Transmission Drain and Fill

I don’t care what manuals say

NOTHING is for a LIFETIME!!

 

Agree.

 

I'm pretty sure I've done at least 3 drain and fills already at 10 years old and 86K on my 09. One at 40 or 50K, another around 60, another a few months ago. People are all over the place with this. Some do full flushes early in the truck's life. Some do drain and fills only. Some do a mix of both. Toyota recommends 60K if you tow, otherwise I think it's 'inspect' at 90 or 100K with no specific instructions to change. But don't quote me on that. The catch 22 tends to be, a lot of dealerships don't want to touch it earlier than the manual recommends because they're afraid if there's any underlying issues uncovered by removing the fluid they're on the hook for it. But if you start going around asking for a full flush at 90K they're all gonna tell you it's too late in the vehicle's life to fully flush it if you've never done it before.

I find multiple drain and fills is a good compromise and the dealer has always been happy to oblige every time I've asked for one. The truck still shifts the same as it did when I pulled off the lot brand new a decade ago.

The 60K or 100K transmission claim is marketed at people who hold a car the average time period of 5-6 years and 100K or less who don't want to spend any money on anything besides payments or gas before they dump it and move on. Those of us who want cars to run like new and be trouble free for 200K-plus go above and beyond that.

 

Exactly. It is a sealed system.

 

The Dude who put One Million Miles on a Tundra had transmission failure at 792,000 Miles. That was a 4.7L V8.

 

Since the transmission is a closed system, it is not subject to external contaminants or by-products of combustion like engine oil. But, it is vulnerable to wear materials from hard use or abuse such as towing and excessive shifting.

I used to be a life-time AT fluid believer, but no-more based on reading Tundra forums. Fluid life depends totally on the service the transmission sees. My present belief on change interval matches the take-away from other real experience reports on this thread, and Toyota's recommendations: 60K for towing or other extreme service, 100K for normal service. As noted before, more frequent changes certainly won't hurt anything but your pocketbook, but if you're imagining that you know more than Toyota about fluid change intervals and effect on your transmission's life, it's just that...your imagination.

 

Has anyone transferred to amsoil atf yet?

 

I would LOVE to do this, since I use Amsoil in everything I can. However I would never want to mix transmission fluid so the process to flush completely requires shop/dealer involvement. And I have done 100% of the work to my truck myself. I don't trust a $15 an hour shop tech.

 

I believe several on here have replaced with synthetic; flush and drain/fill.
A few have claimed smoother shifting as well.

 

If I could do this myself I totally would.

 

The manual doesn't even say this. It requires a drain and fill every 60k miles....

 

I could use some advice please. I followed some tips from the forums and drained my fluid on my 2010 5.7 Tundra. Issue is that over 6 quarts came out! I tried replacing with 6 but made a mess as it overflowed from fill hole. Thoughts?

 

Who benefits from your transmission going bad after warranty?

Why would you not at least do a drain and fill on occasion to freshen the fluid?

Fresh fluid never hurts. Oil fluid does.

What does Toyota say about heavy service, such as towing and hauling? Same lifetime fluid no service as a street princess truck?

Nothing for me to gain here, but I’d at least do some regular drain and fills. Cheap insurance, especially DIY.

 

At some point in it's life, your Tundra has had it's transmission fluid checked or changed by incompetent professionals or well-meaning amateurs, and it was over-filled. Nothing you can do about that now, set the fluid level at the proper temperature using Toyota's procedure, and keep on trucking.

 

I agree with you. My new problem is that when I removed the upper hex drain plug it drained most of the fluid.. It seems to be missing the straw that is supposed to level off the fluid and get me to correct level. Called dealer and they said there is no replacement straw part... Saw a guy on YouTube that shows a red straw being threaded out.

 

Assuming your 5.7L has the AB60 transmission like Gen 3, the upper hex plug in the body of the transmission (left side) is only for fill. There isn't a "straw" on the upper plug hole. Only the overflow port on the very middle bottom of the transmission pan has the overflow tube. Your dealer parts guy probably meant the overflow tube doesn't come separate, that it's sold with the oil pan.

If the individual filled the transmission until it ran out of the fill port, then the transmission was way over-filled.

