ATF “Exchange” (1 Viewer)

[Infinity00]

GX470 141,172 mileage.
Getting ready to change my ATF. Been reading the faq and noticed it linked to the 100 series. The information was good on how to do the fluid exchange but I’m not sure our fill, drain, overflow plugs and hoses are in the same location and I couldn’t find a picture of the full plug, so I’m documenting what I find here, and have a question.

The fill plug takes a 24mm socket. It’s on the passenger side, on the upper case sort of near where the transfer case attaches. See picture.

EDIT: There is another 24mm plug near this one. It’s harder to get a wrench on it and is located on top of the transfer case, but it’s easy to confuse with the tranny fill plug. I don’t know why it’s there as it fills the TC but the TC fill plug is lower on it.

The correct tranny fill plug is located in front of the crossmember (towards the front of the car) , and above and slightly rear of the tranny pan. Easy to get a wrench on it.

The drain plug takes a 14mm socket. And the overflow or overfill, is a 5mm Allen head.

Another image of fill plug with the black crossmember support as a landmark:

 

[Infinity00]

As for my question, can anyone who has done this identify which cooler hoses are removed. I see several places to access the transmission cooler inlet line.

Top passenger side of radiator:

Lower passenger side of radiator:

Lower driver’s side: one of these two oil cooler lines that go into and return from the auxiliary oil cooler that sits in front of the radiator (between radiator and bumper)

 

[mercedeezel]

good tech! did the same for our GX earlier this year. I believe i used the lines from the last picture because i wanted to flush the cooler too. Also, those lines were easier to disconnect - i.e. i could access the hose clamps easier. I replaced the ATF filter as well. Fill as much fresh fluid in the pan as you can, remove both lines, and have a helper start the vehicle so you can observe which line sends fluid back to the transmission.

The old Toyota WS fluid that came out was dark brown. Went through about 3 big jugs of valvoline maxlife ATF before the fluid was a nice and clean - bright red. Makes a world of difference - transmission shifts are noticeably smooth and i think i netted an extra mpg or two.

 

[Infinity00]

Thanks for the input! So the driver’s side oil cooler hoses are the ones to pull. But I want the one that comes from the transmission to the cooler (cooler inlet) to get tranny fluid coming out of the line? I’ll play with it and figure it out, but thanks so much. By the way, the Toyota tech said I didn’t need to replace the filter because it was just a metal screen. What was your take on it? Was it filled with filings or anything? Did you get your gasket from the dealer and was it a straight swap, no rtv needed? That’s my assumption going forward. I wasn’t going to drop the pan but it’s starting to leak a little bit - I keep vacillating on whether to drop it or not. It doesn’t look hard but it’s one more thing to do on my fleet of old cars. How’d it go for you?

 

[mercedeezel]

Yes, it's a bit confusing which line to pull. My thought was to pull the "return" line going back into the transmission. The idea being that i would be getting fluid returning from the rad and aux coolers. You could get the fluid from the line going from the transmission to the inlet but won't that isolate the dirty fluid in the rad and aux coolers?

the metal screen on my filter had a few specs of crud on it. not enough to clog the filter, but i had already bought a filter and gasket so I went ahead and changed them out. I think i got them from rock auto. There wasn't any gasket material to scrape off but i did put a light coat of rtv to keep the gasket in place during assembly. The pan bolts fit tight though the gasket holes which helps keep things in place as you bolt the pan back on. Dropping the pan was easy, the exhaust was not in the way either so it was a smooth process.

Our GX would occasionally downshift weird from 5th gear down to lower gears. It only happened when coming down to lower speeds after long stretches on the highway. For example, when braking from 75mpg down to 40mph, the transmission would hunt for a lower gear and the downshift would be a bit firm. Afterwards, it was fine. I had done a few drain and fills which helped but did not eliminate the problem completely. So for me, a complete fluid and filter change was the way to go. Soon after, we drove the GX from Houston to Destin, FL for spring break and the GX performed flawlessly. It even hit 16mpg for the 1st time in our ownership.

