HELP!!! Weird/Strange Sound from Transmission after ATF Change

[junkyudog]

Hi guys,

I have a really big "?" in my mind right now - hope someone could help me. This afternoon I tried changing my ATF based on the docs I gathered from here (drain / hook up hose to cooler pump / replenish, etc.).

My car is a 2004 Camry XLE I-4 Auto. It currently has about 55,500 miles (did this before 60,000 so if something goes wrong I can have it check under warranty)

I did everything that I was told on the documents but somehow after all was done, there seems to be this gargling sound coming from the transmission. It's like water/fluid/liquid is gushing backwards if I'm accelerating and when I brake it seems to gush forward like huge amounts of water being swooshed around. The sound is coming from where the transmission is.

Also when I'm on a stand-still and I rev the engine up to like 1,200 to 2,000 RPM I hear the sound as well.

I do not notice any harshness in shifts - in fact it's much smoother now that it was before. Everything else is smooth except for that sound of liquid being swooshed around.

I ran the car for about 50 miles today without any improvement. I'm planning on bringing it to the dealership this week to have them check it out. But anything you guys can contribute will be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance!
- junkyudog

[2k4CamThrilla]

Yea don't tell them what you did..You might void warranty

[junkyudog]

that's my greatest concern - if I bring it in too soon they'll notice that the ATF is so new. I might have to wait till it turns a little brownish - how long do you think this will take? I'm only 4,500 miles away from my 60k powertrain warranty.

[touringcamry]

How is the fluid level?

[tekdemon]

I'm not entirely even sure what you did (what documents did you use?) but personally I wouldn't have touched any of the hoses, there's really no need to on the Camry if you're changing the ATF regularly. Just drain and drop the pan and there should be little magnets somewhere on the pan itself that might have some metal dust on them, don't use a towel since it'll get cloth pieces everywhere but something that won't leave lint (I dunno what actually, maybe microfiber? Not sure about this, but you can always just kinda wipe it with a gloved hand I guess), check the filter screen (should be pretty clean on this transmission if you've been changing the fluid regularly) and pop it all back and just fill the transmission fluid again.

Doing other stuff really just makes it that much more likely you're going to encounter problems. No, this method doesn't completely swap all the fluid out, but doing this more regularly is a hell of a lot better than frickin' your transmission up.

My guess is that the hose you're talking about got filled with air, and you didn't bleed out the air when putting it back or whatever so now it's actually having trouble moving fluid. I wouldn't keep driving and waiting until the transmission fluid is brown since you might very well have fscked your transmission permanently by then, lol.

Actually, before you even drive it even more, maybe get under your car and see if you can try to bleed the air out of the hose and make sure the hose is filled with fluid.

[sundarpn]

are you sure you connected the tranny cooler hoses back correctly? I mean the two hoses coming out of the radiator to the tranny. I mean you did not reverse them.

I am not sure which is inlet and which is outlet. One is lower and the other is higher as far as I can see in my I-4 Gen5.

[junkyudog]

Hi guys,

The fluid level is perfect.

I think you're right about the air inside the hose - for some reason it sounds as if there's air boiling up in there.

I only took one of the hose out (inlet). What I did not do is make sure that there was fluid in the hose when I put it back.

Do you think it would help if I drain it again and re-fill?

[sundarpn]

More of a question. (I am scared now for my 2002 XLE.) What was the exact procedure you followed.?

Did you drain fluid using the outlet cooler line by idling the motor for a few secs? OR did you simply drain from the tranny drain plug.

The reason I ask is I am planning to change ATF in my gen5.

I plan to drain not more than 2 quarts from the cooler line outlet by idling th emore for 5 to 10 sec.

Then drain the rest (abt 4 quarts) or so from the drain plug on the tranny pan.

This way i hope to change at least 6 quarts.
EDIT: after reading your problem, I think I'll simply drain from the tranny pan and put in the qty that came out. (4 quarts I hope). Also did u get the Type IV AFT from dealer ($4.8 per quart)

[njerald]

If all else fails read the service manual or do it preferably first........

drain and refill, run, drain and refill, run, drain and refill. That should get you close to 90% new.

