[Skunk Driver]

This is BS is the manual also sealed? If not what stops some one from putting something "weird" in that trany? I am going to see if I can cut one of the trany oil cooler lines and do it through there when it is time to change. Maybe put an external filter with a pet****.

 

[Ridge111]

This is BS is the manual also sealed? If not what stops some one from putting something "weird" in that trany? I am going to see if I can cut one of the trany oil cooler lines and do it through there when it is time to change. Maybe put an external filter with a pet****.

Manuals don't have dipsticks and fill tubes anyway. You usually drain them from the bottom, fill them from the side until fluid starts running out of the hole. Really they just made the auto more like the manual.

 

[Skunk Driver]

Yea I know how to fill a manual trany. Why would someone come up with something like this on a 4x4? Does Toyota really think we will pay this much for this truck and never run it in water or mud? I could almost understand something like on some Honda 4 banger that just goes from point a to point b but these are 4x4. They are advertised going through streams and up hills and in the mud. I think I will work on a kit to install a dip stick on these trucks and make me a few bucks.

 

[Ridge111]

Looking at the service manual, the drain plug on the bottom of the tranny pan appears to be the overflow drain. I know it's at the very bottom of the pan, but there's a neck on the other side, inside the pan, that extends to the right height where the level the fluid is supposed to be. And there's a filler hole on the side where you pour in the fluid like you described. Did you remove the drain plug with the FJ on ramps? If it was level (and the fluid at the right temp), no more than a trickle should've come out of that plug unless it was overfilled to begin with.

I just reread this and it makes sense now. There are 2 plugs in the bottom of the pan. One is a 14mm bolt and the other is an allen head bolt. Does the sm tell you which is which? I filled mine through the allen bolt hole, but if what you say is correct, it should look something like this:

and you would pull both plugs, fill from the center drain hole and wait for it to overflow from the other hole.

 

[Tankota]

Some places have a machine that you hook up to the cooler lines. The intake to the tranny connects to a resivoir of clean new fluid, the exit line to the cooler goes to a waste container.. They they start the vehical up and the tranny pumps the old out and sucks the new right in... the do it until the new fluid starts coming out into the waste bucket. Then connect it all back up. The advantage was supposed to be this flushes the old fluid out of the converter and all the lines too, instead of just draining the pan and leaving some of the old stuff still in the system. I wonder if this will work with the FJ..

My Yaris uses the new WS tranny stuff to, I'm trying to find out if a synth will work.. the WS is supposed to work diffrent when cold vrs normal ATF.. Maybe it is a synth. already.. Full synth ATF works soo much better at dealing with the heat and stress of off-road and towing.

 

[trentoncruiser]

Ok, I did a bit of research and found that the ATF is type WS and the trany is sealed at the factory. WTF!.
I guess they are trying to lock us into the dealer for any service on this.
I for one, do my own service, so I'll need to get into this eventually.
Hopefully I can at least buy a quart of atf at the dealer so I can install the cooler.
If anyone has a line on any news on this front, please post it..

I work at a toyota dealer in the parts department. Do not touch the ATF. Toyota says it is good for 100k. We had a guy drain a Land Cruiser with the same set up and it was a ***** to refill. Check the repair manual and see for yourself. If you did need to buy Type-WS it comes in a metal can thats either 2 liters or 1 gallon for about $45 and you'll need 2 or more if you do drain it by mistake.

 

[Ridge111]

I work at a toyota dealer in the parts department. Do not touch the ATF. Toyota says it is good for 100k. We had a guy drain a Land Cruiser with the same set up and it was a ***** to refill. Check the repair manual and see for yourself. If you did need to buy Type-WS it comes in a metal can thats either 2 liters or 1 gallon for about $45 and you'll need 2 or more if you do drain it by mistake.

Believe us, it wasn't intentional.

I found something else out. In the shop manual it says that it takes 11 qts! to fill the tranny from dry, but only 3.2 qts to drain and refill. This means that when you drain it, almost 8 qts is left in the tranny (in the torque converter, lines, cooler, etc.) I probably lost a few ounces in my transfer, not to mention gained a couple ounces of motor oil. I was worried about having contaminated my atf by getting a couple of oz of motor oil in 3 qts of atf. But 2 oz of motor oil mixed in with 11 qts is negligible.

1 qt = 32 oz
11 qt = 352 oz total atf
2 oz (motor oil contaminant) / 352 oz = .0056 or .56% contamination

If I drained it and replaced it (3.2 qts) I would only be removing less than a third of the oil that I got in there, because it is now mixed evenly into all 11 qts of atf.

3.2 qt / 11 qt = .29 (only 29% of the total atf in the tranny gets drained)
.29 x 2 oz = .58 oz of oil removed with first fluid change

If I did it again I would remove less.
2 oz - .58 oz = 1.42 oz oil remaining
1.42 oz x .29 = .41 oz leaving a total of 1.01 oz still mixed in, bringing the contamination down to .28% (half of original), after 2 fluid changes (about $80).

And if I did this several times, the amount of oil I'd remove with each change would get less (29% of the remaining oil each time), and I'd never get it all out.

The only way to resolve this is to do the cooler line pump deal mentioned by Tankota. I'm thinking I won't worry about it, but I'm definitely regretting pumping the contaminated fluid back in. I should've waited until the next day and bought new fluid, but at the time I didn't know that a fluid change only replaces 29% of the total fluid. I thought that I'd get new fluid, drain it and change it and no more contamination.

 

[RomaBoy]

You want to hear maybe the most stupid thing you've ever heard? You have to promise to laugh with me and not at me. Of course, life is too short to not laugh at yourself, so here goes.

