Complete Transmission Flush DIY - VIDEO (2 Viewers)

[Volunteer]

I assume the answer will not be what I hope but was curious if there is anyway to reset this ATF degradation monitoring interval without access to TechStream?

I did a full WS ATF fluid flush some months back and now that it’s cold I’m getting P0761 and P2714 codes. I am gonna hopefully get under the truck to check the ATF level (followed procedure for temp checking etc) and I figure it’d be good to also reset the interval since i didn’t reset when I flushed.

Not to muddy the waters but wanted to add some detail as I know the level is likely fine since I followed the procedure precisely, and since the codes didn’t appear during the warm months etc, but trying to double check the cheapest and closest options first as a diy-et…. Before investigating the valve body. I also will check for leaks while under there as I’ve noticed a burning oil smell, probably unrelated but (cam towr maybe) might as well double check there isn’t some small leak or something.

PS my rig is at 216k, and I try to do my own maintenance.

I'm curious what you find out. I haven't touched my transmission since I had it serviced at the dealer 2 years ago for new filter and trans oil change. I just got codes P2714 and P0761 yesterday we've had some cool nights here this week and its been sitting in the garage but nothing like we had in TN. We just got back from Tennessee for the holidays where it was extremely cold and I had no issues when there. I'm just noticing a burning oil smell when I park as well but have no leaks in garage or that's visible. I do have both wired scanner and a bluetooth dongle I keep in the glovebox I cleared the codes and drove it last night with no issues. I will look into checking the fluid level and temp as mentioned here.

 

[joyRidaz]

I'm curious what you find out. I haven't touched my transmission since I had it serviced at the dealer 2 years ago for new filter and trans oil change. I just got codes P2714 and P0761 yesterday we've had some cool nights here this week and its been sitting in the garage but nothing like we had in TN. We just got back from Tennessee for the holidays where it was extremely cold and I had no issues when there. I'm just noticing a burning oil smell when I park as well but have no leaks in garage or that's visible. I do have both wired scanner and a bluetooth dongle I keep in the glovebox I cleared the codes and drove it last night with no issues. I will look into checking the fluid level and temp as mentioned here.

I don’t wan to jinx it, but i didn’t have the frivole once I got nitially got up to temp. So I left the overflow plug out and put in some fluid until I got a good trickle, then closed it up and added a slight bit more.

My logic to double check the level was my crappy shade tree mechanic (me) who did the trans full flush probably didn’t realize we wanted a trickle flowing when closing the plug…. Secondly fluid expands when hot and the codes only appear on cold days so maybe the fluid level is lower when I first get started on cold days triggering codes.

Not sure if that made sense but I’ll give it several days to test and will report back. Crossing by fingers it cures my need to constantly clear codes… and to allow me to not fear needing a new valve body or trans swap…. Hopefully it’s just a silly diy error in fluid level.

 

[Volunteer]

Thanks I'm sure all will be well following the add. I mostly do all the maintenance on my vehicles myself as well and feel better having that peace of mind it was done right. Mine was in for a recall so I let them do trans service while there. I hope my issues are something as simple. I monitored the temperature and sensors today and all was normal while running errands. I'll check the level this weekend.

 

[joyRidaz]

Sadly I got the codes this AM after sixty miles of driving post top-off. uggh…. I too have been smelling burnt oil after I stop but also haven’t seen any drips on the floor or anywhere in the undercarriage. I’ll report back if any new relevant updates surface. Either way I recommend doing the ATF full flush via the diy steps in this thread, very manageable.

 

[Volunteer]

Sorry to hear that I hope something turns up for a simple fix. I have a hard time thinking the tranny would crater on us. My wife and I have driven Toyota's for 30 years I've never experienced a fatal motor or tranny issue on any of them. Its warmed up here in South Louisiana the last few days its been in the 70's no codes have returned for me. I still plan to check the trans fluid level and crawl around to inspect what the oil smell is all about. I'm reminded I changed the oil when I returned from the holiday trip could be some spillage burning off on the manifold at least thats my hope I've not had an oil leak on it yet. I'm about to round 200K by the end of the month.

