ATF Drain and Fill

Just looking for some input on my situation from the knowledge base here...I did search but not finding anything regarding my situation.

2016 Tundra with 123000 on it... due to a variety of circumstances I failed on the ATF maintenance cycle...so what I'm asking is if I do just a drain and fill on the ATF would I be ok?

I put lots of hwy miles on the truck and local Toyota dealers want $ 500+ to do Transmission service. I don't have that $$ right now... so I was just gonna do a simple drain and fill ( about 4 qts or whatever comes out) then in about 2000 more miles do another D/F.

I was also worried that dealer would do a flush on the Trans service ( with the machine) and not drop the pan which I know might possibly cause issues too due to the old fluid being in there and maybe dislodging something that would mess up my transmission.

What say you ?

Any advice is appreciated...

 

Your plan of multiple drain and fills is good.

 

drain and fill , dont do a flush with higher miles.

 

Interested if you're going to watch the AT temp for the level correction I guess you'd call it?
I've seen about 4 ways to do this but think when the time comes for me I'll suck it up and buy a Scan Guage, seems like the cheapest while still being accurate? The jumping the ODB II pin method seems pretty detailed to me. I think I'd like to slow things down, watch the temp on a Scan Guage. Happy for thoughts from the experts, I know it's been hashed out a lot.

 

Yeah.. unfortunately buying a scan tool or any of that is not in my budget .... I was just gonna let it sit overnight to get totally cool and just drain and replace exact amount of fluid ...

I watched a bunch of vids but I'm thinking some clean fluid is better than NO clean fluid...hope that is the right mindset to be in

Hoping that works... until i can get a job... $$ is very tight... and I still am traveling as I can for interviews etc...so I need the truck to be running.

 

TorquePro on your phone for $5 is cheaper, or use an IR thermometer. I've done those and the jumper, the jumper is a pain in the ass to do correctly imo

OP I see nothing wrong with drain and fill same amount. Any new fluid is better than none imo.

 

I measured how much drained out. Then re added exactly that much. Not scientific but no issues

 

I’ll be doing the same drain and fill at 30,000 miles. How many quarts drained, need to go buy some WS this week.

 

Ask the dealers how/what they do.
There IS a safe way to do it, and there definitely is a wrong way to do it.
The right way is for them to cycle out the old fluid with the natural flow from the transmission pump while refilling it with new stuff. Some dealers know how to do this and do it right.
The wrong way is to force it out with an external pump. That's what damages transmissions.
The lame way for a dealer is to drain and refill. That doesn't do much of anything and isn't very efficient.
When I had it done on my 2015 they charged me about $325 give or take. Most of that is the cost of the fluid.

 

Nice, I think when the time comes, I might just do that. I'll also look at the TorquPro mentioned here, great tip/help!

Big fan of the KISS method

 

Thanks to all for your input and advice..

 

Easy job. Don’t do any power flushes though.
https://youtu.be/cutlJH5KR2Y

 

Super informative video. I had no idea that was the way these transmissions needed to be filled and checked. With the amsoil ATF that had to have costed 110-150 just in fluid.

 

I did a simple a drain and fill. Let it sit over night, drained it the next day day, basically exactly 4 quarts came out. I measured using empty milk gallons and a scale but next time wont bother and will just always do 4 quarts, there no need to do the temp check with the overflow drain with this method since your just putting in what you took out. Now if you were completely draining the system and refilling I understand the need to check.

 

Joe,... Thanks.. that's what I'm doing today... I let it sit overnight to get fluid completely cold and am going to just replace what I remove. I have the Toyota WS on hand.

 

Thank you Joe. Will do the same in the coming days. How many miles were on your truck when you did this, how did the oil look? The tranny fill bolt head looks like the same size as the differential, did you replace the washer as well?

 

15,000 miles. Didn't replace any washers. Old fluid on the left.

 

Exactly what mine looked like

 

Wrong way and temp to check. Per Toyota it’s 115* to 133*. And never use a temp gun. The tranny oil and pan temp are different. It’s been proven that there is a difference in temps between the pan and tranny oil. Why Amsoil would do this is ridiculous and wrong. Use a scanner or look up the procedure to jump out the obd2 connector for the right temp.

 

Did you drain hot and then measure in morning? would think draining hot may get some extra crap out

 

What A difference between old and new. Nice job...

 

if you're just draining a refilling, no reason not to drain it when hot which would get out more solids in suspension IMO

 

I've been collecting bookmarks on this for a few weeks, will need to do this myself in another year. Can't be too prepared?...

WS vs Alternatives
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...a-ws-atf-automaitc-transmission-fluid.373083/

Transmission Flush
Toyota Tundra Full Transmission Flush - YouTube
Toyota Tundra Comprehensive Transmission Oil Change - YouTube
How to change transmission fluid on a Toyota Tundra - YouTube
2018 Toyota Tundra Transmission Filter Change And Flush - YouTube

 

I just assumed that letting it sit over night would allow as much fluid to come back down into the pan as possible.

 

thats sounds reasonable also

 

It only goes up a couple degrees a minute and steel conducts heat very quickly. The last time I did a drain/fill I used both the OBD2 readout and double-checked the infrared gun for curiosity's sake. It was never more than 2 degrees off at any given time. I can understand if it's a cheap and poorly calibrated gun though.

 

Is the transmission filter in the 3rd gen a screen or paper element?

 

https://www.tundras.com/posts/1530072
Take a look at post 79.

 

Just curious did u use a long funnel or what u used to refill?

Thanks

 

I used a pump from Amazon, I believe it was called slippery pete