transmission oil initial fill and total fill

[celica2004]

can any one explain this:

CAPACITIES
--> Automatic Transmission, 3-spd Initial Fill..........2.7 quarts[2][3]

Automatic Transmission, Total Fill
--> 3 speed A131L..........5.8 quarts


whats the difference between initial fill and total fill? I want to change transmission oil and how much should i buy and use?

does total fill means after removing differential fluid also? i am confused...

[atobe]

that's just the drain and fill w/o taking all the fluids out of the torque converter if u were to drain and suck out the TC then u would have to fill it back up the whole way... i don't know about diff fluids.

[basil]

As atobe says, there's a lot of fluid in the torque converter. That fluid doesn't come out if you simply drain the fluid by pulling the drain bolt. The TC fluid will have to be forced out with a flush, which would then require extra fluid to refill the entire thing.

Note that, at least on the Gen 3 Camrys, the differential has a fluid reservoir of its own, apart from the transmission. It is drained and filled separately. Mind you, Toyota made the 'fill' process there WAY more painful than it should have been. For that one, get a gear oil/tranny fluid pump ($4.50 at the local O'Reilly store). Don't cheap out like I did, only to buy it later.

[deekay140]

What Kinda Car, Which Eng?