5th & 6th Generation (2002-2006 & 2007-2011)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 2002-2006 & 2007-2011
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
Hey guys i have searched and found some great information, but now i need some advice. Its a 2002 Camry v6 with 81,000miles. I have time to do some service on the car this week and i wanted to 1. change coolant 2. seafoam 3. tranny service. On the coolant, would it be beneficial just to drain the radiator and fill it back up with the dealer coolant? or do i need to do a full flush? 2. the seafoam is pretty straight forward. 3. here is where im lost because there are so many different opinions. as far as i know there has not been any tranny services done on the car. the fluid is dark red. The quick and easy option is to just drain and fill, option 2 is to drop the pan, check the screen, and fill. option 3 is pay to have it flushed.... i need some honest advice on this and this is why i'm asking you. what would you do? also advice on the differential fluid? thanks all in advance
have tranny flushed at dealer with oem fluid only. toyota specifies type T-IV atf fluid for your camry, and the flush will replace all the atf in the car with fresh stuff
you can drain and fill coolant, but be sure to use oem RED coolant diluted 50/50 with purified water....theres a plug at the lower drivers side of the radiator to drain the fluid, but be sure to run the car for a bit with the cap off once you add the fresh coolant, and squeeze the upper and lower radiator hoses to force any air out of the system, oe else youll encounter an annoying sloshing noise behind the dash until the air escapes.
thanks so much for the info. i will get right on the service! i guess my only concern on the coolant was mixing old in with new... but i guess it will be ok. thanks again
Hey guys i have searched and found some great information, but now i need some advice. Its a 2002 Camry v6 with 81,000miles. I have time to do some service on the car this week and i wanted to 1. change coolant 2. seafoam 3. tranny service. On the coolant, would it be beneficial just to drain the radiator and fill it back up with the dealer coolant? or do i need to do a full flush? 2. the seafoam is pretty straight forward. 3. here is where im lost because there are so many different opinions. as far as i know there has not been any tranny services done on the car. the fluid is dark red. The quick and easy option is to just drain and fill, option 2 is to drop the pan, check the screen, and fill. option 3 is pay to have it flushed.... i need some honest advice on this and this is why i'm asking you. what would you do? also advice on the differential fluid? thanks all in advance
1) If the coolant is in decent condition a simple drain and fill with Toyota Long Life (red) antifreeze will probably work just fine. Draining and filling every year should keep your cooling system in perfect condition.
2) Good call. It's easy and cheap.
3) Dark red is subjective. Red is the key word though. You didn't say brown or black. You could easily do a drain and fill. You could also drain and fill it several times. If it's really dark a flush would be best. You could do that yourself also. DO NOT use any flush additives. Only flush the transmission with fresh fluid if you decide to do so.
hey TRD what would you think the best way to bleed the cooling system after a flush is? i typically just run the sucker for about 20 mins, squeezing the hoses every so often, and i use my coolant funnel (the kind that has a firtting for the rad cap) attached with fluid in it to allow the air to escape
hey TRD what would you think the best way to bleed the cooling system after a flush is? i typically just run the sucker for about 20 mins, squeezing the hoses every so often, and i use my coolant funnel (the kind that has a firtting for the rad cap) attached with fluid in it to allow the air to escape
You've got it nailed for the most part.
Remove the upper radiator hose from the radiator and hold it upward. Fill the hose will coolant and then quickly install it onto the radiator. Your funnel is the best way to fill it and bleed it. Squeazing the hoses can help. Be sure to the the heater temperature selector on the hottest setting to fully open the heater control valve and allow maximum coolant flow. Elevating the RPM's will also help the coolant force any air through the system.
TRD VVTi. thanks so much for the info. i was considering the self flush because the dealer wants $180 to flush it. but even if i just buy plenty of extra tranny fluid it would be cheaper. do you have an idea of how much i will need? i wont lie, the color is between dark red... on the verge of a different color. the car has been very well taken care of (got from father in law). also, do you think it is worth it to take the pan off and clean the screen? i'm a little hesitant because i don't have a torque wrench handy right now... but i don't want and debris floating in my new fluid either. thanks again!
I know this may seem like a stupid question but is there a trans filter that needs to be changed also?? I know on other cars that I have owned they would change this and clean the magnet with a tranny service.
TRD VVTi. thanks so much for the info. i was considering the self flush because the dealer wants $180 to flush it. but even if i just buy plenty of extra tranny fluid it would be cheaper. do you have an idea of how much i will need? i wont lie, the color is between dark red... on the verge of a different color. the car has been very well taken care of (got from father in law). also, do you think it is worth it to take the pan off and clean the screen? i'm a little hesitant because i don't have a torque wrench handy right now... but i don't want and debris floating in my new fluid either. thanks again!
As far as quantity goes, it's really hard to say. I'm guessing about 12 quarts, maybe less. I'd buy 15 and return what I didn't use. It's more difficult to flush without a machine and creates more waste. Having extra fluid will allow you to flush it until the fluid is perfectly clean.
It would be best to take the pan off and clean the inside of it out, or just to inspect it. To be honest with you, I probably wouldn't do it at your mileage. You don't need a torque wrench to reinstall the pan. Just get the bolts tight, snug tight, not tight tight.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cjgcamry2005
I know this may seem like a stupid question but is there a trans filter that needs to be changed also?? I know on other cars that I have owned they would change this and clean the magnet with a tranny service.
It's a screen type filter. Simply servicing the fluid is adequate.
also another idea i could do is drain it, remove pan and clean everything, fill it and run it, then drain it again and clean and fill.. maybe, it would use a little less fluid, not as good of flush though. is the pan gasket reusable?
also another idea i could do is drain it, remove pan and clean everything, fill it and run it, then drain it again and clean and fill.. maybe, it would use a little less fluid, not as good of flush though. is the pan gasket reusable?
Pick up some FIPG or Permatex Ultra Black gasket maker to use as a gasket.
Draining and filling over and over again isn't a very efficient way of flushing the fluid. Here's an example of why:
Lets say you have a five gallon bucket of dirty water but you want it to be clean. So you use a one gallon bucket to remove one gallon of dirty water and then add a gallon of clean water. You then stir the five gallon bucket of water and repeat the procedure over and over until the water is clean. It would take forever to get close to clean and you would waste a lot of water.
If you had the same five gallons in a large tube and used clean water to push it out of the tube the water would be pretty clean, even if you only used five gallons of clean water to push it out.
I hope my symplified version explains what I'm trying to say reasonably well.
ok thanks for the advice, im going to do the full flush.. one more question though, do you know which tranny cooler line is the output? im going to jack the car up, take the hose off, then lower the car back down into my drain pan so i dont make a mes.. thanks again!
ok thanks for the advice, im going to do the full flush.. one more question though, do you know which tranny cooler line is the output? im going to jack the car up, take the hose off, then lower the car back down into my drain pan so i dont make a mes.. thanks again!
Dark red is subjective. Red is the key word though. You didn't say brown or black. You could easily do a drain and fill. You could also drain and fill it several times. If it's really dark a flush would be best. You could do that yourself also. DO NOT use any flush additives. Only flush the transmission with fresh fluid if you decide to do so.
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