04 Transmission fluid change

So my truck now has hit its 100k mark and i wanted to give the transmission some attention seeing how it has never been serviced. I called my local dealerahip to get an opinion on a tranny service and i got the usual..." we only do flushes at an astronomical price speech" so forget that idea. I contacted my trusted mechanic and toyota owner, and he basically told me if i want to freshen things up just to do drain and fill... I think 4 quarts of valvoline max life.

Any opinions would be great.

 

I would check the owner's manual for recommended type and amount, if you have one that is. Otherwise search around the forum. I don't know if you're running manual or auto, but my auto takes only 2.1q on a drain/fill per the owner's manual.

 

It's a 2.7l 4x4 4 speed auto. I have the owners manual i may have just misheard him when he was explaining. I've searched around seen a little bit here and there on the subject...doesnt look like anybody has had any issues. I just figured i would get it straight rather than read other peoples posts.

 

get two gallons of Valvoline max life full synthetic tranny fluid and this is how you can flush the tranny yourself for free.

under the radiator there are two rubber hoses for the tranny oil cooler lines in the radiator, you disconnect one of them and let it hang down to drain into the pan. don't worry about making a mess because it doesn't come out under pressure so its just going to dribble out. now one hose is an "in" hose and the other is an "out" hose so fluid may come out the hose or the open nipple in the radiator. I find it helps to add a short hose onto the line so its easier to direct the fluid coming out into the pan so it doesn't get on the front end parts there.

now add about 4 quarts of tranny fluid to the dip stick, start the truck for 20-30 seconds or until the fluid flow stops coming out then turn of engine and add 4 more quarts of fluid. repeat until you see clean fresh fluid coming out and at that point, reconnect the hose and measure to refill to the correct level. if you put too much just open the hose again to pump some out.

this method safely uses your tranny oil pump to pump fluid through the entire system so it replaces all the fluid everywhere even in the lines.

 

I bought a case of fluid from the dealership and do a drain and refill every other oil change or so.. My fluid looks new.....150,000 miles.

 

I think i will start doing that. Did the drain and fill today, fluid looks great. Thanks for the input guys.

 

I just changed my transmission fluid a month ago (3.4L though). The dip stick should tell you the type of fluid that is required. I stuck with the OEM Toyota transmission fluid for mine (Toyota ATF Type T-IV for my 3.4L 2003). It looked like Toyota switched between a few types of fluids in the early 2000s so make sure to check it out. The dipstick said that changing the fluid was not necessary under normal conditions (summarizing). It looked brown and nasty though (about 150K) so I bought the OEM fluid on Amazon and replaced it. I didn't pull the pan off to change the filter, but it looks so much better now.

Edit: See you just posted that you changed it. Does the 2.7L take about 2 quarts?

 

How many quarts was a drain and fill? My truck is pretty much like yours. 03 double cab, 150k, 3.4L. dipstick says type T-IV. I was planning to drain and fill. I want to say it is suppose to be about 3 quarts but want to make sure.

 

How many times do you usually have to do this before the fluid starts to come out clean?

 

you will use about 1.75-2 gallons total for a tranny flush because the tranny holds about 6-7 quarts total if its all replaced or after a rebuild and you will waste a little of it of course.

now looking at that, you can see how a simple drain pan and refill with 2-2 1/2 quarts of fluid isn't really going to do a lot to replace the old fliud but does more to get you a half and half blend mixture of old worn out fluid, mixed together with fresh new fluid. doing it that way is better then nothing at all but a drain pan and refill does more to give it a nicer looking color fluid then to get the old worn out fluid out of it and replaced.

 

I just changed mine today on a '02 double cab 2.7. Dipstick said Dextron II, Manual said 2 quarts, as did the parts store where I bought my filter. Drained fluid measured almost 4 quarts. So I went back and bought two more quarts. After changing the filter & gasket 2 quarts barely registered on the dipstick. 4 quarts measured low when hot.

 

When I flushed mine it took about 14 quarts to completely flush out all of the old fluid. Now I have brand new Toyota Type 4 in it. Yes I have one I've the machines that oil change places have. My Dad is a mechanic.