I would never run the car with drains or lines open.

You could check and see the trans. has set any codes. They will show up at the dealers for sure if there are any.

[TRD VVTi]

It sounds to me like your coolant level is low.

You will get a sloshing or gurgling sound when that happens.

I've never heard of a transmission making those type of noises.

[Camry5genrocks]

Originally Posted by sundarpn

.....I plan to drain not more than 2 quarts from the cooler line outlet by idling th emore for 5 to 10 sec.

Then drain the rest (abt 4 quarts) or so from the drain plug on the tranny pan.

This way i hope to change at least 6 quarts.
EDIT: after reading your problem, I think I'll simply drain from the tranny pan and put in the qty that came out. (4 quarts I hope). Also did u get the Type IV AFT from dealer ($4.8 per quart)

Draining and refilling is your best bet to make sure you are not damaging your transmission. Whenever you disconnect the oil cooler lines, you need a second person to help. With another person, you will have to add Toyota type IV ATF to the transmission hole at about the same rate as the fluid is being pumped out. When either the ATF color brightens or the total capacity has been replaced, shut the engine off and re-attach the oil cooler line.


Whenever I want my transmission Flushed, I just take my car to the dealership, they have the proper equipment to get it done right. Draining and refilling is fairly simple for anyone to perform. And the beauty about draining and refilling the ATF, is you can do it every year at a nominal cost if you use Mobil ATF 3309 (Approved for JWS 3309/Type T-IV)

[gdanaher]

I've never heard of a transmission gurgling, especially if the fluid level was normal. More likely is the coolant. Take a hard look at the water level there, and I don't mean looking at the overflow bottle.

[junkyudog]

This is whath I followed:

Changing Transmission Fluid

You will want to do the full 16+ qt flush. Here is Alan's procedure (with a few of my own minor modifications) that I used when I did mine. Its fairly simple and takes about 45-min to an hour (max) to complete even for a first timer. I highly recommend using Amsoil ATF, although many have found that Mobil 1 ATF works just fine as well. The key is synthetics are superior.

1) Before you even start, stop by an auto parts place and get a 3 foot section of 3/8 inch rubber transmission line. Also, pick up the transmission crush washer from the dealer. (I keep a couple of all the various Tundra fluid/oil washers in my tool box so I don't have to run to the dealer to do a fluid change. )

2) Park the vehicle for a couple minutes to let all the fluid drain into the pan. and then check the transmission dipstick to see what the fluid level is.

3) Drain the ATF in the transmission pan by pulling the drain flug (think it's 14 mm). While the plug is still out, pour a clean, full quart of ATF into a funnel inserted into the dipstick tube to flush out any dirty fluid left on the bottom of the pan.

4) After all the fluid finishes draining, put the plug back in with the new crush washer and tighten it to 15 foot-pounds.

5) Fill the pan with 4 quarts of fresh fluid (synthetic highly recommended) using a narrow funnel inserted into the dip stick tube.

6) Go to the front of the vehicle and throw an old t-shirt under the fittings going into transmission cooler in front of the radiator to catch any drips when you disconnect the UPPER line . Not much fluid should drip, but this will catch anything that falls.

7) Disconnect the UPPER fitting on the transmission cooler. This is the return line back to the transmission. Feed one end of the 3 foot section of 3/8ths inch transmission line through the hole in the middle of the bumper (behind the license plate) and connect one end to the UPPER fitting on the tran cooler. You won't need any clamps, it should fit tight enough. Just squeeze it on and this will divert the transmission fluid into a drain bucket or jug rather than back to the transmission.

If you want, you can leave the temporary drain line above the bumper rather than through it, but I keep my truck clean and I didn't want any ATF drips on the clean paint when I pulled the line off. I guess you could run it under the bumper too. But through it worked best for me.

