New Member with a tranmission question

[timd02]

I am new to the forum and have a 2003 XLS with 90,000 miles on it. I bought the car 3 years ago with 62,000 miles on it and have been very pleased with it. I was looking at the Haynes Service Manual as to what needed to be done at the 90,000 mile mark and saw that the transmission fluid is supposed to be drained and refilled every 30,000 miles and that it call for Toyota Type T-IV fluid.

I checked my tranmission fluid and it was a bit brown so I have no idea as to what servicing it received by the previous owner. I went down to my local dealer and bought a case of the Toyota Type T-IV fluid and came home and drained the fluid from the pan. I then saw on the dipstick that it says to use "Dexron II or Dexron III" fluid. I called the service department and they said it would be OK to use the T-IV fluid in the transmission. I have searched online and have seen where some say don't mix the two fluids.

My question is this, am I ok with mixing the Dexron III(if that is what it had in it) with the 4 new quarts of the T-IV fluid? I did not do a complete flush of the system, only a drain/fill. I have 8 more quarts of the Toyota Type T-IV fluid left if I need to do a flush but was going to do another drain/fill here in about 1200 more miles. What should I do if anything?

[timd02]

Well, today I called 10 Toyota dealerships and asked their service departments about using the Toyota Type T-IV in my car. 7 of the 10 said to use what was listed on the dipstick which is Dexron II or III. I then went to Autozone and bought 10 qts. of Castrol Dexron VI which states that it is safe to use for Dexron III applications.

I then drained the fluid out of the transmission via the pan bolt and refilled with the Dextron VI. I then took the return line loose from the radiator and flushed it by pumping out 6 quarts and putting six new quarts in.

Hopefully I won't have any problems and 30% of the service departments telling me it was OK to use the Type T-IV wasn't a safe bet in my opinion. Just be sure and beware of what Haynes Service Manual tells you as it lists Toyota Type T-IV as the type of ATF to use.

[ChiTDI]

Originally Posted by timd02

Well, today I called 10 Toyota dealerships and asked their service departments about using the Toyota Type T-IV in my car. 7 of the 10 said to use what was listed on the dipstick which is Dexron II or III. I then went to Autozone and bought 10 qts. of Castrol Dexron VI which states that it is safe to use for Dexron III applications.

I then drained the fluid out of the transmission via the pan bolt and refilled with the Dextron VI. I then took the return line loose from the radiator and flushed it by pumping out 6 quarts and putting six new quarts in.

Hopefully I won't have any problems and 30% of the service departments telling me it was OK to use the Type T-IV wasn't a safe bet in my opinion. Just be sure and beware of what Haynes Service Manual tells you as it lists Toyota Type T-IV as the type of ATF to use.

Tim -I'm no fluid expert. My '02 calls for DexIII equivalents and that's what I've used w/30k intervals. Don't know about Dex VI. The T-IV I have used in '05 models that call for it. Nothing special.
When you drained, did you get 2 and 1/2 quarts or did you get closer to 3 and 3/4 quarts?
I ask because some models have two drain plugs to get the full amount drained. They fill from the dipstick tube but some have a separate plug for draining the differential (ATF). If you matched what you drained when filling and checked the level, there is no problem. I did that religiously for 90k until I found out mine has a second plug and I can get more fluid out each drain and fill. Helps if you want to flush out more of the old stuff and replace with fresher new fluid.

[hughesar]

My 03 says trans fluid to be Dex III as well in both the Toyota manual and on the dipstick. I have only found one drain plug located at the transmission pan. I get about 3.5~3.75 qts. to drain from that one plug.

If anyone has ever found a second drain plug for the differential, please advise.

[timd02]

I have only found the one plug located on the bottom of the transmission pan. I got close to 4 qts. when I drained it there but did the flush by removing the return line at the radiator. I ran 2 quarts out, shut the car off and replaced the 2 quarts. I did this for a total of 6 quarts and the fluid was nice and clean.

From what I have read, GM quit licensing Dexron III and the new replacement is Dexron VI. It is suppose to be used in Dexron III applications but you can't use Dexron III in Dexron VI applications.