5.7 Transmission total drain and refill...

2011 5.7 crewmax 235k
Many of us have seen the transmission fluid total* drain and refill tutorial videos where the transmission line to radiator is disconnected and drained into a tub here and on YouTube.
He goes on to insert a jumper to the diagnostic female harness. Corect me if I'm wrong but this is done to help him know the optimum temperature to refill or is to open a valve to help refill the transmission with fluid.
Reason I ask is if it's only for best/only temperature can this be done with a
ir thermometer to the pan ??
If it's the only way to refill the tranny I get it.
But inserting jumpers into that connector is risky imo.
And if there's an alternative method why not ???
Put another way I would be willing to & I'm on board with the fluid removal method as it clearly shows going from black to koolaid red colored fluid. It's the putting wires in a Connector Im not down with. Thoughts ???

 

I don't see the issue, it works perfectly. I've done the fluid exchange twice using this method and had zero problems, if you dont like the idea buy a infrared temp gun.

 

There’s two different steps going on with this. One is “pinning” the thermostat open to allow the fluid to flow freely. It’s not a wiring harness, it’s on the side of the transmission where the thermostat is. The second step is when you check the fluid level, the temperature needs to be within a certain range. I won’t misquote the range here, but the fluid is around 115° or so. The jumper activates a temp check mode for a dash indicator to show you when the temp is in range.

 

IR temp guns are not accurate. Spend the 20 bucks on a obd fusion app and veepeek for accurate reading. It has other uses too, temp gun not really.

 

I have a ir thermometer. I may do just that.

I have a ir thermometer I may do just that.

 

I did this process but I didn’t jump a harness. It worked great.

 

So it can be done without a jumper. Awesome.

 

As others have mentioned, jumping wires on the OBDII port is only part of the fluid check procedure which is done after the drain and fill portion of the procedure has been complete. There is a second plug on the bottom of the transmission pan that requires a hex key to remove; it is for checking the fluid level - which needs to be done with the fluid at a specific temperature. Without a scan tool or OBDII interface, the jumper method is used to place the vehicle in fluid check mode.

Personally, I understand your apprehension about shoving wires in to the OBDII port; I’ve never used that method to check temperature. I’ve always used a cheap OBDII dongle with DashCommand, or my head unit that interfaces with the truck via iDatalink Maestro. I’ve done a half dozen drain and fills in my truck without issue. Like others, I would also recommend an inexpensive dongle and a phone app to monitor temps.

 

Is this a tran temp meter,
What's a fusion app ???

 

obd fusion...will this help my cause. I didn't know this existed till today. So it basically throws data to your Android like Transmission temps ??

 

see above post. Its very accurate and the range of temp required is pretty small for the level so i would recommend to not use a temp gun.

 

Aren't the tranny fluid and coolant at morning start up not towing the same temp ??
I think I still have my Tacos Ultragauge laying around..it has digital coolant temp.

 

I'm gearing up for tranny work and bought BlueDriver for 1) reading tranny codes and 2) live data like ATF temp as I don't want to mess with jumping anything on my 08 CM

 

Can you post a link or pic of the dongle & app you got also is it
Android Bluetooth compatible ??
Would it work for a 11 5.7 ??

 

$90 BlueDriver Bluetooth Pro OBDII Scan Tool for iPhone & Android - No Subscription Fee - OBD2 Car Scanner and Code Reader - Diagnose Check Engine, ABS, SRS, Airbag & 7000+ Issues on Vehicles 1996+

https://www.amazon.com/BlueDriver-Bluetooth-Professional-iPhone-Android/dp/B00652G4TS

Free app and NO subscription
I'm using Android with Google pixel phone
I'm very fond of it and can read codes without internet (no frequent fixes until Internet is restored) and saves all scans for reference later

Check here and what it'll do for your year.
Mine is 08cm 5.7 and it does exactly what I want for $80(on sale)
https://us.bluedriver.com/pages/compatibility

 

Right on man. Thanks.
This will make it easier for me when replacing the tran fluid for my first time.

 

Well... Upon further looking it might not support ATF temp
Digging deeper

 

I was just gonna say. I called the
1-866 number and the tech support said NO TRANI TEMP. LOL
IM Like are you sure lady and she's like were a tier one support center Sir it does not give tran temp. It will pull abs, trans, motor codes though.
I'll keep looking. Maybe a forum member can get us lined up and post a link or pic of what their using to get that trans temp. But thanks for your effort. Duly noted...

 

Damn
Might have to return it now
I sent email to see what they say, probably the same as you were told.

 

received this today

"Unfortunately transmission temperature is not part of the OBDII standard live data set and is not currently supported by BlueDriver at this time, however we are currently preparing a release with transmission temperature for Toyota. There is no ETA or a list of what manufacturers will follow.
New features are added in order of demand, if you have a free moment we would love it if you could fill out a brief survey at bluedriver.com/atftemp to help us prioritize and plan future additions!

Thank you, all the best,"

replied with this as no trans temp is useless to me

"This release you spoke about, hardware or software?
If software are we talking weeks, months or longer than the Amazon return window is?thanks,"


Sorry to send you on the wrong path and kinda hijack your thread
GL with your drain/fill

 

Be not afraid of paperclips and obd ports.

The method is damn near free, and designed to work by Toyota themselves.

Not really sure about people's aversion to this very effective method which requires zero special tools.

 

I kept getting conflicting temperature ranges for when to check the trans fluid. Each Youtube video or service recommendation had different temperature ranges for when to open the overflow port and when to plug the port and let the fluid cool before checking.

I opened each of the attachments that Brums provided above.

Here are the temperatures in Fahrenheit for each transmission type.

TIS shows 5 different code transmissions for 2012:
A750E - 97 - 115
A760E - 127 - 138
A760F - 127 - 138
AB60E - 99 - 111
AB60F - 99 - 111

You can find the code for which transmission is in your truck of the inside of the driver's door. It is in the lower left corner of the sticker.

 

Thanks for that, went out and found 'AB60F', and wrote it down for when I do it in the spring.

 

I took will change my fluid in the spring.

 

My Scan Gauge III has convertor temp and pan temp. I plan in using that when the time comes. I believe SGII has them as well.

 

You are correct. The Scangauge II will show two different transmission fluid temperatures. TF1 is the pan and TF2 is somewhere close to the torque converter.