 

[Jeff Elliott]

I haven't yet changed my ATF (rig is at 142K, bought it at 130) but am considering. I get the burnt oil smell if I've been offroad on hill climbs at a slow pace or towing heavy. What is this symptomatic of? Should I change the ATF stat?

 

[Volunteer]

My issues have resolved themself. I'm going to blame the weather shifts, my trans fluid was at the correct level and I just took a 2000 mile trip up to East Tennessee without any more codes or issues. I tow a lot during the year as well multiple boats and trailers. @Jeff Elliott not sure if you can check the carfax report or call the local dealership and give them your vin and see if the trans was ever serviced. Would be worth looking into. I had my local dealer print me all the service records on mine and the PO flushed the trans at 100K, with the 100K service. I had them drop the pan and change the fluid and filter again at 175K.

 

[PDoyle]

Lexus.com and a vin will get you dealer serviced info.

 

[Sandroad]

Could someone with the 8 speed summarize the simple fluid drain/refill procedure. Is there a secondary tube behind the drain plug that needs removal? I’m about to tackle this on my ‘17 and the drain plug looks like it needs a small hex wrench? I watched a YouTube on the procedure, but I know from experience YouTube can be very wrong.

 

[Fisher23]

The 2nd drain plug is for setting the "level" of the transmission fluid and has kind of a tube above it. when you pull the pan you will see what i am talking about.. There is just 1 drain plug.

- drain the pan and install the new filter. -measure how much fluid came out and put that amount back in.
-remove the cold line coming back to the transmission from the rad and feed it into a bucket.
-pump about 3 quarts out stop and refill the 3 quarts.
-repeat until you have about 11 quarts back in. the fluid coming out at this point should be clean.
-level the vehicle, up on 4 ramps works fine
-put some extra fluid in the trans
-undo the other plug used for measuring the fluid level.
-run the vehicle and use a heat detector or the scan gauge until the vehicle gets to the temp for measuring the fluid.
-this whole time as the trans heats up the fluid will rise and drain out the measure hole. when it gets to that measure temp put the plug back in the drain.

no need to pin the trans thermostat on the 8 speed.

Some where back on this thread i added what is different between the 6 and 8 speed fluid change.


Hope that helps,

 

[colacola]

Help Please - on 2019 w/ 8-speed 70k miles, I have a different oem pan - no drain plug, just overflow plug and cannot locate 24mm refill up higher on side. There is a cover with insulation on side but I didnt want to guess and start undoing things in side to see if they are drain and or refills. Anyone tackled this yet on a 8-speed and can share pics? Here are pics of what I am seeing. I have done this on gx460 and very similar to LC200 instructions without 8-speeds. Appreciate the help.

 

[LvCruiserNewb]

Help Please - on 2019 w/ 8-speed 70k miles, I have a different oem pan - no drain plug, just overflow plug and cannot locate 24mm refill up higher on side. There is a cover with insulation on side but I didnt want to guess and start undoing things in side to see if they are drain and or refills. Anyone tackled this yet on a 8-speed and can share pics? Here are pics of what I am seeing. I have done this on gx460 and very similar to LC200 instructions without 8-speeds. Appreciate the help. View attachment 3404975View attachment 3404976

I dont know about the pan but the fill plug is under that plastic cover. Not having the right inventory of flex wrenches and extensions to get that cover off is why I've been delaying doing this job myself. Mines 2018 8speed. Following to see what you find out about the pan as I still need to order parts to do this in the next 15k or so.

