I need some advice. My 2004 Camry Se has 90,000 miles on it. I bought it at 60,000 miles. I am not sure i the fluid has ever been changed. I am gearing up for a road trip from Virginia to Texas. I checked the fluid and it is brown and needs changed. The question that I have is, should I just drain and fill through the plug, or drop the pan, clean the filter and change the gasket? Any info is greatly appreciated.
I would use the drain-and-fill method - doing it a couple of times back-to-back (with +/- 100 miles between the 1st and the 2nd drain-and-fills). A new crush gasket would be nice, but not necessary if it's never been changed before. Personally, I would definitely use Toyota Type IV T fluid. And...personally, I would do at least 3 drain-and-fills, which will replace 78% of the old dirty fluid and only leave 22% of the old dirty fluid. Any additional drain-and-fills to do will only increase the percentage of fresh fluid in the transmission (as noted below). I would suggest using Toyota brand, specially formulated Type IV T fluid.
The capacity of your transmission is 9.3 quarts, with 60% of the fluid remaining in the torque converter with each drain-and-fill. You'll be able to drain about 40% (3.7 quarts) of fluid that of course will need to be replaced, therefore buy 4 quarts for each drain-and-fill you plan on doing. It's very easy to do...or a transmission shop or garage should charge around $50 (much too high IMO) if you supply the fluid.
The 1st drain-and-fill will leave 60% of the dirty fluid remaining in the transmission.
A 2nd drain-and-fill will leave 36% of the dirty fluid remaining in the transmission.
A 3rd drain-and-fill will leave 22% of the dirty fluid remaining in the transmission.
A 4th drain-and-fill will leave 13% of the dirty fluid remaining in the transmission.
A 5th drain-and-fill will leave 8% of the dirty fluid remaining in the transmission.
Thanks for the quick reply, one more thing though. I dont have the time necessary to do this prior to my trip. Would I be foolish to do this and get 40% good fluid, then drive almost 3000 miles? I do not have any transmission issues, just thought I would get some fresh stuff in there since it is brown.
Don't even consider dropping the pan. The filter is only a screen and does not need changing...ever.
You can get some place like AMMCO to drain-and-fill your transmission in 20 minutes. Just drop by your local Toyota dealership's parts department and pick up 4 quarts of Toyota Type IV-T transmission fluid.
Hope you enjoy DFW. There's plenty to see and do with a population of 6.5 million people in the Metro area.
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