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Flush (Replace) Your 4Runner Transmission Fluid

31K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Nmscuba 
#1 · (Edited)
Today I “flushed” my transmission fluid. It was way overdue. The ODO was at 140,855. I bought it used with 60k on it and was never sure if the dealer changed the fluid. At any rate, I should have changed it by 100k or a bit earlier considering I tow with it. I opted to do the flush method rather than drain and refill the tranny pan. This is how you do that.

Tools needed:
24mm socket
14mm socket
12mm socket
10mm socket
Socket wrench
Pliers
Gloves
Oil catch pan
Fluid pump
2’ or so length of spare tubing (same size as the soft trans lines)
A few empty 4 qt oil jugs
About 3 gallons (three jugs) of Valvoline Maxlife ATF fluid. I buy them at WalMart for less that $20 a gallon.

You do not need to use Toyota WS fluid. I have used Maxlife on all my Toyotas for years.

I opted to put the Runner up on ramps to make crawling around under it easier. You will need to remove the plastic cover and skid plate just like you do to change the oil cartridge. I won’t go into that here, but that is what the 10mm socket (five bolts on the plastic shroud) and 12mm socket (4 bolts on the skid plate) are for. Get those out of the way as that gets you to the soft transmission return line coming off the bottom of the radiator.

Before you ever drain something that has a fill plug, you always, always remove the fill plug first. This way you don’t get yourself in a corner if the fill plug is seized or cross threaded and can’t come out. The fill plug is 24mm and sits above and “behind” (meaning towards the rear) of the transmission pan on the passenger side. It has WS stamped on it.



Remove the fill plug and set aside, being mindful of the rubber o-ring attached to it.

Now you can drain the tranny pan (sump). Place your EMPTY oil catch can under it and remove the 14mm bolt. This is not the special bolt used to check the fluid level, which takes a hex key to remove. This is a normal 14mm bolt. The bolt has a small metal washer on it so don’t lose that. Drain the fluid, letting it get to where it is barely dripping. Once drained, put the bolt back on and torque to value, then clean excess fluid off the bottom of the pan and bolt so you can tell if you leak later on.

You must measure how much fluid came out. The pan should hold about 3 quarts. Measure how much was in the oil catch can. Situate yourself under the tranny and open up one of the gallon jugs of Maxlife. Your fluid pump will have two hoses – an IN and an OUT. I used a cheap Harbor Freight hand pump. It came with (2) 51” hoses, the pump, and some air line accessories. Since the hoses were rolled up, they want to go back to that rolled up position. This will cause the hose to pop up out of the fluid as it pumps, sucking air. To combat this I popped a brass fitting on the end to help weigh it down.



Secure the OUT hose end into the fill plug hole, and drop your IN hose into the ATF fluid, making sure you get to the bottom but don’t curl back up out of the fluid. Pump back in the exact same amount you drained. Again, for me it was right at 3 quarts. The Maxlife jug has graduation marks on it to make it easier to measure. Note that the pump assembly will hold some amount of fluid in it (mine held about a quarter of a quart in it (pump and hoses), even if I had the handle all the way down.

The sump has clean fluid in it, but the entire system holds around 13 quarts of fluid. Time to start pumping the old fluid out.

Crawl under the radiator and using your pliers slide back the hose clamp on the RETURN tranny hose line - it is the one toward the driver side next to the radiator hose:



Pop on your excess hose to the radiator nipple, and drop the other end of the hose into an empty 4/5 quart oil jug. I like these as they have a clear slot to see the fluid and graduation marks to measure the fluid. Here is a pic of some old MaxLife jugs I used:



With the jug secured so it does not fall over, start the motor. The return line on the bottom of the radiator will pump old fluid into the empty jug. It takes around 7-13 seconds to pump out a quart. Keep your eye on the jug and turn off the engine once it is almost at the quart mark. Bear in mind your sump only holds about 3 quarts, and you are not returning any fluid to it. This is why you do NOT want to pump out more than about 2 quarts at a time, as you may wind up draining out your torque converter, which will screw you. 1 quart at a time is a safe bet.

You have now flushed out 1 quart of fluid. Crawl back to the pump and pump back in 1 quart.

