Transmission Pan 5SFE

[dz63]

Is it 15 bolts or 17 bolts to remove the transmission pan on a 1996 Camry 2.2L Auto with 5SFE engine? Partsource guy says that two different transmission filter kits show up on the computer for my car. One gasket has 15 holes and the other has 17 holes. Anyone know off-hand?

[ASG14]

One should be a V6 tranny and the other the I4. I don;t know which is which though.

[rty]

I don't know which one is which but you can count the number of bolts on your pan.

[dz63]

According to Toyota, 15 bolts. I will check tonight. Mine is theI4.

For those who have dropped the transmission pan, to change your fluid and clean the magnets, etc. I have three questions:


I am getting conflicting advice. Toyota service department advises against changing the transmission filter. They recommend simple drain and fill. I asked why? They do not know why. All internet sites recommend changing the filter. Local transmission shop says that they while they are in there, they change the filter. It's only an extra $30 fior aftermarket filter. They state that Toyota advises against it because the cost of this preventive maintenance procedure gets ridiculous with the OEM Toyota filter price. I checked with dealer and they quoted $130 for OEM filter.

Q: Anyone know the real reason?

Local transmission shop states that they drop the pan, clean it and the magnets and reasssemble. Then they flush out the transmission cooler lines and torque converter with 12-14liters of fluid. The cost for the service is around $200. If I drop the pan myself, the torque converter and cooler lines do not get done. I am only doing this for preventive maintenance reasons. No transmission problems at this point in time, although I have not dropped the pan in 8 years or 120K km. It has been flushed once, but not dropped.

Q: How critrical is it to flush the torque converter and cooler lines?


Canadian Tire sells gasket and filter kit for $17. Napa = $53. Local independent auto parts store = $44. I am concerned about the price spread.

Q: Do you think that the filter in the $17 kit is inferior? Long term damage to transmission with cheap filter? Your thoughts please.

[Dave's]

I had to clean a shift solenoid on mine and bought an aftermarket gasket which came with a new filter. Most important thing is to note where the magnets are located on the inside bottom of pan. The 'filter' is just a metal 'box' with a small tube. The box has small holes in it so I wouldn't call it a filter. Just catches big stuff as far as I can tell. I changed mine but you could probably just rinse the old one in new fluid. Gasket was rubber and kit was about $25. Worked just fine.

[BMR]

I just serviced my Cam's transmission last weekend. Removed the pan and did a drain and refill. I got a Fram kit with the gasket and "filter" for US$18. Like Dave's said, calling it a filter is a stretch. There's a fine mesh screen in there that would catch big chunks, but not fine stuff. I hadn't serviced it since it was new (it was replaced at 60k miles under warranty), so even with 220k on the filter (my bad!), there wasn't much in there. Just doing a drain, it took about 4 quarts to top off... That's on a 3VZ's auto tranny.

To answer your questions:
I have no idea why a dealer would recommend not replacing the filter. Strikes me as odd, seeing's how dealers so often try to sell unnecessary services!

In my opinion, it's not critical to do a flush. A lot of folks say if it's been a long time between changes, it's better not to do a flush.

Given what's been said about the filter, I'd worry more about the quality of the gasket. The FRAM gasket I used was made of cork particles impregnated with some rubbery stuff; not the greatest IMHO. Although the original gasket was the same type. Given how many bolts there are around the perimeter, I think it'll be OK. Time will tell.

[dz63]

Hi Guys - thanks for your responses. I counted the bolts and confirmed that there was 15 bolts. I bought the $17 el-cheapo kit and changed both the transmission and differential fluids tonight. The kit had a pretty decent rubber gasket and the filter was exactly identical to the one I removed. The pan was very clean - just some metal filings on the magnets. The fluid was reddish brown. Based on the above findings, I am feeling comfortable about skipping the torque converter flush. I only had two magnets in my pan, and my Haynes book shows three, so I added a third magnet. Curious to know how many magnets you had?

[BMR]

Mine had three magnets. I had a stack of super strong magnets from computer disk drives laying around, so I replaced one of them with those.

[Dave's]

3

[Hajoca]

The dealer advising against filter change probably because it takes quite a few more steps, time and resources than what they are allowed to charge in terms of labour for that job.

The filter can be swished in a pan of clean fluid to clean it. It does not have a felt or cellulose filter media that cannot be cleaned easily.