3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
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I have a 1998 Toyota Camry and I have about 112K miles on it. I want to check the Transmission Fluid level on my car. Can somebody give me a primer on how to check that and if it's low how do I refill it? Can I just go to advance auto and buy the Dextron III ATF and have them fill couple of quarts or should I only get Toyota certified ATF and also is it ok to just refill it for now and not do the whole flush and refill?
Drive the vehicle so that the engine and transaxle
are at normal operating temperature.
Fluid temp.: 70–80 C (158–176 F)
•
Only use the COOL range on the dipstick as a
rough reference when the fluid is replaced or the
engine does not run.
(a) Park the vehicle on a level surface and set the parking
brake.
(b) With the engine idling and the brake pedal depressed,
shift the shift lever into all positions from P to L
position and return to P position.
(c) Pull out the oil level gauge and wipe it clean.
(d) Push it back fully into the tube.
(e) Pull it out and check that–the fluid level is in the HOT
range.
Great. Thanks for the instructions. What happened was I checked even the level when the car was cold without driving too much and when I wiped with the paper, it did not sound like there is much oil left. Usually if I take the engine oil dip stick out and wipe with a paper, I can see a significant amount of oil on the paper, but here did not come out much. Even after driving about 15-16 miiles(about 30mins) I checked again and nothing much came out on the stick. I am little concerned now, just dont want to damage my transmission.
Hopefully I checked the correct dip stick. I could post a picture tomorrow morning..
I don't know how long I have been driving like that, none of the mechanics told me that it's low during oil changes. I am not that car savy..
I just wanted to fill it atleast couple of quarts till one of my friend looks at it on monday. Will that be ok?
What I found on the website of advance is this one..
That will work fine. What you want to do is get a small funnel too. place the funel in the tube, and fill it up. The hard part is determining how full you get it. Once you put some in, you wont easily be able to read the dipstick. You will have to run it a little bit, then recheck the level. You need to do this because the fluid covers the inside of the tube, and when you put the dipstick in and pull it out its pulling the fluid from the tube onto the end of the stick.
I applogize for confusing or asking too many questions.
Here's the picture..I just checked the level again this morning without driving the car. So it was cold..But there was some fluid, it did not look that bad as yesterday after driving it..I am just worried that if I put more or put something which is not required it might do harm then do better..
That will work fine. What you want to do is get a small funnel too. place the funel in the tube, and fill it up. The hard part is determining how full you get it. Once you put some in, you wont easily be able to read the dipstick. You will have to run it a little bit, then recheck the level. You need to do this because the fluid covers the inside of the tube, and when you put the dipstick in and pull it out its pulling the fluid from the tube onto the end of the stick.
I applogize for confusing or asking too many questions.
Here's the picture..I just checked the level again this morning without driving the car. So it was cold..But there was some fluid, it did not look that bad as yesterday after driving it..I am just worried that if I put more or put something which is not required it might do harm then do better..
That looks fine. Is the car shifting properly? If yes do not add fluid. If you do not have a visible leak your fluid is not low. Trans fluid does not get burned or used up.
The drain and fill capacity is 2.5qts so if you add 2 quarts your gonna blow up your transmission. Period.
The fluid looks dirty. I would do a drain and fill since it costs 10$ and takes 15 min of your time.
Was this last check done w/o the engine running? If so, the engine needs to be running, level surface, selector in park to get even a rudimentary cold level check. If the engine was running, and the fluid immediately checked on a cold start (even at high initial idle), then the level looks too high.
It can be tricky to get the level right, and I like to drive 10 or so miles, park and let the cooling fans cycle a few times, run through the selector positions, then check using the "Hot" notches as proper fill verification. Usually shoot for between the two Hot notches, as in really hot weather, I notice the level will be near/at the top notch, and over filling is no good. As mentioned, it is critical you wait long enough so that what remains in the tube does not throw off what the actual level is. I also notice what looks like "dirt" separating out of the fluid, so perhaps a few drain and refills of the transaxle would be advisable.
Lots of tutorials here, and all over the web how to do this, and even a novice DIYer can do it for themselves, for very little expense. Also might look into having the final drive/differential serviced where applicable, where again there is a lot of help out there on how to do this.
Was this last check done w/o the engine running? If so, the engine needs to be running, level surface, selector in park to get even a rudimentary cold level check. If the engine was running, and the fluid immediately checked on a cold start (even at high initial idle), then the level looks too high.
It can be tricky to get the level right, and I like to drive 10 or so miles, park and let the cooling fans cycle a few times, run through the selector positions, then check using the "Hot" notches as proper fill verification. Usually shoot for between the two Hot notches, as in really hot weather, I notice the level will be near/at the top notch, and over filling is no good. As mentioned, it is critical you wait long enough so that what remains in the tube does not throw off what the actual level is. I also notice what looks like "dirt" separating out of the fluid, so perhaps a few drain and refills of the transaxle would be advisable.