 

[linuxgod]

The drain plug is in the top left of your photo. It's got a tiny allen head. It's NOT in the lowest point in the pan... NFC why. Ultimately this is why doing the full fluid flush is better IMO as that pumps the old fluid out of the pan, whereas the drain-and-fill procedure only really tops off the pan

 

[colacola]

The drain plug is in the top left of your photo. It's got a tiny allen head. It's NOT in the lowest point in the pan... NFC why. Ultimately this is why doing the full fluid flush is better IMO as that pumps the old fluid out of the pan, whereas the drain-and-fill procedure only really tops off the pan

View attachment 3404996

The drain plug is in the top left of your photo. It's got a tiny allen head. It's NOT in the lowest point in the pan... NFC why. Ultimately this is why doing the full fluid flush is better IMO as that pumps the old fluid out of the pan, whereas the drain-and-fill procedure only really tops off the pan

View attachment 3404996

Thank you! If I am reading this correctly - the one visible plug on my pan is the “overflow plug” but this whole set up is different and there is a second stage draining accomplished by removing the internal “transmission pan tube” after removing the overflow plug (within this same hole)…..Looks like a different design seen in other toyota transmission pans vs prior 5-speed LC200s?

 

[doru]

Yes, remove the tube to drain it, but ...

I just complete the flush for my 6 speed and draining the pan yield 2.6L. Draining and dropping the pan yield 5.2L. That is an additional 2.8L remaining in the pan that are diluting the fresh fluid right from the start. So basically, you are starting the flush with less than 50% new fluid in the pan instead of 100% new!

By the time I was at the 3rd flush&refill the fluid looked very good already. Just because I still had 3 more ATF bottles, I did a final drain&refill. I started with 14 bottles. Note that I flush&refill only 1.7-1.9L each time. 3 quarts is way too much.

IMHO flush should always be done with dropping the pan. Given the long time between flushes the added work should not be such a problem. The gasket is rubber so much easier to deal with than RTV stuff. The added benefit is cleaning those metal particles off the magnets. It is not even close as bad as the diffs but there was still plenty on all magnets.

 

[colacola]

Yes, remove the tube to drain it, but ...

I just complete the flush for my 6 speed and draining the pan yield 2.6L. Draining and dropping the pan yield 5.2L. That is an additional 2.8L remaining in the pan that are diluting the fresh fluid right from the start. So basically, you are starting the flush with less than 50% new fluid in the pan instead of 100% new!

By the time I was at the 3rd flush&refill the fluid looked very good already. Just because I still had 3 more ATF bottles, I did a final drain&refill. I started with 14 bottles. Note that I flush&refill only 1.7-1.9L each time. 3 quarts is way too much.

IMHO flush should always be done with dropping the pan. Given the long time between flushes the added work should not be such a problem. The gasket is rubber so much easier to deal with than RTV stuff. The added benefit is cleaning those metal particles off the magnets. It is not even close as bad as the diffs but there was still plenty on all magnets.

Thanks. I always drop the pan on my gx460 - already have replacement filter and gasket for this job - just wasn’t expecting only one plug on this pan and a cover over entire area of refill bolt.

 

[doru]

Good you have the filter, but I stopped doing that. It doesn't make a difference as the filter is always clean and that's the case even with my 26 years old Camry. That's also the general opinion.

The cover over the plug is a strange thing. Unless there is something else there to protect, that is a bad design to make maintenance harder.

 

[colacola]

Good you have the filter, but I stopped doing that. It doesn't make a difference as the filter is always clean and that's the case even with my 26 years old Camry. That's also the general opinion.

The cover over the plug is a strange thing. Unless there is something else there to protect, that is a bad design to make maintenance harder.

On the first change - I wanna be extra safe due to any potential wear-in type debris. Ideally magnets & cleaning those get all that but I rather not wonder. I purposefully go overboard and I rather of done this a little earlier mileage-wise due to some towing.

 

[Lou Gill]

Over maintenance

 

[colacola]

Got it off using combo of 12mm strait ratchet wrench with a 7/8 wrench as extension. I think it can be done with a non-ratcheting wrench & same extension too. Was going to try an aray of socket extensions with swivels/elbows next but this got it. Appears cover is for sound dampening - says “silencer” on it. Confirmed 24mm refill plug is under this cover.