 

[Infinity00]

Okay I got it about the cooler, that makes more sense to me now. You used the rubber return line so everything was being pushed from the tranny output to the cooler inlet, then thru the cooler and then out the rubber line. And instead of returning to the tranny you dumped the fluid coming out of the rubber return line. Then once done the rubber return goes back on the metal line that reruns the fluid to tranny inlet. I like that way.

Glad it smoothed out your problem. Mine does a little thud, sometimes after I come to a stop. Feels like transmission or ujoints but I checked the joints yesterday and they are good. I’m not worried about it but it’d be interesting to me if this takes care of that.

Thanks again for the help and it gives me more confidence to do it!

 

[mercedeezel]

You got it. i connected an extra length of hose to that line and routed it into a gallon milk jug. I marked a line at 3 qts on the jug and my daughter would watch the jug while i started the engine. Once the dirty fluid hit the 3qt mark, she'd wave at me and i'd shut off the vehicle. I would then filled the transmission with as much fresh fluid as i could and then start the process all over again. We did that until the fluid was nice and clean. Good luck with it!

 

[fourleggedfish]

The thump after stopping sounds like it could possibly be the driveshaft thump issue? A bit of grease in the rear shaft should quiet that down, but the fix per the TSB is a new driveshaft.

 

[Infinity00]

Yeah, I was going to give it a couple shots of grease and see if that changed anything- thanks for pointing it out. Actually, do they say what the issue is? The joints are fine so it’s must be where the shaft sleeve fits together?

 

[fourleggedfish]

Yeah, I was going to give it a couple shots of grease and see if that changed anything- thanks for pointing it out. Actually, do they say what the issue is? The joints are fine so it’s must be where the shaft sleeve fits together?

Yeah, IIR, it’s the slip yoke that causes the thump. Someone correct me if I’m wrong.

I need to replace my drive shaft as well.

 

[Infinity00]

Started working on this today again but only got as far as loosening all the plugs for draining and filling the pan oil. It was slightly stressful since everything was incredibly tight and I sure didn’t want to round out the fill plug, because the access for fixing it is tight if I had.

Starting with the 24 mm fill plug: I had to get just the right combo, of good 1/2” drive 24mm and a nice breaker bar while watching very carefully that I stayed on that night fully without any twisting.

Then I moved onto the 5mm Allen and that was tight as hell too. Sprayed some PB and carefully knocked on the plug gently with a hammer to break it loose with gentle vibration. Then put the impact on it, then a little more hammer to the edges (I probably could have warmed it up and maybe that would have released it), two more rounds of impact and hammer and it finally popped free.

Guessing about a pint came out of the overfill plug, with the transmission cold. The pan wasn’t quite level, so I leveled it out and pulled the 14 mm drain plug. Oil it fairly brown. Glad I’m doing this now.

After the rain stops I’ll drop the pan and clean it up.

 

[Infinity00]

Checking transmission temperature procedure before pulling overfill plug

I practiced with the DLC connector to know what to look for when the transmission is too cold, too hot or just right to drain the overfill.

Jumper pins 4 and 13 (for reference pin 1 is lower right corner of connector, count left staying on bottom row to find pin 4, then locate pin 9 which is the top right corner, then count left staying on the top row to find pin 13), then light on the dash will start blinking after starting the car. Next change from park to neutral for 2 sec, then move shifter from neutral to drive 3 times or until the ATF temp light comes up on the dash, (upper left area of dash).

It will do one of 3 things, blink: too hot, go out: too cold, or stay on solidly: just right.

After driving a a couple hours yesterday the transmission was too hot for many hours. Finally it got into the right temperature zone for draining the overfill, if I had wanted to do it then, and finally it was cold. I just wanted to make sure I understood how it worked and that it was working before I attempted it for real.

 

[Infinity00]

After the rain slowed down, I went back out to drop the pan. I own a 2004 and I can’t seem to get the pan past the exhaust. I can’t go sideways because of the driveshaft. So, it got dark while I was messing with it and I had to stop. I’m caked in wet dirt and I decided not to button anything back up. In the morning I really hope I don’t find mice in my pan that’s just hanging there.

