2nd Gen Tranny drain and fill

I know this is probably a thread that has been posted before but I can't find it.
Can I drain out my tranny fluid and add the same amount back with my tranny cool. All this getting your fluid to an exact temp is a bit crazy. I've seen a video where someone has been drain and filling with the same amount of fluid for years with NO problems at all. I have a 2010 V6 4.0L 2 wheel drive with no tow package. Can I do this with my truck cold?

 

Yes sir, very common methodology.

 

Yeah. May want to leave it draining for a couple of hours, it would get you about 2 more quarts.

 

Yes, I DO understand the difference. BUT...

Would you take this same approach with engine oil??? Could get you into trouble pretty quick.

Toyota even designed a "back door" so regular people can get it right at home. Just seems kinda lazy not to use the system Toyota put in place, and assume the level was already correct.

...But that's just, like, my opinion man.

 

Transmission was designed by Aisin, not Toyota. ATF level fluctuation fill to fill is not very important. It can be alright with +/- 0.5 qt, you never notice a difference. I had my smaller Aisin transmission both 0.5 qt underfilled and 1 qt overfilled, it worked like charm.

Also pour 8 qt of oil blindly into my 3URs. It gets somewhere around where it should be on the dipstick. I don't care that much.

 

You don't think Aisin had anything to do with the controls or maintenance programing for their components within Toyotas (or other MFGs) vehicles??

Justify this to yourself anyway you like.

You're still being lazy.

 

This is an exercise of trust but verified vs only trust.

 

Some programming, yes, but even zealots like Volvo don't change much in TCM sw besides tweaking the tables. It is still an Aisin transmission, running Aisin software on a computer block developed for Aisin (by Temic, etc).

I'd say, I'm educated lazy. Hunting for +/- half oz level - no. But also no to 0w20 and 10k change intervals

 

Okay. Sure.

Then why not trust that Aisin knows what they are talking about and follow their prescribed procedure for maintaining the hardware they produce?

One always has the right to ASSUME they did everything correctly. I just prefer to use any tools at my disposal to ensure everything is as close to factory spec as possible.

You do you brother. I'm just attempting to explain my reasoning to the OP who requested opinions.

 

I set the level as prescribed the first time. The next time I know the level was right (unless there was a leak or repair) and I just replace the drained amount. I'm doing it the wrong way dozens of time for 300k miles combined on all my vehicles.

 

In fact, the only time I badly missed the level is when I had 5 speed Aisin transmission rebuilt and did the first fill. I filled it as per total volume in the book, but forgot I put a couple of quarts into the torque converter already before installing it.

 

Maybe it would be helpful to the OP and others, if you were to specify that you first confirmed the level of ATF with the PROPER procedure, THEN adopted the lazy method for subsequent maintenance.

I guess the entire point of me even spending time in this thread is to make clear to the forum that we do not ALL share your opinion that the lazy way is sufficient. Spending the extra 10 minutes to ensure you have the correct level of fluid will ALWAYS be a superior choice to assuming everything is fine (even if it is).

 

I've had 2 seconds gens now, an 07 with 485k and now a 12 with 356k. Cold drain and fill every 50k, fluid always comes out red, never dark, never burnt or smelling bad.
I've owned a 2000 4Runner since 2007 and its gotten the same treatment.