Repeat this process until you have either started pumping out cherry red fluid, or until you have gone through about 3 gallons of MaxLife. Now remove the excess hose you are using, place back on the tranny hose to the radiator and re-secure the clamp. Remove your pump assembly and torque the fill plug back on. Wipe up all areas, then run the engine and look to make sure you are not leaking from the hose, the drain plug or the fill plug area.

Put back on the skid plate and shroud, clean up, and you are done! Good for another 60-100k.
 
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#3 ·
For the most part, yes. You either have a "sealed" transmission (like this 4Runner), or one with a dipstick (like my 2009 I4 Camry). The only difference is how you fill it. In the sealed, like this, you fill through the fill plug. In the dipstick system you fill down the dipstick tube. Otherwise the same, just different volumes. You pump out until what comes out looks new.
 
#9 ·
Thanks for letting me know. I was on the phone with my Rick Hendrick (dealer) lifetime warranty department/company (AutoGuard?) asking if getting a 3" lift would void the warranty on certain parts and then thought to ask them about the doing the flush even though it is stated lifetime. I assumed they'd recommend I do it anyway (as I see you've now said to be the consensus among owners).

It turns out that all of those folks are Certified Master Technicians and in the case of the lift they said keeping it under 5-6" wouldn't void the warranty and they made a note in the file documenting that promise in the event it became a problem. Cool!

As for the lifetime transmission fluid being flushed anyway, he said there team was pretty emphatic that owners DO NOT flush the lifetime fluid. He said they have a consensus that there are some added elements to the fluid and that owners flushing the transmissions have led to warranty claims on those systems whereas it is less so for systems NOT flushed. The guy sounded genuine and legit and that it was a common view among the Master Technicians processing these Toyota claims.

Usually you have a company wanting you to spend money to cover their butt on potential claims or to just push you to servicing in order to sirect sales somewhere. It surprises me to hear the ones responsible to pickup the tab of something breaks telling owners of these lifetime warranties to not have the extra work done. That seems to show significant credibility and confidence in the data they are collecting.

BTW - The first level of support was all over the board with their answers so I asked to talk directly with the people who make the decision to approve warranty repairs. They were also counter to the opinion the Toyota dealership guys had. The second level team was in-line with the dealership guys opinions and willing to document their promise in the file. Just guys to show that even a fellow who has been working first level support for 5-years and says he's seen it all, might not be as reliable as a second tier certified fellow who is willing to document the promise in my file and send me a copy of the guarantee the the 3" lift would not be used as cause to deny a warranty claim.

I usually do my own wrenching, only taking it in periodically so that I can leave them without excuse if I had a claim in 20-years. I've had great service with Rick Hendrick. It's the second Toyota I've bought from them. If they have another lifetime deal when we are ready, I'll head back there first to check the deals.

Will hit 100k this coming week! This is my second white 4Runner SR5 4X4 Sunroof etc... have had a Corrola and SR5 4X4 Taco. Strange this is...I still miss my old tape players. I use to pull out the stock CD stereos and go retro!

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk
 
#11 ·
I am new to this forum and just bought my first 4Runner, a 2018 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4x4 in Blizzard Pearl and have learned so much in such a short time by watching "The Car Care Nut" Youtube videos, AMD is a certified Toyota Master Technician, this is a video on 4Runner transmissions.
AMD says you should change your "sealed" transmission fluid every 60,000 miles or 6 years.

Toyota 4Runner Transmissions


Toyota Fluids
 
#13 · (Edited)
I am new to this forum and just bought my first 4Runner, a 2018 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4x4 in Blizzard Pearl and have learned so much in such a short time by watching "The Car Care Nut" Youtube videos, AMD is a certified Toyota Master Technician, this is a video on 4Runner transmissions.
AMD says you should change your "sealed" transmission fluid every 60,000 miles or 6 years.

Toyota 4Runner Transmissions


Toyota Fluids

Don't believe the marketing hype. All fluids break down over time and there is no such thing as a Lifetime ATF.

Flushiing is maketing hype that can cause more problems than is solves.

Follow the Car Care Nut's advice to drain and refill the ATF every 6 years or 60,000 miles.

The A750E and A700F transmissions are also used in the First Generation Toyota Tundra that came out in 2003.
 
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