How often should I change transmission fluid?

[jasonck08]

I was just reading in the owners manual, and I didn't see this mentioned anywhere. All it said was to check it from time to time using the dip stick, and check the color and replace if its black or smells burned.

What do you guys do? I have an auto transmission btw.

[DM89]

first of all, what is the condition of your fluid? does your transmission shift hard?

I have a 89 camry with the 2.0 and auto trans with 145,000 miles. the fluid started to get dark and it shifted hard. i drained the fluid from the drain plug on the trans pan and refilled approximately two quarts. It shifted a lot better when i added a little less than 2 quarts. i did this every couple hundred miles for a while, probably six times total. shift quality went way up and the fluid is back to a decent red color.

[Doctor J]

Overfilling is number one cause of hard shifts; when tranny is coldfrom car sitting overnight @70 degrees F, the level should be at full cold mark with engine idling at less then 1100 rpm

[Dehabur]

I had just gotten a 91 Camry 2.0 auto. When I checked the fluid it looks like someone had added oil to the tranny fluid it is so dark. Is there a way to drain all the fluid including torque converter so I can replace 95% of the fluid? As it is it has a drain lug but you can only get just over 3.6 quarts. I think that is about half capacity.

[atobe]

the only way is to keep doing that... drain & fill drive around for lil bit do that like 5 times... unless you have acess to those machines that sucks out the fluid... but you can try this i've seen mechs do it

undo the outlet hose to the radiator(which one i do not know) put it into an oil collector or something ... run the car for about 30 sec that'll pump the fluid out of the TC... fill up with new fluid... and repeat till the fluid comming out is clean.

[Dehabur]

hey thanks that sounds like a good idea. By the way there is 154K miles on the car

[JOET/CAMRY]

Originally Posted by atobe

undo the outlet hose to the radiator(which one i do not know) put it into an oil collector or something ... run the car for about 30 sec that'll pump the fluid out of the TC... fill up with new fluid... and repeat till the fluid comming out is clean.

I did this transmission flush procedure a couple of days ago to my 1989 Camry 4 cyl. with 259,000 miles on it. I realized it been about 84,000 miles since my last transmission fluid change so I figured I better get it done. I used 10 quarts for the flush and figured that at least 90% of the fluid was replaced. I also added Lucas transmission additive to it. Good to go for awile.

The transmission fluid return line from the radiator is the lower hose or the one closest to the drivers side of the car. This was the case for my 89 camry. other years may be set up different.

I found that It would pump out 2 quarts of fluid before it would start sputtering out of the hose. at this point I would shut the car off and pour 2 quarts of tranny fluid in through the transmission filler tube using a funnel. Then start the car up again and repeat this until the fluid comes out a clean red color. reconnect the hose and check the fluid level to make sure it is not underfilled or overfilled.

JOET/CAMRY