transmission fluid drain and fill issue (1 Viewer)

[r2550g]

I have got my 2007 LC for about year now and this week I was trying to do a simple transmission maintenance - ATF fluid drain and refill. I did this to my 05 sequoia a few years ago and it went well. This time the same procedure did not go very well with 07 LC. First of all, there were only 2 qt from the drain, I thought the fluid might have been low under previous owner, so I filled 3.5 qt anyway. then I tried to put LC in AT Temp Check mode, but had no luck. I jumped pin 4 and 13 which was the same procedure I did for my 05 sequoia a few years ago. The AT Temp light came on steady every time after I shifted between D and N 3 times (tried 4 times too). Anyone has encountered this issue before? or shed some light what the issue could be, please?

Thanks a lot in advance!

 

[r2550g]

here is an update, A/T Oil Temp check mode could not be set was caused by a blown fuse (OBD2 - 7.5A). I guess I might have accidentally touched a wrong pin when I was trying to jump pin 4 and 13. After I replaced the fuse, I was able to turn on A/T Oil Temp check mode.

As to amount of fluid drained (2 qt) and refilled (3.1 qt), it seems the fluid level check was not properly done during previous ownership since there was no leak. Even though it was 1 qt less than it supposed to be, I did not notice any issues on the shifting.

Anyways, glad to have this maintenance item taken care of. I thought about doing a complete ATF flush like other folks did but not sure if I would do it correctly or not, so just did the easier one this time.

 

[landy470]

In the future, simply to avoid any failure or error, just take the truck to toyota (or since this truck is pretechstream) any decent mechanic with a flush machine and OEM fluid (no exceptions!). Lexus always insists to me that my vehicles have sealed units and refuse to change the juice, so i go down to toyota and they take care of my LS and LX for tranny and brake flushes.

 

[shiretowndown]

here is an update, A/T Oil Temp check mode could not be set was caused by a blown fuse (OBD2 - 7.5A). I guess I might have accidentally touched a wrong pin when I was trying to jump pin 4 and 13. After I replaced the fuse, I was able to turn on A/T Oil Temp check mode.

As to amount of fluid drained (2 qt) and refilled (3.1 qt), it seems the fluid level check was not properly done during previous ownership since there was no leak. Even though it was 1 qt less than it supposed to be, I did not notice any issues on the shifting.

Anyways, glad to have this maintenance item taken care of. I thought about doing a complete ATF flush like other folks did but not sure if I would do it correctly or not, so just did the easier one this time.

What are the steps to Drain & Fill?

 

[shiretowndown]

In the future, simply to avoid any failure or error, just take the truck to toyota (or since this truck is pretechstream) any decent mechanic with a flush machine and OEM fluid (no exceptions!). Lexus always insists to me that my vehicles have sealed units and refuse to change the juice, so i go down to toyota and they take care of my LS and LX for tranny and brake flushes.

Yes, my Lexus dealer suggested the same thing. What is the recommended flush/exchange interval? My '06 has just rolled over 130k

 

[jerryb]

97°f to 115° according to the tsb 2004-2008. And if you live in the south it is very easy to go over that 115° even more so if it's 80° outside, add in 3 or 4 minutes of messing around with the gear shift and a bucket and wrench and your're over 115°

temp gun on the pan, techstream and the bluetooth readers are all very accurate. Honestly, most of the time, I'm over 115°
It takes a long time to cool down after a drive when it's 80° outside.

 

[r2550g]

In the future, simply to avoid any failure or error, just take the truck to toyota (or since this truck is pretechstream) any decent mechanic with a flush machine and OEM fluid (no exceptions!). Lexus always insists to me that my vehicles have sealed units and refuse to change the juice, so i go down to toyota and they take care of my LS and LX for tranny and brake flushes.

Good idea! the 07 LC has over 200k miles, so I wanted to see how ATF fluid looked like. The fluid still looked good. The previous owner might have changed/flushed it.

 

[2001LC]

The procedure for jumping to get dash light codes, is not used anymore.

Toyota put out a TSB, whereas we now use a lower temp. So using jump method will under fill transmission.

We now use 97 to 115 F. vs old 115 to 130 f. range.

Some shoot pan with IR temp gun. But I've found that not accurate, but works in a pinch. The issue is ambient temp (OAT), reflected heat and radiant heat can effect your reading.