8) Put the other end of the temporary drain line into a bucket that has graduated marking on it so you can tell how much fluid is in the container in 1 quart increments (a 1-gal plastic milk jug works well… fill with 1 qt increments of water and make marks on the outside of the container as each quart is added).

9) Once you've got one end of the temporary drain line connected to outlet (the UPPER fitting) of the cooler and the other end into the graduated container you're ready to go. If you connect to the outlet, you'll have the advantage of flushing fluid through the cooler also. Plus, it's easier to attach the rubber hose.

NOTE: If you don't have the aux transmission cooler, then connect this drain line to the OUTLET on the transmission cooler that is in the radiator rather than the OUTLET on the auxilary cooler. You can still use the same 3/8 inch rubber hose either way.

10) Start the vehicle and let your graduated container fill with 2 quarts of fluid. This will only take about 20 to seconds or so. Maybe less. But I suggest that you turn the vehicle on, then turn it off 3 seconds later the first time just to make sure that everything is draining as you expect and that you're not making a royal mess. (Although its possible to do this by yourself, having another person start/stop the engine would be a big plus).

11) Once you have two quarts of fluid in the drain container. Stop the engine and put the same amount of new ATF into the dipstick tube.

12) Pour the 2qts of old ATF from the graduated container into a larger (5-gal preferred) oil collection container then put the 3/8” hose back into the container to flush some more material.

13) Repeat Steps 10, 11 & 12 until a minimum of 12 qts of ATF has been flushed from the system (or 6 cycles). The total amount flushed when completed should be the original 4 qts from draining the pan plus 10qts from flushing the system. If the old ATF was dark colored, you should see a noticable difference in color in the ATF fluid coming out of the hose once the transmission has been completely flushed with new fluid.

[I flushed close to 16 quarts. I had 5 gallons of synthetic ATF when I started and had about a gallon left when I was done].

14) Check the fluid level before you pull the drain line off (so it's the same level as when you started or a little less). This is the STOPPED level of fluid that was in the pan with the vehicle oriented on whatever level or unlevel ground you have chosen to drain the vehicle on. So give the fluid time to drain down - couple of minutes will drain a vast majority of the fluid.

15) If it's not too high, pull the drain line off and reconnect the original transmission line back to the upper fitting on the aux transmission cooler. (Or the transmission cooler in the radiator if you don't have an aux cooler.) It's best to leave it a little low when you pull the drain line as more fluid will drain down the longer you wait.

15) Start the vehicle and run it up and down through the gears(P,R,N,D,L2,L1,L2,D,N,R,P). Check the ATF fluid level while leaving the engine running. Add fluid if necessary to bring the level up to the low mark on the dipstick.

16) Drive the vehicle for 20 minutes and check the fluid when it's warm (again with the engine running and transmission in Park). Add fluid if necessary if the level is still below the low mark (I tend to fill until it is about 1/8" below the high mark). Drive the vehicle a couple of days and check the level again.

17) Don't overfill. If you do, drain the extra fluid off before you run the transmission much.

18) Clean the 3 foot drain hose and put it in a plastic bag and you can use it again later.

19) Take the used ATF to your nearest oil recycling center."



******** WITH THE EXCEPTION OF STEP 13 ************

[junkyudog]

Originally Posted by gdanaher

I've never heard of a transmission gurgling, especially if the fluid level was normal. More likely is the coolant. Take a hard look at the water level there, and I don't mean looking at the overflow bottle.

The coolant level is ok both in the radiator and in the reservoir.

It seems to happen much less when the engine is warm. (temp. is normal - it is the way it was before this so it couldn't be the coolant). It's more pronounced when I accelerate hard or when I brake hard. It's like some fluid rushes to the back when I accelerate and then when I brake they all rush back to the front - that's what it sounds like. Just like when you try to see-saw a bottle of water - it rushes to the top and bottom...

so weird cause everything seems to be fine (fluid levels, transmission shifts, power -more power this time, temp, etc.) It's just that sound...

[JSM1284]

What type of trans fluid did you put back in?