ATF flush on my car is confusing me.

[N7Quarian]

Okay. I wan't to change the ATF fluid on my car to Max-life so the whole car can have synthetic fluid in it, Also due to the fact that when i'm off roading the transmission gets really hot and periodicity I have to let it cool down.

The manual only says how much to add to the transmission if you drain it from the drain plug which is 1.5 liters. (Not including what's in the torque converter or cooler lines. How many bottles do you think I should buy?

I've followed the 2 metal lines from the transmission and one leads to the steering rack and the other directly connected to the bottom of the radiator. I for one have never seen that before.

Could I drain the fluid from the pan, refill and repeat? This transmission comes with a non replaceable filter.

What do you think I should do? And is Max-life a good fluid choice for my car. It has about 45k miles on it and I want to run synthetic. My transmission uses Dextron ll or lll.

 

[Rand]

you can do repeated drain and fills.. its just not as efficient.

personally if you have a drain plug thats what I would do.

drain and fill 3-4 times over several weeks.

 

[mechtech2]

If there is a line to the radiator, there has to be another to go back to the transmission.
Keep looking.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

If it has a drain plug, personally I would drain and refill what comes out during the next few motor oil OCIs unless you're really determined to get all of it out and changed at once.

 

[Donald]

Verify the capacity info on the Amsoil website. Does it have a drain plug.

Follow small hoses from around the radiator. One from the top and one from the bottom.

I would use Amsoil if the cost is not a big issue. You will find no better.

 

[barlowc]

I'm with Rand and Bottom_Feeder. The easiest process is to drain via the drain plug, measure what comes out, put that much back in, and check the level. Repeat that 3 or 4 times with some driving in between (to mix it all up). It's a pretty typical process and what I do with our Saturn (which has a Honda-supplied 5-speed automatic transmission). In fact, I'll be switching from Z1 to MaxLife in a couple weeks when it hits 60K miles. (At 30K, I did a 3x drain/fill and stayed with Z1.)

 

[HTSS_TR]

Actually the easiest is siphon the ATF via dipstick tube with a fluid extractor. I did it for my E430 and LS400, each time I can siphon about 4.2-4.5 quarts from the E430, while I could get only 3.5-3.8 quarts from drain plug. It's so easy and took less than 5-6 minutes because I didn't have to raise/lower the car which took a lot of times.

 

[mechtech2]

Yes, I'd use the drain plug and do a few drains/ fills.

But that line routing is dubious to me. You can't have only an inlet to the radiator cooler.

 

[N7Quarian]

What confuses me is why the inlet connects INTO the radiator. There must be an outlet so i'll check tomorrow. I bought 6 quarts of Max-life so I'll be draining and filling 3 times in total.

 

[N7Quarian]

My car has about 45k miles on it. Should I drop the pan and clean the filter and magnet? I don't know if it even has a magnet lol.

 

[Donald]

I cannot find your car on the Amsoil website list as its not a car sold in the US. But poking around for other small Toyotas and I think you will be closer to 3 QTs per drain & fill. You have 6 QTs, so do one drain & fill and you will know how many additional QTs are needed if any.

The cooler lines can be rubber or metal or a combination. Can also have a thermostat connected to the return to bypass the cooler until it gets warm.

 

[N7Quarian]

My manual says drain 1.5 liters. 1 quart is .946 liters.

So it's telling me that 1.5 liters are going to come out and I will have to replace what comes out.

My car has a combination of metal and rubber lines but I seriously doubt that it has a thermostat. This car is as basic as you can get.

 

[N7Quarian]

Okay so I did the first drain and fill. How long do I have to wait to do the next?

 

[SwampSurvivor]

If you overheat the transmission to the point you have to stop and let it cool down, I'd get an external cooler on.

 

[N7Quarian]

Believe me i'd love to, and I'd love to put an external filter on as well, but they don't sell stuff like that here.

I've never had ANY issues with the transmission, even when it was hot. I'm switching to synthetic for extra insurance. When i'm off roading, the transmission gets hot enough for me to feel the heat from it on my right leg.

 

[N7Quarian]

The transmission is much smoother around town and quicker to engage speeds. And I still have one more drain and fill to do!

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: N7Quarian
My car has about 45k miles on it. Should I drop the pan and clean the filter and magnet? I don't know if it even has a magnet lol.

Yes you should.

I always find junk stuck to the bottom of the transmission oil pan.

I recommend OEM gaskets only, I find that aftermarket ones don't last as long.

 

[ahoier]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Actually the easiest is siphon the ATF via dipstick tube with a fluid extractor. I did it for my E430 and LS400, each time I can siphon about 4.2-4.5 quarts from the E430, while I could get only 3.5-3.8 quarts from drain plug. It's so easy and took less than 5-6 minutes because I didn't have to raise/lower the car which took a lot of times.
What kind of extractor did you use? On some cars it can be tricky siphoning, based on how the dipstick sits......I had a [censored] of a time just getting a couple oz. out of my 88 Aries for a UOA of the ATF

 

[HTSS_TR]

I have Mityvac MV7201, I bought it more than 8 years ago to do oil change in my E430. I then used it to do ATF and brake bleeding.

The Mityvac comes with 2 suction hoses, one is slightly larger than the other, I use larger hose to siphon oil in E430 and smaller hose to do ATF and siphon oil for other cars.

 

[N7Quarian]

So I did the final change and the transmission is much smoother and it even feels like the car has a better delivery of its power upon acceleration. The old fluid that was in there was new Castrol Dextron fluid. Semi synthetic. I only put that in because I was unaware that Valvoline Maxlife was even sold here.

What do you guy's think my interval should be? 30k miles? I beat the [censored] out of this thing and the filter is permanent and un-replaceable. I don't know if there is a magnet in the pan.

The temps here are about 98 ish a few days.