Tranny Fluid Change - Page 2

Shadow · 10-30-2006, 10:20 PM

Thanks for the info so far. Hopefully someone will post the importance of running it at a certain temp. The dealer just kept giving me some bull**** excuses and said they can provide the documentation to consumers.... What a load.

Needless to say, I had another dealer do it and it costed $150 buck from what was supposed to be $190. Be aware, I provided my own fluid and this was not a complete flush, only a refill.

Hummm.... wondering if I should really go through the effort of doing a complete flush at this point.

Shadow · 10-30-2006, 10:21 PM

Oh and just a note for everyone on the forum. The tranny fluid was pretty clean after 800 miles, but I will have to say the oil was pretty dirty and and the scent of a used muffler. I'm glad I did the oil change. Now I'm running mobile 1 synthetic 5w30.

**cruiserlarry** · 10-30-2006, 10:31 PM

Quote:

1911 previously said:

Use synthetic ATF (Mobil 1 or Amsoil) and you will notice a dramatic improvement in shifting smoothness and overall tranny perfromance. Spendy but worth it.

BE VERY CAREFUL!!! I've been a hugh proponent of synthetic lubricants, but there are no current aftermarket synthetic ATFs that are equivilants to the Toyota fluid spec-wise... I've talked to the chemists at several of the best (Redline, etc..) and Toyota has not released the formulation details, so no one knows if any of the existing ATFs contain the correct additives for the Toyota automatic trans - so a change to ANY oil other than Toyota ATF could affect long term reliability and performance, as well as warranty concerns. Until Toyota opens up, use other brands at your own risk...(This situation exists with Nissan perfromance Automatic transmissions, as well.)

Shadow · 10-30-2006, 11:45 PM

Based on some other posts, I figured as much and took your advice. I'm running the ATF WS. The techs said it was synthetic, so I didn't see a real need to run anything else. Also, to re-enforce what you have stated, Ive seen a few other posts on some other sites of tranny problems running other types of synthetic fluids so I think your assessment may be accurate!

Thanks!

Kzoocruiser · 10-31-2006, 05:57 AM

Quote:

cruiserlarry previously said:

BE VERY CAREFUL!!! I've been a hugh proponent of synthetic lubricants, but there are no current aftermarket synthetic ATFs that are equivilants to the Toyota fluid spec-wise... I've talked to the chemists at several of the best (Redline, etc..) and Toyota has not released the formulation details, so no one knows if any of the existing ATFs contain the correct additives for the Toyota automatic trans - so a change to ANY oil other than Toyota ATF could affect long term reliability and performance, as well as warranty concerns. Until Toyota opens up, use other brands at your own risk...(This situation exists with Nissan perfromance Automatic transmissions, as well.)

Good advice.
Very few out there seem to realize also that standard elastomers used in sealing components (often Buna in many industries) aren't often compatible with these relatively 'nasty' formulations either.

**1911** · 10-31-2006, 06:43 AM

Quote:

cruiserlarry previously said:

BE VERY CAREFUL!!! I've been a hugh proponent of synthetic lubricants, but there are no current aftermarket synthetic ATFs that are equivilants to the Toyota fluid spec-wise... I've talked to the chemists at several of the best (Redline, etc..) and Toyota has not released the formulation details, so no one knows if any of the existing ATFs contain the correct additives for the Toyota automatic trans - so a change to ANY oil other than Toyota ATF could affect long term reliability and performance, as well as warranty concerns. Until Toyota opens up, use other brands at your own risk...

OK, talk to all the chemists you want, but you might want to talk to the lubrication engineers at Amsoil because they spec synthetic ATF specifically for Toyotas. I'm neither a chemist nor an engineer - I'm just saying from personal experience as a mechanic that both Mobil 1 synthetic ATF and Amsoil synthetic ATF work great in Toyota auto trannies. I've run both of those in numerous Land Cruisers, 4Skinners, Sequoias, pickups, etc. and the owners (myself and others) have been super happy every time. Come to think about it, I guess I do tons of stuff at my own risk; it's a miracle I'm still alive.

Mikeys07FJ · 10-31-2006, 09:04 AM

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just my 2 Cents

bugs1961 · 10-31-2006, 03:16 PM

Here is a PDF file from Toyota explaining how to do to the fluid change. It's pretty easy after a little study of the directions. I will be draining and filling the trans soon (I have 1200 mi) using this procedure. Use a 2 inch long piece of stiff, single strand wire, such as garage door opener wire to connect the terminals shown in the directions. No other special equipment should be needed. Using any fluid other than Toyota WS is asking for trouble and of course warrentee voiding when the trans acts up.

bugs1961 · 10-31-2006, 03:21 PM

Sorry, forgot to upload the file. Never mind. The file is 190k and is too big for the forum. My apologies.

bugs1961 · 10-31-2006, 03:59 PM

I'm trying again to attach the PDF on fluid changing.