Slept at a Holiday Inn, now think I’m a Tundra Mechanic. Tranny help?

So…I’ve never been a “car guy,” but as we all know sometimes in life you just say “WTF.” Hurricane Helene trashed part of my house and a tree crushed my car, so now I’m the proud owner of a beautiful 2004 Tundra SR5 w/180K miles (3.4L V6 RWD). The truck had an O2 sensor fault which I’ve been able to diagnose and repair with a new upstream sensor, I’ve successfully done oil changes switching over to high mileage full synthetic, and I’ve been able to repair the recent failure of the original radiator and reinstall a new core and hoses with the help of the almighty “YouTube.”

When replacing the radiator, I noticed that the transmission fluid was pretty dark. Searching through the prior owner’s maintenance records, I see that there was a $90 charge at 122K miles for “Z1/Tran Fluid.” Not sure what this means, but think assume it’s either a drain and fill or flush. Again, not a car guy so just guessing…

ANYwho….Because of the dark Tran fluid I was thinking of doing some drain and fills as it’s been roughly 60K miles since that “service.” So my QUESTIONS:

1) Can I just drain fluid via tran pan drain plug, and refill the exact amount removed via the transmission disptick and call it a day?
2) Should I do this 3-4 times over a few weeks period to try and cycle through clean ATF fluid?
3) I was toying with dropping the pan, replacing the gasket and filter, but not sure if I’m ready to tackle that yet…Maybe after another few nights at HI…

Thanks to all for your contributions to this site, I have learned much in my Tundra journey-you all rock

 

Got a tranny cooler? (Little black radiator in front of the condenser) There’s a way to do a complete flush and avoid doing the pan method.

 

Don’t *think* so, assuming you mean a separate device from the radiator which the tranny lines run through along the bottom

 

Yep. If not the drain and fill method will work. So Dexron 3 compatible or the Toyota WS ATF fluid stuff?

Valvoline makes a good synthetic ATF replacement for Dexron 3. I’m not sure about the Toyota WS stuff.

 

2000-2004 have a transmission dipstick. So the job is easy to drain, fill on level ground AFTER but don't view the dipstick until AFTER you shift thru the gears from P to 2 and back several times, read the dipstick per the manual.

Note that the 2000-2002 trucks use ATF Dex3 or higher, 2003-2004 like your truck use Type T-IV fluid, and 2005-2006 use Type WS fluid. Don't fuck this one up. And I also wonder if the correct fluid was used on the prior? Z1 is a Honda product, I think, but I dunno what type they used.

DO NOT DROP THE FUCKING PAN!!!!

The filter is metal mesh. YOU DO NOT NEED TO.

Read the first two replies of this thread if you haven't already, maybe two or three times: https://www.tundras.com/threads/so-you-wanna-buy-just-bought-a-1st-gen-tundra-eh.115928/

 

Valvoline Maxlife multi vehicle ATF is supposedly compatible with all 3 types: Dexron 3, T-IV and WS and you can get it at Walmart.

https://www.valvolineglobal.com/en/...MIkcrxtbWkjwMVk0xHAR1UxTWXEAAYASAAEgLhPPD_BwE

I’d recommend an OBD2 scanner/reader that can read ATF temps to be sure you’re measuring the fluid at the correct temperature. I only say that because you don’t always get 4 quarts draining out of the pan as expected and since your doing it multiple times, make sure you do it right.

 

I never trust "universal" fluids. Things that are "universal" are rarely ever extremely good at one thing. I prefer fluids tailored to the job, not a jack of all trades that fits every situation.

If Toyota recommends Type T-IV, I'm specifically going to buy Type T-IV fluids in order to achieve whatever the manufacturer suggests will be the longest life span.

 

Thanks for the input all. I do have a OBD2 scanner, and yep I bought Toyota ATF Type T-IV per the owner’s guide rec. No idea if that’s what was used prior. So I’ll just drain, collect and measure amount exiting, and replace that same amount via the dipstick. Rinse and repeat several times over a few weeks. Now just need some red rags and GoJo….

 

It’s gonna get pricey with the T-IV stuff with the amount of changeouts to dilute the fluid in there. That’s why I recommended the Maxlife and others here have used it with no issues. I’m a big fan of Mobil1 ATF before it got prohibitively expensive and it’s only to replace Dexron 3. Hope you got a good price on it.

Also, not all scanners read tranny temps just to be aware.

 

Aisin T-IV...cheap!

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7668688&cc=1426935&pt=11387&jsn=633

Edit: Next time sleep at a Holiday Inn Express...