks and did I say Welcome