transmission fluid change (1 Viewer)

[Jim_Chow]

I did not know that there was such a thing as Toyota ATF. I thought the factory recommendation was for Dexron II/III compatible ATF fluid. What is the Toyota ATF called? Hehe.... Toyota ATF?

I have read here many times of people using Amsoil, Mobil1, Redline for AFTs in their 100. Am I right?

Yes. And for T-IV, they just say to use any type T-IV. But the different ATF's have different ingredients plus additives. For example, Toyota's ATF might be the same as brand B's with "ATF conditioner" in it. Who knows? I'm getting my ATF changed out again to make sure there's no "ATF conditioner" in there from the mucks at the Toyota dealer who snuck it in on me. Spoke to a lexus tech at Scottsdale lexus the other day and the tech had never heard of adding any additive to toyota ATF. My local lexus dealer doesn't do that, either. Luckily, I have less than 1K mi on the Toyota TIV w/ conditioner mixed in, so I'll have this changed out this week to 100% toyota brand TIV for piece of mind, plus the lexus service goes in their computer records, so if the tranny acts up in the future, they can't say it wasn't serviced properly.

BTW, from the pics in LC mag, it seems in Japan, you can buy just about any Toyota brand fluids (PS fluid, gear oil [both LSD and non-LSD], ATF, etc.). They come in the sometimes unobtainable weights spec'd in the FSM, like 90 wt gear oil, etc.

 

[cary]

Keep in mind that buying a non-toyota ATF might be equivalent to adding an additive. For example, the Valvoline dextron III ATF for older trannies has stuff in there to recondition seals and remove varnish where the toyota ATF doesn't.

Valvoline is not putting in anything that isn't in the other name brand ATF fluids. The dexron III spec is specific and for the cars that call for Dexron II/III any name brand Dexron III atf will be fine. There is no need to spend extra for a Toyota labled oil for the cars that call for Dexron.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

Valvoline is not putting in anything that isn't in the other name brand ATF fluids. The dexron III spec is specific and for the cars that call for Dexron II/III any name brand Dexron III atf will be fine. There is no need to spend extra for a Toyota labled oil for the cars that call for Dexron.

This helps me quite a bit.

Cary,
I plan on getting Mobil's synthetic ATF fluid and using that. I also plan on changing as much of the power steering fluid as I can. I can use the same fluid, right?

Thanks.

 

[Jim_Chow]

Valvoline is not putting in anything that isn't in the other name brand ATF fluids. The dexron III spec is specific and for the cars that call for Dexron II/III any name brand Dexron III atf will be fine. There is no need to spend extra for a Toyota labled oil for the cars that call for Dexron.

What about the Valvoline dextron III for older trannies? I used a quart of that for my PS, bottle says it helps recondition old seals, etc. That sounds like an additive to me that the regular valvoline dextron III ATF wouldn't have (or just pure marketing BS).

 

[NMuzj100]

Jim - I am not sure that it is really necessary to drain the tranny just because they dumped the bottle of ? in there. But I was serious about asking for the $9.96 back and raising a little cane more because it is an obvious gouge and reflective of the shop's values and priorities than because of any danger to the tranny.

Most likely it is a minimum spec Dexron III based product with a couple of harmless but common oil additives. These sham companies are generally careful not to cause real damage.

What about the Valvoline dextron III for older trannies? I used a quart of that for my PS, bottle says it helps recondition old seals, etc. That sounds like an additive to me that the regular valvoline dextron III ATF wouldn't have (or just pure marketing BS).

Probably not pure BS, just the average amount inherent in brand differentiation and market segmentation. They likely use the same cleaners, seal conditioners ect.. as in regular fluid but at higher rates compared to the "regular" ATF.

The blenders have latitude in blending the oils as long as they meet the specs. Pretty soon there will be no more licensed Dexron III as GM is ending all the licensing and pushing the blenders to the Dexron 6 specification which is a lot more demanding and specific. It's also going to be a lot more expensive.

Dex III vs. DexVI

 

[cary]

This helps me quite a bit.

Cary,
I plan on getting Mobil's synthetic ATF fluid and using that. I also plan on changing as much of the power steering fluid as I can. I can use the same fluid, right?

Thanks.

Yes, you can use the same in both.

 

[cary]

What about the Valvoline dextron III for older trannies? I used a quart of that for my PS, bottle says it helps recondition old seals, etc. That sounds like an additive to me that the regular valvoline dextron III ATF wouldn't have (or just pure marketing BS).

They may add a small bit of seal sweller conditioner, but it still meets the Dexron III spec which an additive will not. Also, it is much different when a large company forumulates an oil and takes into account all it's aspects rather than adding an additive to an existing oil.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

I tried to exchange all three diff oils today. Only the TCase went successful. I had a guilty conscience, so at 1am, I drove the LC enough to bring it to operating temp, brought it home, put in up on a ramp and started draining the tranny fluid - in order to make the day less than a complete hogwash.

I am leaving the drain plug open overnight. I am assuming that 5-7 qts of tranny fluid will be drained that way.

I will be using Mobil1 ATF, which meets the Dexron III specs.

