3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
I have a 96' camry v6 (1MZ-FE) that jerks slightly while shifting gears or when I ease off the accelerator. The transmission fluid is dark red, so Im suspecting I need transmission fluid flush. How many quarts of fluid do I need? Any reccomended brands of the fluid (ex. penzoil, castrol,mobil 1, supertech from walmart)? I stopped by at autozone today and they had 1qt of Castrol import-multi vehicle for $4.50.
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92' Camry 5S-FE 179k mi SOLD
96' Camry 1MZ-FE 110k
DDMtuning 4500k HID Kit AutoPage C3-RS665 Remote Start/Alarm Home Depot CAI
i dont know man, some people told me i shouldn't change transmission fluid, cause there are small metals in the fluid. if i change it, i would lose all other small metals in the fluid. and when the transmission run with new fluid without those metals, the transmission will go bad.
That fluid is OK, but isn't the best fluid to use.
The proper fluid for all Toyota transmissions from the early 1990s is Dexron III. There are various fluids that claim to be mostly compatible with Dexron III... mostly.
Dexron VI is the current GM spec for ATF. It was originally claimed to be upwards compatible, but that statement was softened after introduction. It's significantly thinner than DexIII, which is good for fuel economy but will change the shifting behavior of transmissions not designed for it. The counter argument is that DexVI is more shear stable than DexIII, so it might be thicker than old fluid. Although who want to spend more for a fluid that makes the transmission shift like it needs a fluid change?
After looking at all of the options, I braved the Walmart parking lot and bought their SuperTech DexIII fluid, $10 for a gallon jug.
The most effective way to change the fluid is to drain the pan (10mm hex driver, 36 ftlbs and perhaps a new M18 aluminum sealing washer for the plug), take out the 15 pan bolts (10mm socket, 4-6 ftlbs, likely a new gasket needed), and clean the clean the pan bottom and magnets. You might change the 'filter' while its open, but it's a coarse media strainer not a fine particulate filter so it won't help much. Then fill the pan with fresh fluid through the dipstick tube. It will take about 2.5 quarts. To finish the flush, disconnect the return line from the ATF cooler (the driver's side tube coming out the bottom of the radiator) and lead it into a drain pain. Run the engine for 10 seconds at a time to push fluid through the system, shifting into 'R' or 'D'.
The reason that you need to drain the pan is so that the pump is drawing nearly-clean fluid from the pan through the system instead of a mix of old and new. With this method, two gallons is enough for a pretty good change.
The quick, sleazy way of doing a partial change is to disconnect the return hose, lead it through the splash pan to a container marked at exactly the one gallon level. Have a helper run the engine until the fluid stops flowing (15-20 seconds) and shut off immediately. Fill through the dipstick hole and repeat until you have drained exactly one gallon. Top off and call it finished until next year. Any more than 4 quarts will start flushing more new fluid than old.
Letting the pan drain overnight is pointless. The thin stream of fluid that continues to drain out is just an ounce or two.
Cycling through the gears while draining will help clear a little more of the old fluid, but not much. No matter which forward gear you select, the transmission will stay in first.
In some transmission, changing very old fluid does trigger a transmission failure within weeks. If you fear a problem, use "high mileage" ATF and change one quart every month or two for four cycles or so. The "high mileage" fluids have a weaker detergent pack and won't break loose sludge as quickly. And by changing only a quart at a time, you won't be changing the friction characteristics of the bands as quickly. Then you can switch to a normal change cycle, continuing to use high mileage ATF until the old fluid comes out red instead of black.
Bottom line: you should change you view of ATF service from the unachievable "drain all of the old, replace with new" to "freshen the additive pack and viscosity without wasting too much new fluid".
When I recently had my tranny flushed they used a new machine that gently sucked up old tranny fluid through the dipstick hole, then refilled through the same hole! This process was repeated many cycles until all of the old fluid was sucked out & replaced with new fluid! My tranny now runs great!!!
If you are mechanically inclined you should drop the pan, clean the magnets and install a new strainer. A Fram ATF kit ~$15 works fine.
Any domestic Dexron III compatible fluid will do. Doesn't have to be "import". In fact, ~$10/gallon Walmart SuperTech works fine.
I wouldn't go with the thinner Dexron VI however.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mr.pringles
I have a 96' camry v6 (1MZ-FE) that jerks slightly while shifting gears or when I ease off the accelerator. The transmission fluid is dark red, so Im suspecting I need transmission fluid flush. How many quarts of fluid do I need? Any reccomended brands of the fluid (ex. penzoil, castrol,mobil 1, supertech from walmart)? I stopped by at autozone today and they had 1qt of Castrol import-multi vehicle for $4.50.
Drop the pan and change out the strainer. At least get rid of the metal particles, besides you can't really clean a screen in a casing.
There is no effective filtering in this transmission.
Wipe the magnets clean of steel plate wear particles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by djb2
The most effective way to change the fluid is to drain the pan (10mm hex driver, 36 ftlbs and perhaps a new M18 aluminum sealing washer for the plug), take out the 15 pan bolts (10mm socket, 4-6 ftlbs, likely a new gasket needed), and clean the clean the pan bottom and magnets. You might change the 'filter' while its open, but it's a coarse media strainer not a fine particulate filter so it won't help much.
If you are talking about the 2000 I4, you should find a fill plug on the vertical side of the differential, facing the driver-side firewall. And the differential drain plug is another 10mm hex, on the differential housing, closer to the firewall from the transmission pan.
You fill your transmission using the dipstick tube. And you drain the transmission using the 10mm hex on the transmission pan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by haux
Ah that's right, his is a Gen3. So the drain is the same for both on Gen4?
I have a 96' camry v6 (1MZ-FE) that jerks slightly while shifting gears or when I ease off the accelerator. The transmission fluid is dark red, so Im suspecting I need transmission fluid flush. How many quarts of fluid do I need? Any reccomended brands of the fluid (ex. penzoil, castrol,mobil 1, supertech from walmart)? I stopped by at autozone today and they had 1qt of Castrol import-multi vehicle for $4.50.
I've used the same Castrol ATF in my '00 Camry and '92 Maxima. It works great. The shifts are much smoother between 1st and 2nd and it's been running great for about 20K miles in both cars.
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