Thinking about a drain/refill of transmission, wanted to make sure I've got it right

[islandboy57]

Whew, haven't been on TN in ages! I've been reading up all afternoon searching for threads related to changing the ATF on a gen 5 and it's been really helpful.

From what I gather, it's pretty similar to an oil change. Take the bolt off [near the driver's side], drain, and refill with new Type-IV fluid in the same amount that came out. Refilling is done through the dipstick. Is that right? Smaller questions - does it matter if the ATF is hot or cold? Ideally I'd like to let my car sit for a bit to cool off like I do when I change my oil. Anything cheap/good to use to measure the fluid that comes out? Otherwise I'm just going to head over to WalMart and grab something there. My manual should also tell me approximately how much ATF should come out and from what others have said, that's 3-4 qts?

My car has 27.5K miles, runs great, ATF is still pink and does not smell burnt. I love my Camry, and I need it to last me a while . I'm stopping off at a local mechanic tomorrow with a friend of mine so if it's cheap enough and he has time, I may just ask him to do this for me. From what I've read though - a drain/refill is pretty easy so I'd like to do it myself.

Thanks!

[TRD VVTi]

You hit the nail on the head with one exception. Only an idiot would measure the fluid that comes out. Fill it to the proper level after draining it, that's what the dipstick is for.

There's a reason people don't measure the engine oil, coolant, transmission fluid, brake fluid, etc. when the replace it. It's because it doesn't matter what WAS in there, just what's in there now.

[islandboy57]

Originally Posted by TRD VVTi

You hit the nail on the head with one exception. Only an idiot would measure the fluid that comes out. Fill it to the proper level after draining it, that's what the dipstick is for.

There's a reason people don't measure the engine oil, coolant, transmission fluid, brake fluid, etc. when the replace it. It's because it doesn't matter what WAS in there, just what's in there now.

Okay, that does sound dumb when I re-read what I wrote . I don't do that with an oil change, why would I do that with my ATF? Thanks for the correction. Do I need to go really slow when refilling through the dipstick? Seems odd but I wouldn't be in any rush so it doesn't matter either way. Now I'm more confident. I'm probably making this out to be a bigger deal than it actually is, but this is my one and only car so I gotta be sure!

[LE05]

i'd change the ATF when its warmed up... you'll get a little more out than you would when its cold. and no, you don't have to pour slow when refilling through the dipstick... as long as you have the proper size funnel, it really doesn't matter. also, make sure you put a new crush gasket on the drain plug, you do not want to reuse the old one... it'll leak.

[touringcamry]

Keep in mind you are only exchanging approx 1/3 to 2/5 of the total fluid in the system when you do this. The fluid is supposed to last a long time, but something you might want to know.

[islandboy57]

Where would I get a new crush gasket in the same size?

And I know it's taking out just a fraction of the total transmission fluid. I figure since mine is still in good shape, this is better than nothing and if I do it enough times I'll get mostly new fluid in there. Or at least I hope so

[TRD VVTi]

I wouldn't worry about getting a gasket.

Changing the fluid hot will allow more to drain out though.

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by islandboy57

Where would I get a new crush gasket in the same size?

And I know it's taking out just a fraction of the total transmission fluid. I figure since mine is still in good shape, this is better than nothing and if I do it enough times I'll get mostly new fluid in there. Or at least I hope so

I have a bunch of them somewhere but they're from Gen 4.5. I think it should still work though since the plugs are the same size. PM me your address and I'll send you one.

[LE05]

Originally Posted by islandboy57

Where would I get a new crush gasket in the same size?

And I know it's taking out just a fraction of the total transmission fluid. I figure since mine is still in good shape, this is better than nothing and if I do it enough times I'll get mostly new fluid in there. Or at least I hope so

dealership, its not too expensive. if you really dislike going to the dealership, all it really is is a metal washer so any hardware store should have something similiar. personally, you have to go to the dealership to get the fluid anyway... so you might as well throw in the crush gasket.

[islandboy57]

The guy I went to didn't have time today, so I'm going to do this myself this weekend. I bought Type T-IV fluid today at my local Toyota dealership. Completely forgot about the crush gasket. I might just chance it this time and reuse it, and change it the next time around. Hopefully I don't regret that. If anything, my local hardware store is just a few minutes away so I can head down there if need be.

Checked out my manual and it says 3.7 quarts of ATF should be needed on a drain/refill. Any idea what the margin of error is on under/overfilling? I'm obviously going to use the dipstick and get as close as possible to full but I was just curious. I may just end up measuring how much comes out to make it easier (it's full now) - then I can just refill with the same amount.

Thanks for the help everyone

[islandboy57]

Well, I did the drain and refill this weekend. The fluid that came out was kind of a dark red/purple and cloudy. Looks like it was a good decision to change at least some of the fluid!

The only problem I ran into is that I'm leaking ATF from the drain pan bolt. A really, really tiny amount - after sitting for 12 hours, looking at the bolt it looks clean but I wiped a napkin around the bolt and there's a smudge of fluid on it. I may have overtightened the bolt in an effort to keep it from leaking more so I'm not going to tighten it again. Looks like I'll just do another drain/refill this week and when I get more ATF, I'll also buy a couple of crush gaskets.

Lesson learned: it's probably easier to just change the crush gasket. Luckily I am not so bummed out, because I was contemplating a second drain/refill. Guess I'll be doing that regardless of whether or not I wanted to

[LE05]

told you it would leak if you used the old one! good to hear it went well otherwise... yeah, when i hit 30k i changed the fluid three times each a week apart to really get all that fluid changed.

[islandboy57]

Originally Posted by LE05

told you it would leak if you used the old one! good to hear it went well otherwise... yeah, when i hit 30k i changed the fluid three times each a week apart to really get all that fluid changed.

Ha ha ha! I KNEW that was coming to me, and I can't disagree. Lesson learned! I'd like to wait longer than a few days to do my next drain/refill but I think I'm going to do it early next week just because I don't like the thought of the crush gasket leaking.

I'm glad I attempted it myself.. Now I can just do it again whenever I feel like .

[MrSo0h0o]

so does anyone know what size metal washer we could use in place of the crush gasket?

[TRD VVTi]

I always wonder how people get their oil drain plugs to leak when mine never do...