Lots of tutorials here, and all over the web how to do this, and even a novice DIYer can do it for themselves, for very little expense. Also might look into having the final drive/differential serviced where applicable, where again there is a lot of help out there on how to do this.
Kinda figure/hoped so looking at the pictures... Fire up the engine, let the idle drop a little closer to normal idle, run through all the "gears" with your foot on the brake, place in park then check while the engine is left running... Level will be lower, and you will get at least a decent idea of what the cold level is. Hot is where you ideally, and want to check fluid level with the engine running, and in park.
Don't be too quick to add transmission fluid. And if needed (below hot low mark) only add up to 8 oz at a time, and recheck level. The cold marks are for quick reference and isn't as accurate. So follow the said instructions and recheck the fluid level before doing anything.
Advance Auto has excellent coupon discount codes, especially when you buy >$50 of Mobil-1 ATF (~$5.6/qt). Otherwise Walmart's SuperTech ATF (< $3/qt) works too or use their SuperTech Mercon-V.
Get a mechanically inclined friend's help. Consider doing some drains/refills of the transmission and differential. Maybe even drop the pan and wipe things clean as well, change the strainer while at it.
Transmission does not look so smooth lately at low gears. Although I have CEL on with code PI041 - EGR Flow insufficient. I have to fix this as soon as possible. Lately the acceleration is not looking very smooth. I had one my friend who works on his cars test drive my car and after driving it he told me that he feels like there is no tranmission fluid.. He checked it after driving for about 10 mins and it looked low, that's why the whole thng started. He's out for few days so I am trying to take care of this..He told me I could go to advance and they can help me fill it. He told i need atleast 2 quarts but I was worried about overfilling..I have bought this car around 60K and its about 110K, I have not done the transmission fluid flush myself. I have other issues with cars which I needed to take care first before I can afford a flush so I thought if I can go with just filling little if it's low, that would do the trick temporarily.
Thanks
Quote:
Originally Posted by carsrus
That looks fine. Is the car shifting properly? If yes do not add fluid. If you do not have a visible leak your fluid is not low. Trans fluid does not get burned or used up.
The drain and fill capacity is 2.5qts so if you add 2 quarts your gonna blow up your transmission. Period.
The fluid looks dirty. I would do a drain and fill since it costs 10$ and takes 15 min of your time.
The easiest is a drain/refill of the transmission and differential. Your friend can help decide if he wants to do a cooler line flush. Siphon and refill the PS system too while at it. If you can do it yourself it's a 10mm hex allen to remove the transmission drain. Make sure you can remove the differential fill plug before draining it. Measure how much comes out of the transmission. I think you'll have to drop the pan and replace the strainer. Inspect what's in the pan since you've been low on ATF for a while.
Again, you can use dino Dexron III type ATF like Walmart's SuperTech ATF (1 gallon for about $12 IIRC), or better the SuperTech Mercon-V and even better Advance Auto's Mobil-1 ATF (use coupon to get it down to about $5.60/qt). But for this diagnosis purpose I think just go with the dino ATF. No sense spending more if there is a chance of problems with the transmission.
I checked again this morning after driving for about 16 miles (45 mins). The level was around the cold level. I dont have walmart around here. I bought the Advance auto part brand Dex III ATF 1 qt. I probably do not want to put the whole 1 or 2 quarts, probably put in slowly some of it. Meanwhile I can look into the drain/refill. Is it advisable to get a complete flush too? I was supposed to do a flush at 90K according to toyota information but i did not do it and now I checked with couple of mechanics and they scared me saying if the car has more then 100K and if you havenot done a complete flush in while, you should not do a flush since the particle has settled now and if you do a flush now the newer fluid might damage the Transmission.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnGD
The easiest is a drain/refill of the transmission and differential. Your friend can help decide if he wants to do a cooler line flush. Siphon and refill the PS system too while at it. If you can do it yourself it's a 10mm hex allen to remove the transmission drain. Make sure you can remove the differential fill plug before draining it. Measure how much comes out of the transmission. I think you'll have to drop the pan and replace the strainer. Inspect what's in the pan since you've been low on ATF for a while.
Again, you can use dino Dexron III type ATF like Walmart's SuperTech ATF (1 gallon for about $12 IIRC), or better the SuperTech Mercon-V and even better Advance Auto's Mobil-1 ATF (use coupon to get it down to about $5.60/qt). But for this diagnosis purpose I think just go with the dino ATF. No sense spending more if there is a chance of problems with the transmission.
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95 Camry
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