Gen 6 4-cyl transmission drain/fill (u250e)

[chrono807]

I have a 4-cylinder 07 Camry SE... a few questions

• Is a transmission drain really just a matter of unscrewing the plug, draining the fluid, replugging the pan with a new gasket, and adding the replacement fluid?
• Approximately how many quarts of fluid will this drain?
• Is there any fluid that's BETTER than the Toyota factory fill, but can safely mix with it since I know this is an incomplete drain?
• Should I drain it hot or cold (I suspect hot like when changing oil)

[gdanaher]

Originally Posted by chrono807

I have a 4-cylinder 07 Camry SE... a few questions

• Is a transmission drain really just a matter of unscrewing the plug, draining the fluid, replugging the pan with a new gasket, and adding the replacement fluid?
• No
  
• Approximately how many quarts of fluid will this drain?
• 2-3
• Is there any fluid that's BETTER than the Toyota factory fill, but can safely mix with it since I know this is an incomplete drain?
• No
• Should I drain it hot or cold (I suspect hot like when changing oil)
• Hot

[njerald]

Your Owners Manual says a drain and refill is 3.7 quarts..............

[chrono807]

So the steps in the video on this post are inaccurate?

Gen 6 Transmission Drain and refill - -Is dealer full of crap?

(I found that after my OP)

Is the Toyota trans fluid already synthetic? Does synthetic fluid even matter with transmissions, or is it just like oil - it'll run the same with either.

I do use Mobil 1 synthetic 5w20 in my engine, without extended drain intervals, because I do about 75/25 city driving. I drain and fill the synthetic every 3 months regardless of mileage - it's always under the 5k mileage, usually closer to 2500-3000. I overmaintain because following the "old-school" rules of 3k or 3 months, my family has had Camrys well over 200k miles. My Camry is still a baby with 50k on it, so I'll most likely skip the 2012 Gen 7 and go right to the Gen 8 that given Toyota's usual design cycle will probably hit dealers in mid-2016. I'd like to ride out that time with more maintenance and fewer repairs

[gdanaher]

Check your manual. You need to use type WS, and it doesn't matter if it is synthetic or not. This is all you can use if you don't want to ruin it. Draining a few quarts only changes a few quarts. There is much more fluid than that in the torque converter. Beyond that, type WS is rated for 100k miles and is expensive. If you really don't know the finities of this transmission then ou might be better off leaving it alone or letting the dealer do the job. This is nothing to be left for the JiffiLube folks.