 

l probably misunderstood your description of the "upper hex drain plug". The port with the overflow tube IS higher than the drain plug and is located oh the driver side of the oil pan about in the middle. Both the drain plug and the overflow port are in the oil pan. There is a third hex plug up on the transmission body that is only for fill.

If you're missing your overflow tube, then you'll probably have to find one from a salvage yard or used parts dealer. I don't know that you can even buy automatic transmission parts from Toyota. From what I've read, dealers will change entire transmissions, but will not take one apart.

 

Yes I think you misunderstood. The hex plug I mentioned is the one to check the fluid level and is a couple inches higher than the drain plug. The fill plug is several inches higher and is a 24mm bolt. I'm still shocked that when I added what I took out, it overflowed from the fill port and so I'm not driving it until I sort this out.

 

I am curious as to how it got that full or what seems to be overfilled.

 

Bought the truck a month ago. Looked great and runs great and has 270k miles. Was owned by a delivery comoany of some sort. So I'm doing much preventatve maintenance. Drained fluid and over 6 quarts came out. My understanding is that it should be less than a gallon when u drain. You agree?

 

Yes, always heard 2-3ish quarts drained is typical. I drained 4 1/2 quarts on my recent drain and refill. Certainly did not drain from fill plug.

Your scenario makes me wonder if there is a check valve in the system that keeps fluid in the torque converter or en-trained elsewhere that may have failed or isn't working as it should, letting more fluid drain to the pan.

There is a level check procedure with the truck running, transmission up to certain temp. I am not sure if you could add fluid with it running, but if not overflowing at check point then add more if needed. There are a few Youtube videos, and Tundra Talk did a really good one that I wanted to link but can't find right now.

I am not sure you are going to get any more answers needed on here. If still an issue I would be calling Transmission shops and get some feed back. Tell them what you expected and what you experienced.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks! And yes I have read all the threads on this topic and have watched all available videos. My Toyota dealership quoted me $60 to check fluid for me. Certainly worth it but I'm afraid they may be as incompetent as the person that overfilled it previously. I just don't trust other people on fluid changes. Interesting idea about the check valve allowing more fluid to the pan but haven't heard anybody else mention that.

 

It says change it if you tow a lot or have a lot of heavy loading. If not, it just says to check for leaking. So, if you never do any of that (which a lot of Tundra owners don't) then according to the manual it never gets changed.

 

That is what I did on Tacomas and plan to do on the Tundra. I shoot the outlet line at the pan with an IR thermometer. I never could get Tacos in the test mode.

 

Yes it was definitely overfilled by about 2 quarts or so and I finally did the proper steps to get the correct fluid level.
Step 1.... After draining fluid and replacing drain plug, remove 5mm hex bolt...
Step 2... Remove 24mm Fill bolt and fill until fluid comes out of that "overflow" port
Step 3... Hand tighten that overflow port and add another quart
Step 4.. Install paper clip on the thermostat if you have tow package
Step 5 .. Start truck and get it to transmission temperature mode (there are links that show how)
Step 6... When the "D" light comes on you have less than 2 minutes to get under truck and remove that hex bolt and allow excess fluid to drain until it trickles then replace bolt and you done. Truck must be running during this process.

 

I screwed this up a couple of times when I was not fast enough and lost too much fluid!! My helper did not tell me the "D" was blinking which means that the fluid is too hit and my window is closed.... So I drained too much fluid and I had to wait until everything cooled.... Add more fluid and do again. I feel confident this was done right and I will cancel the appointment I made with the dealer to check my transmission fluid level. Thanks all who resoonded and helped me figure this out.

 

So, you determined that the overflow tube was actually still there, and not removed as shown on youTube video you described?

 

Tundra does not have that red overflow tube. That video is a pan from a Venza. Tundra has a bump built into to the pan where that hex bolt is. I was also confused but with input from these forums and YouTube its clear now.

 

Ipt valve body install does confirm no straw in check plug.



https://youtu.be/Du5X7LcVX5c

 

I changed my transmission fluid at 52k miles to amsoil signature series, I wish I did it earlier. The garbage Toyota was fluid was dark and I never towed anything or took my truck off road