I use tech stream to read actually temp. In newer models we get two temp reads. One is temp pre cooler, one is after cooler. Watching which temp fluctuates faster or slower you'll know which is which. Pre cooler temp fluctuates faster and is the main body and TQ, so is the one I peg of.

I like to over fill. Than bring up to 97F and pull the check plug while idling. Drain until drips. Than with plugs in, I run temp up to 110 or 115F max, and pull check plug again. If ATF runs out then, I plug fast, without draining until drip. This is just to double check I got a good read on level at 97F. I like running transmission high, so I do not want to drain at the higher temp until drip.

This is from T-SB-0129-08 AFT fluid level inspect.

 

[r2550g]

What are the steps to Drain & Fill?

There are quite a few folks have posted the steps and procedures. Drain/Fill is pretty straight forward, here is what how I did it, in big picture,

1. parts needed: drain and overflow gaskets (same one), fill plug o-ring (some models use aluminum washer but mine is a rubber o-ring. my local toyota did not have it in stock so I just re-used it.
2. loose fill plug (24mm)
3. drain old fluid ( about 3 qt but mine got only 2 qt out)
4. replace drain plug with new gasket (I torqued it to 15 lbf - i guess with a new washer, 13-14lbf is probably fine. I did not want to overtighten it as the plug is very small)
5. fill 3.5 qt refresh ATF (mine use Toyota ATF WS - make sure use the correct type). I used a vinyl tube from top of the engine area (driver side) all the way down to the fill hole. this is a lot easier than using a fluid transfer pump from underneath the car.
6. hand-tighten fill plug (remember to remove vinyl tube - 3.5 qt should be enough )
7. Check ATF fluid level: follow the ATF fluid Level Check procedure to make sure the fluid level is correct ( I did it by jumping pin 4 and 13 of OBD2 to put car in A/T Oil Temp check mode)
8. replace overflow plug ( do not overtighten! ).

There are quite a few great write-ups on transmission fluid change/flush in this forum that were posted by those with much experience, please check those posts out.

 

[2001LC]

How much fluid comes out during a drain. Is directly related to how long you allow to drain.

 

[r2550g]

The procedure for jumping to get dash light codes, is not used anymore.

Toyota put out a TSB, whereas we now use a lower temp. So using jump method will under fill transmission.

We now use 97 to 115 F. vs old 115 to 130 f. range.

Some shoot pan with IR temp gun. But I've found that not accurate, but works in a pinch. The issue is ambient temp (OAT), reflected heat and radiant heat can effect your reading.

I use tech stream to read actually temp. In newer models we get two temp reads. One is temp pre cooler, one is after cooler. Watching which temp fluctuates faster or slower you'll know which is which. Pre cooler temp fluctuates faster and is the main body and TQ, so is the one I peg of.

Thank you 2001LC! Excellent write-up and this is very helpful. I will keep it for future reference in case I will do it again! I used a IR temp gun and found it not accurate, though it was close, about 10 degrees difference.

 

[r2550g]

How much fluid comes out during a drain. Is directly related to how long you allow to drain.

would more ATF fluid come out if car is hot? I did it to my old sequoia and I got about 3qt out and fill a bit more than 3qt, but this time I got only 2qt out and fill about 3.2 qt on 07 LC.

 

[jerryb]

you get extra jacking up the front also. That helps if you're doing the drain and fill, drain and fill thing.
like paul said, anyone that does it more than once will just overfill and do a final check.

 

[2001LC]

Hot or cold may or may not make any difference, IDK. I do know, the longer I drain the more i get. Over night, I got like 5 qts once. I like to catch and measure carefully, what comes out. But I rarely do just a drain and fill. I do all 12 qts more often. Even those I'm measure what comes out closely.

I agree Jerry! Anyone that has done this PITA job, knows to overfill. If you under-fill, than fill plug needs removing again. Burn me once on exhaust shame on Toyota, burn me twice shame on me. That exhaust get freaking hot, so I do not want to pull that fill plug when hot and sometimes waiting to cool, is not practical..

 

[bentonrover]

I normally just refill whatever comes out. Just under 4qts. No issues yet

 

[2001LC]

I normally just refill whatever comes out. Just under 4qts. No issues yet

Based on TSB. They were under filled from factory. in the 03-07