Sediment in transmission fluid 96 Camry

[nathanklier]

I just bought this car about a year ago and don't know the maintenance history very well. It is an automatic and a 4 cylinder.

When I look at the transmission fluid dip stick there is some sediment on it. It does not seem like metal (wont stick to a magnet).

Am I in serious trouble?
Should I change the transmission fluid?

[Zembonez]

Well... it's a 14 year old car and in spite of the fact that it's a Toyota, they don't last forever (just darn near!). A certain amount of sediment can be expected as internal components naturally wear. Since there is no telling when the fluid was changed last, it probably would not hurt to do it as preventative maintenance.

Does the trans shift correctly now? Are you experiencing any other issues other than the mucky fluid? If not, I'd bet you are OK mechanically.

[nathanklier]

Sometimes it seems to shift a little later than it should/ use to mostly into overdrive, other than that there are no problems that I know of.

[carsrus]

Is it a sorta mud/grease when you rub it on your finger?

It happens a lot on pretty much all transmissions. It usually clings to the magnet and sometimes can build up on it pretty good.

I would just drop the pan and clean everything until you can eat off it. Then drain and fill the tranny fluid every change a couple times. Cheap and easy.

[LynchburgCSI]

Let's just assume that the tranny fluid has NEVER been changed... You have a good excuse to do a drain and fill... so you might as well do it. Maybe even drop the pan and check for wear as well.

[fenixus]

yeah, least you can do is drain it out (measure quantity drained if possible) and then refill same amount if level was correct before procedure.

drain & refill replaces only about 25-50% of total fluid in transmission, so you might want to do it a few times in weekly/monthly intervals to get it replaced at like 90% clean rate.
on 4cyl model expect to drain out as little as 2.5qts from tranmission itself.

Your 4 cylinder car model also has a separate differential, don't forget to drain & refill it too! most people (even dealers) forget about it ... and crap happens then.
one important clue, first loosen the differential filler plug (17mm socket) BEFORE you open the differential drain plug (10mm hex bit, same size as the tranny pan IIRC).
you will need a funnel with 3-5ft of tube to refill the differential from top (takes about 1.7qts of ATF).

I would think of preparing to drop the pan and replace the strainer and pan's gasket. if car was used in North (or snowy Winter areas with salt on roads), consider also getting a set of 15 new pan's bolts from dealer (that's what I do), you don't want to break them on re-installation ...

consider doing a cooler line flush (by unplugging the return cooler line and routing it to a bucket), it's way faster to replace most of ATF. be prepared to use like 12qts of ATF to get it done right if fluid was never replaced or pan was never dropped before.

or you can use less amount for cooler line flush if you plan on dropping the pan and replacing strainer before or starting with a drain & refill. dropping the pan releases additional 0.5qts of ATF and removing strainer pretty much another 0.3-0.5qts.

[JohnGD]

What's the color of the debris or the ATF?

As others said, consider dropping the plan, wipe everything clean, and change out the strainer, gaskets, and even pan bolts. Just make sure no lint stays in the pan to jam the valve body. Consider doing a cooler line flush. I'd just use plain Dexron III type ATF (~$11/gallon at Walmart) initially and see how things turn out before going to fancier synthetic/blend ATF.

The magnetic debris is steel. Very abrasive. They are the black particles similar to brake dust on European cars.

If you see non magnetic debris they may be bushing material. There shouldn't be a lot of these.

And grey ones are generally friction material. These are fibers. Commonly used are paper fibers or silicon-coated paper fibers.

Originally Posted by nathanklier

I just bought this car about a year ago and don't know the maintenance history very well. It is an automatic and a 4 cylinder.

When I look at the transmission fluid dip stick there is some sediment on it. It does not seem like metal (wont stick to a magnet).

Am I in serious trouble?
Should I change the transmission fluid?