Anyone out there who has done this on a 2004? I’m wondering if I can lift the transmission slightly, I only need a half inch I think. I don’t want to remove the exhaust, it’s rusted solid but I can contemplate removing the driveshaft if I have to.

Help?

 

[Infinity00]

Hmmm, I just got done watching Eric the car guy and it looks like I’ll have to loosen the exhaust. Not looking forward to this. Maybe I can put the pan back on and it won’t leak? Ha ha.

 

[langsen]

I changed the ATF fluid and "filter" on my 2004 a couple years ago. Part of the exhaust needs to come out, but I don't remember it being difficult. You'll need a fluid pump with a long hose to add fluid to the fill hole. I used a bike pump connected to an old nalgene bottle, with a hose from there to the fill hole on the transmission. I found the temperature was never cold enough to start the process until it had been sitting overnight. There was a TSB that updated the temperature range, I think now it is easier because you can just feel the pan and as soon as it starts to feel at all warm it is good (95°). Both of the hoses to the transmission cooler were starting to leak, so I replaced those too.

 

[Infinity00]

I got 2 of the 4 nuts off the part of the exhaust that crosses under the pan. They’re so old, corroded and welded together the other 2 just rounded out. I tried a stud cutter to get one of the 2 off, but I’ve decided I’ve gone far enough with trying to get the exhaust off.

I put the pan back up and since the gasket didn’t tear I’m hoping it will still seal up - for the moment

For the overfill plug that did a weird bend and stripped out the internal threads - well I got lucky - picked up a 10mm-1.5 tap and rethreaded/chased any bad threads and I was able to at least repair that and got the plug working well again.

I pulled out about 4.5 quarts, will start by replacing with 4.75 and then warm it up and drain what needs to be drained using the hand method.

After all that, I’m going to run this down to my guy at Boulder muffler and have him tear off that cross piece, replace the donuts and studs and then I’ll drop the pan again and replace the oil one more time and replace the gasket, then forget about it for a while!

OLD FLUID:

 

[Infinity00]

That was really easy with the transfer pump and a clean simply lemonade jug! Couple pictures as proof...

NEW FLUID

 

[Infinity00]

I ended up putting about 5 quarts in total after draining 4.5 quarts.

Here’s the DLC jumpered for future reference (it’s not the cleanest jumper but it worked). It’s located under the dash by your left knee, you really need to get your head underneath there to see it.

 

[Infinity00]

Muffler crossmember update:
Soooo on these cars the nuts are welded on one side (passenger side) and the bolts need to be removed because welded fasteners don’t come off with a wrench or impact or chisel as I learned the hard way. Lucky I’m SMrt and I stopped and let the local muffler guy raz me - and these cars for doing it that way. Second thing I learned was other two nuts I got loose but then snuggled back up so I could bring it to my local muffler guy - well those nuts are a one time use. After you loosen and then tighten up they won’t come back off. He basically had to cut everything off. $100 and a few hours later I have all new studs and nuts with normal lock washers.

Next step is to drive it around for a while and then drop the crossmember exhaust piece put in my new gasket and get another round of oil into it. Maybe next year I’ll try the oil exchange. This was enough of an adventure for this year

 

[Infinity00]

A year and 19K miles later I’m replacing the fluid again to flush the tranny slowly of old oil. This time I was smarter and found a more flat spot in my driveway and used a level along the frame to check it. I remember checking level last year but struggling with the level and where to check it. I think that could be why I pulled almost a quart out of the overflow today. Hope I didn’t hurt it by having too much in there. It took 3.5 hours for the tranny to cool down enough to get the solid atf light after driving home. Tomorrow I’ll drain all the oil and refill.

Edit; I was supposed to have the car running and at the right temp when letting the excess oil out of the overflow. I only had it at the right temp. So I don’t know if more or less oil would have come out!?!