1. I did not buy the gasket today. Can I reuse the old gasket when I put the plug back in on Sunday or is it wise to wait until the auotparts stores open on Monday to get a new gasket installed?
2. How many quarts of oil are supposed to be in the tranny? I want to figure out what percent of the old fluid I got exchanged.
3. Once i put the drain plug back in, I will, of course, be filling in new tranny fluid. To measure the tranny oil level, I will have to bring it down from the ramp it is on right now. I am assuming that once I put a few quarts of fluid in, it should not matter much if I put the tranny in use for like 10 seconds to bring it down from the ramp. Is that correct?
4. Once on level surface, I will use the dipstick to verify that I have the right amount of fluid in there. Correct approach?
5. I plan on driving the LC, after the four steps are done, for a day and then doing the same drain and fill again. I plan on doing this one more time before switching to the 15k interval drain and fill. Is that a safe approach?

 

[uHu]

1
Most times it is OK to use the old seal. It depends on how hard it has been tightened previously, i.e. how much it has been compressed.
You could anyhow change the seal later without loosing more than a cup of fluid. (Safer to have a second set of hands available if you need to do that, and e.g. drop the plug....)

2
Can't check the specs right now, but a drain-and-fill changes about one third of the ATF.

3
If you fill in the same amount you drained, you are OK anyways.

4
Yes. The handbook says that the hot measurement is more accurate, to bring the tranny up to operating temperature, and then measure the level with the engine running.

5
15 k might be unnecessarily frequent.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

1
Most times it is OK to use the old seal. It depends on how hard it has been tightened previously, i.e. how much it has been compressed.
You could anyhow change the seal later without loosing more than a cup of fluid. (Safer to have a second set of hands available if you need to do that, and e.g. drop the plug....)

2
Can't check the specs right now, but a drain-and-fill changes about one third of the ATF.

3
If you fill in the same amount you drained, you are OK anyways.

4
Yes. The handbook says that the hot measurement is more accurate, to bring the tranny up to operating temperature, and then measure the level with the engine running.

5
15 k might be unnecessarily frequent.

I have figured out what I am going to do about the gasket. I will put the old one in tomorrow and I will put a new one in within the next few days because I am doing a second drain and fill anyways.

I will keep in mind that the hot measurement is more accurate. Thanks for the info. It is valuable.

15K interval is just to get over this initial phase of not konwing if the PO ever changed the fluid. Once I get the fluid to look and smell like it should, I will be going to either 15K or 30K intervals. It is not a whole lot of money for the peace of mind.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

BTW, uHu, last year, I went to my home country Nepal and to one of the most remote places in Nepal - a weeks's worth of trek from the nearest motor road (and not a tourist attraction either).

And guess what - I met two Norwegians there. They had been coming to Nepal every year for more than a decade. We talked for a while. I told them I was living in Minnesota. They said that I probably knew a million Norwegians then....

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

In light of many posters saying it takes 16 - 18 qts of ATF to completely exchange all the old fluid, I found it interesting that the Toyota repair manual states that in a dry fill, the capacity is 12 qts and in a drain and fill 3.7 qts are needed.

I did a drain and fill twice today and have found that the fluid, when I do the drip test looks just like new now, which it did not look like before.

It seems to me that I have roughly replaced about 2/3 of the fluid.

 

[SWUtah]

In light of many posters saying it takes 16 - 18 qts of ATF to completely exchange all the old fluid, I found it interesting that the Toyota repair manual states that in a dry fill, the capacity is 12 qts and in a drain and fill 3.7 qts are needed.

I did a drain and fill twice today and have found that the fluid, when I do the drip test looks just like new now, which it did not look like before.

It seems to me that I have roughly replaced about 2/3 of the fluid.

You use the extra qts to make sure you got out all the old fluid using the exchange machine. Fluid cheap transmission expensive

 

[NMuzj100]

Were you only getting 2.0 qts each drain-and-fill like the manual says.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

Were you only getting 2.0 qts each drain-and-fill like the manual says.

I was getting ~4 qts out in each drain. The manual says you get 3.7 out. Sounds about right to me.

 

[NMuzj100]

Interesting - My 98 FSM says 2.0 quarts for each drain and fill in the same chart you show above. I wonder if there is a model year difference or if the FSM was wrong and was corrected.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

Interesting - My 98 FSM says 2.0 quarts for each drain and fill in the same chart you show above. I wonder if there is a model year difference or if the FSM was wrong and was corrected.

Interesting...

The moral of the story: make sure you are using the FSM for your model year.

My guess is that the FSM was wrong because from discussions here, it seems that 100 transmissions were only changed with the introduction of the 6 speed. But I could be wrong.

 

[KathmanduCruiser]

Tranny dipstick measurement

I did a drain and fill two days ago. After filling up the tranny oil, when I use the measuring stick to check the oil level (in operating temperature), it shows that it is about 5mm above the "High" marker.

Is it okay to leave it as is or should I drain a little bit of oil to bring it to level? Any ideas?

 

[spressomon]

I did a drain and fill two days ago. After filling up the tranny oil, when I use the measuring stick to check the oil level (in operating temperature), it shows that it is about 5mm above the "High" marker.

Is it okay to leave it as is or should I drain a little bit of oil to bring it to level? Any ideas?

Personally, based upon experiences with other auto trannys, auto tranny fluid level is senstive. IMO I would drain until you get the proper fill on level ground.

 

[SWUtah]

I did a drain and fill two days ago. After filling up the tranny oil, when I use the measuring stick to check the oil level (in operating temperature), it shows that it is about 5mm above the "High" marker.

Is it okay to leave it as is or should I drain a little bit of oil to bring it to level? Any ideas?

First was it at operating temp? Did you shift from D to R and then put it in N? Was it on a level surface? Plus 5 mm above is not a problem so don't worry about it.