I do my own oil changes every 3000. I've done it on a 73 Corolla, a 85 Corolla GT, a 88 Celica All Trac Turbo, a 91 Suzuki Sidekick, a 2000 Tacoma, a 2005 Tundra and now a 2007 FJ.

So I open the fill lid, drop underneath to pull the oil drain plug, and suddenly red liquid comes out. DOH! I quickly put it back in and look around, yes, it's the tranny pan. (Yes, I know I should have looked first, but I didn't and it was right there). Where's the oil pan? Oh, on top of a skid plate and behind a plug. I pour the 3/4 cup of tranny fluid in my coffee cup (clean) and set it aside to put back in later.

I change the oil and filter, then I start looking for the dipstick / fill spout for the transmission fluid. ...and I keep looking. I call a buddy over. Looking. Two buddies. Looking. Neighbor. Looking. Guess what. Yeah, can't add it. No fill spout. No dip stick.

I find on line that there are a few vehicles in Toyota'a line up that have a sealed system (sealed except for that damn plug). I call Toyota and explain it's less than a coffee cup low, but they said the level is pretty important.

Long story short (or less long), $95 later for labor and a $40 jug of tranny fluid (they only sell full containers, you see) and I have brand new transmission fluid again, in my brand new FJ.

Heh.
Heh heh.
Heh heh heh.

Heh.

That was a good story Dragon. You're a good sport too!:roller:

 

[tahoe66]

I just did the same thing. Third oil change, for some F'ing reason I pulled the wrong plug. If it is sealed why is it the most accessible plug under the car?

So, can you drive it with only 8 quarts in it? If capacity is 11 and only 3.2 came out, can I make the 10 mile trip to the dealer on 8 quarts?

 

[RomaBoy]

I just did the same thing. Third oil change, for some F'ing reason I pulled the wrong plug. If it is sealed why is it the most accessible plug under the car?

So, can you drive it with only 8 quarts in it? If capacity is 11 and only 3.2 came out, can I make the 10 mile trip to the dealer on 8 quarts?

What I like to know now is... do you feel lucky? Just joking but I wouldn't. Call them up and ask them. 10 miles is close but is it a level run or any hills involved? I'd have it towed to be safe. The last thing you want is for the dealer to make a note that you drove it low on trans fluid (warranty).

 

[Garsgrl]

I had a similar situation. I bought the Transmission fluid from the toyota dealership. Then I took the FJ to a Ford dealership and got them to change it out. Cost me around $90. That was a while back and no probs at all.

How far are you from the dealership? Cuz I was probably two quarts low and had to climb hills. I was probably 30 miles from the Ford dealership.

 

[wesayso]

Hole-eee-sh1t. I just did the same d-mn thing. I feel like such an idiot. Then I do a search and find this thread. I don't feel much better, but at least I'm not alone.

Once I saw red fluid coming out, I couldn't get the plug back in, it was too hot, I had just parked the truck. So I let it drain and thought, no big deal I'll just get someone to take me to the store, buy some fluid, and refill it. Well after going through all the denial over the fact that there is no check/fill tube as others here have done, I realized I was screwed.

So reading this thread gave me an idea. When it was explained that they pump it in, from bottom to top, I thought of the boat outdrive, just as you mentioned Dragon. I have a boat, and I have the pump that you use to fill the outdrive with gear lube. It's the same process, take out the drain plug, take out the vent plug at the top, fill from bottom to top until the fluid runs out the vent hole. Tada! It f---ing worked! The pump has a threaded end on it that screws into the drain hole so you can pump fluid in and the threads fit the FJ's pan! I didn't try the drain hole (the 14mm bolt), I used the one next to it, the one with the allen head bolt. The business end of the pump screws right on to a quart bottle like most fluids come in.

So, I had drained the trans fluid into a drain pan, luckily it was empty when I started (not clean, but empty). I then poured the fluid, through a filter, into an empty gallon-size oil jug(I had just changed the boat oil a few days earlier and had this jug left over from that). The markings on the side of the jug showed that there was about 3.2 qts, just like the owners manual said it should have. So I poured this, a quart at a time, into an empty quart bottle (because the pump won't fit the gallon jug), and voila! Pumped all the fluid back in the tranny.

Now, of course the fluid is contaminated with used oil from the drain pan, and I surely lost a few ounces in the transfer process, but at least I don't have to be towed to the dealer. I will limit my driving, go buy new fluid from Toyota this week, and change it myself. I don't see why the level would have to be surgically precise, it's sloshing around in there while you're driving. I will pump 3.2 qts in like the manual says and leave it at that.

For those interested, the pump can be bought at Wal-Mart or any marine store for less than $10. You have to be quick when removing the pump from the trans pan and replacing the plug, but if you pump in an extra couple of ounces of fluid you can account for the loss.

Here's the pump.
View attachment 2853

Close up of the threaded end
View attachment 2855

Close up of the part #
View attachment 2854

West Marine: Quicksilver Gear Lube Pump Product Display

Ahh, there's nothing like a 4 hour oil change. Thanks for the info and idea everyone.

I you removed the vent plug, why didn't you fill thru the vent hole?

 

[DEWFPO]

I just did the same thing. Third oil change, for some F'ing reason I pulled the wrong plug. If it is sealed why is it the most accessible plug under the car?

So, can you drive it with only 8 quarts in it? If capacity is 11 and only 3.2 came out, can I make the 10 mile trip to the dealer on 8 quarts?

It is not a 'sealed' transmission. Just a low maintenance trans. It has a fill hole and an overflow hole.

DEWFPO

 

[Ridge111]

I you removed the vent plug, why didn't you fill thru the vent hole?

I was just re-reading this thread and wondering that myself. But it is a vent, i.e. it let's the air out that the fluid displaces. But it might work, depending on how much fluid your pumping in. I haven't changed fluid or anything since my screw up and I'm at 21k miles.