Tranny drain and refill ?

[gspatta@worldne]

I looked in Search and did not find much.

I want to do a simple preventive tranny drain and refill. Got a 99 rolla.

Questions.

1- Is there a plug ? I think I saw one but have not double checked. Size ?

2- How much fluid to expect to come out ?

3- Refill and repeat ? Do you guys do that to "clean" the fluid more ?

Any suggestions.

Thanks,

George

[GoPitt68]

But I was told that a Tranny "Flush" is more effective at getting all the gunk out than a Tranny Drain and Re-Fill. You don't get all the crap out with the method you're describing.

The dealer told me to do a Tranny Flush and Coolant Flush every 30,000 miles - seems kind of excessive, but OK

[gspatta@worldne]

I have been told that the flush can "loosen stuff" and cause problems. Also have heard that a drain and refill can be just as effective. Plus I want to save myself 125 bucks and do a simple drain. Any advise out there ? George

[touringcamry]

A drain and refill will not change the fluid in the torque converter. If you want to change all the fluid, you can drain it from the hose that goes from the transmission to the radiator transmission fluid cooler. It'll probably take about 10 qts of fluid to flush everything. And you can do this yourself. Disconnect the hose and run the engine and the fluid will come out. When it starts to foam, shut it off. Pour the same ammount of fluid back into the transmission.

You may also need to change the fluid in the differential also.

[redgtxdi]

Can you elaborate more a bit on this??


I've got a '95 Prizm. Same thing apply???

I checked the tranny dipstick and it's not red, but it's not really that dirty. Still I just bought the car so I'd like to start all the fluids fresh.

And if I do this method to drain the tranny (*and* Torque Converter, right?).........then will that also include the differential, or is there another place to drain & fill that too??

Also..............fluid recommendations would be much appreciated!! Thanks!

[shampooguy]

On my wife's 99 Prizm, I do a drain and refill every other oil change. There is an allen bolt for the drain plug. It's usually about 3 quarts of fluid, depending on how long you let it dribble. So far (5 years) I've had success with it, even with towing my jetskis/utility trailer.

[redgtxdi]

OK, but does that mean you're not getting new oil into the Torque Converter since you're only doing the allen bolt at the tranny???

And what about the differential fluid???? (separate drain point? And what about refilling?)

[shampooguy]

No, there's really no way to "drain" the torque converter. The new fluid just mixes with the old in the torque converter. If you do a drain and refill enough, maybe every oil change, all your fluid will eventually be clean. Not perfectly clean, like with a flush, but it's good enough for me.

I haven't researched the differential fluid change enough to know anything about it.

[Hook]

changing the diff oil is pretty easy...there's a separate drainplug for it, about the same size as for draining the tranny fluid but located nearer the rear of the tranny about midway between ur axle cups...u'll need pretty big allen key

just unbolt it, let the old diff oil drain out and replace the drainplug...then there's a 17bolt on the rear of the tranny (facing the firewall) that u need to remove...this is to check the level

disconnect the speedo cable and remove the 10bolt and the little "lock" next to where the speedo cable connects to the tranny and pull up the speedo mechanism with a pair of pliers

now in a separate container, u're mixing equal parts gear oil to tranny oil to come up with about 1.5qts of total mixture and then pouring this mixture into the hole where u just removed the speedo mechanism until it just begins to come out the hole where u just removed the 17bolt

just pour till it just begins to come out the hole and replace the 17 bolt...then u hook back up ur speedo...voila! nothing to it

[redgtxdi]

Holy crap!!!!!!!!!!!


Considering all that's involved.........(and the fact that I've NEVER had diff oil changed on any car or even HEARD of anyone having diff oil changed)...........I wonder what percentage of folks ever have their diff oil changed even 1 time???

I'll definitely do a tranny oil change this weekend.

So, for the record, is 3 quarts a good starting point for the tranny drain/refill??? (Don't wanna put in too much or too little)

TIA