new guy,changing trans fluid

[newowner00ve]

hey everyone. just picked up a 00 corolla ve with 93,000 miles on it. im wanting to change the transmission fluid this weekend. the fluid is pretty dark but still has a red tint but would deff feel better changing it. im new to toyotas and did get a hanyes but was wondering if any one had any diy on how to drop the tranmission pan and change the fluid. or any good links. i am also going to change the differental fluid while i am at it. which is my other question. i didnt see where to put the fluid after draining the differental in the hayns book. any diy on doing that also? the more pictures and references for me the better i feel about doing this my self. im not an idot, but i no were near a mechanic. just have basic skills. any help would be greatly appreciated. nice to meet everyone and thanks for the help

Blake

also. the tranmission fluid and differental fluid i was planning on getting is is Moible 1 Dexron/Mercon Automatic Transmission Fluid. (which will be ok to use from what i have read. please correct me if i am wrong) i am very confused on the whole dexron II/III and mercon and all that. i dont really understand it all so if somone could clear that up for me that would be great
i wanted to get redline atf but i cant find it in my area and dont wanna wait to change the trans fluid

also my tranmission shift fine right now. all i was going to do it is drain, drop the pan, clean it put a new filter in and gasket and put everything back together and refill. ive read nothing but bad things about flushing out transmission and ive read a few post on toyota corolla forums where people have said never to do it. seeing how my transmission shifts fine should i just plan on doing what i stated above?
also i have read after i change the transmission fluid that i should drive 1500-2000 miles and do it again? is this true also?

sorry for the long post just dont wanna mess my brand new (to me) car up lol :-)

[BigTDogg (MA)]

Actually, it's the opposite... Always always always flush, never ever ever drain and refil on an auto tranny. I did that on my 7th gen (actually a Prizm) and it slipped like hell. Flush and fill with a new filter.

I used Amsoil ATF, and it's been great. F&F about 40K miles ago, no issues. I bought the big container (2.5 gal, IIRC) and still have a little bit left.

[fishexpo101]

Part of the problem is with the ATF labeling is that Dexron II/III are no longer licensed, so you won't necessarily find a bottle that says Dexron III ATF right on it. That said, the Mobil D/M ATF can be used just fine. An alternative is Mobil Multi-Vehicle ATF, also Dexron III compliant - assuming you are sticking with the Mobil name brand. Valvoline MaxLife ATF might still say Dexron III, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

Fill plug for the differential is on the back of the transaxle, closest to the firewall. Might have a easier time getting to it if you remove the driver's side tire.

Flush vs drain and refill - you'll see pros and cons with both. If you follow the factory service manual - a drain and refill is all that is required. Generally speaking, if you had the transaxle flushed regularly, then I'd have it flushed again. If the transaxle's service history is unknown, then drain and refill. Draining at short intervals will "dilute" the leftover old transaxle fluid, but to change every 1000-2000 miles until you've done it a few times may be excessive. I run a 15K-30K drain and refill on my cars, depending if they tow or not, pan drop and filter change every other drain and refill - so far on 5 Toyota products, not a single transaxle failure issue (knock on wood) on any of them. Only two issue I ever ran into was with a dealership ATF flush - pulling the dipstick out when the car was brought to me, the color of the fluid looked more like metallic silver paint than ATF. Immediately had them redo the job, which they did eventually. Their explaination was the ATF friction additive they said was required (this on a 1996 Camry). After that, only drain and refills.

Approximately 2.5 quarts will go into the transaxle, 1.5 quarts in the differential on the 3-speed auto. About 4 quarts if you have the 4-speed and no separate differential fill/drain to worry about.

Conventional vs synthetic - your call on that, but note that if go the synthetic route, you are forced to flush everything out. Fluid is only as good as the its weakest link, if you mix high quality fluid with old fluid, end up with a mediocre mix at best. You can try and self-flush the car (can be messy, lots of DIY guides out there), or see if the shop has a flusher that attaches to the inlet pump on the transaxle. Those flushing machines require the shop to drop the pan, that way, it forces them to clean off all the junk on the bottom. Also the car's engine is used to pump the old fluid out to the machine's collection bin. Not one of those machines that forces ATF through the system from the cooler lines.

[BigTDogg (MA)]

When I say flush and fill, I mean on the stands that day. Someone did a procedure on here that wasn't too far off from what my shop did. Drain, fill with new fluid, start engine, put in drive (while on lift, with tranny cooler hoses undone from radiator) cycle fluid through, repeat untill all new red stuff comes out. Almost a full two gallons. I've never had a Corolla from new, so I've always gone to Amsoil (synthetic) ATF, so I've done flush and fills.

If you're doing drain and refills every 15 to 30k, then I can see a D&R being fine. I run 60K on the fluid, so I'll always be F&Fing.

[fishexpo101]

I completely agree - the technique should not be the snagging point, the idea is to replace fluids in a timely interval. Plus since you are running Amsoil ATF, a flush and fill will be required to take full advantage of the synthetic ATF's protection and performance.

Myself, a big fan of Redline Synthetic products, so the first time I swapped over, I pretty much did it the way you outlined above - drop the pan, replace filter, cleaned off the magnets, yank off return cooler line to the radiator and feed that into a closed bucket - ran the engine while constantly keeping the sump topped off via the fill tube. Work just fine, unless that hose decided to pop out of the drain pan/bucket on your - then you have a real mess to deal with. After that, given my conservative fluid intervals, the drain and refill works out just right for me.