2006 Toyota Avalon Transmission Fluid Change

[Mike_Murrell]

'06 Avalon owners manual says under normal circumstances the transmission fluid never needs changing. Absolute malarky. That's Toyota's way of saying "we want premature failure in order to sell you a car sooner than you may have hoped for".

OK - the cars uses Toyota's WS(world standard) transmission fluid. No problem. I've asked about the fluid while buying filter, etc. at 2 different local Toyota dealerships. One place said the unit is sealed. That is untrue. It has a dipstick and a drain plug on the bottom of the pan. Another place said there were "very specific procedures for a WS transmission". I asked what they were. The person making this claim could not tell me.

I went to -> http://techinfo.toyota.com and bought 1 days time to download official Toyota Service Manuals.

Downloaded the entire automatic transmission section. Read it. Nothing at all about proprietary fluid change procedures on this U151E unit.

I know that dealerships are prone to giving bad information, but have any of you heard of any reason why one could not drain and refill this unit themselves? Again, I see nothing in Toyota's automatic trans doc that indicates there's a problem with diyer maint.

Thanks for your time.

Mike Murrell

 

[The Critic]

Toyota doesn't set a specific AT service interval under normal service. They ask that you inspect the fluid every 15k miles and replace it on an as-needed basis. However, they want the fluid replaced every 60k while towing. Toyota isn't really saying that a fluid change is unnecessary; they are just switching to a schedule that allows a different interval for each individual driving profile.

Some of the transmissions that are filled with WS fluid do not have a dipstick. They use a fill plug and an overflow tube setup that requires one to run the vehicle until the fluid temp is in a certain range before uncorking the overflow tube for the level check or else the reading may be inaccurate. Since many of the transmissions equipped with WS fluid use this setup, the dealership was just making a generalization and was unaware that some models equipped with WS still have the dipstick.

Since you have the dipstick, there’s no reason why you cannot do a drain and refill on your driveway as long as you check the fluid level after you are done. Pick up a gallon of WS from your local Toyota dealership for about $45 and service it as often as you desire.

 

[Mike_Murrell]

Critic - thanks for your reply - your post makes sense.

Mike Murrell

 

[Mike_Murrell]

Also sent this inquiry around to lcoal Toyota dealers via the WEB. Here's a reposnse from one that lines up with what the critic provided:

************************************************************

The 2006 Avalon uses WS transmission fluid. Under no circumstances should any other fluid type be put in the transmission as it may cause erratic and hard shifting and possible damage.

That said, there is not any special procedure for draining and refilling the transaxle on the 2006 - 2007 Avalon. The confusion may be from some of our vehicles not having a dip stick (the common place for adding fluid if through the tube the dip stick is in). Our 4Runner and Tundra are a couple of our vehicles that do not have dip sticks and require special technical procedures to fill and check the fluid level.

When draining the transaxle you will only get about three quarts out of the pan while about four or five stay inside the transaxle and torque converter. To change all of the fluid you would need to have a flush performed. Toyota says that we must have a dedicated flush machine for WS fluid if we are to do flushes on vehicles that use WS fluid. As of right now we do not have a dedicated WS flush machine nor do we have any plans to offer this service in the foreseeable future.

We have recommended drain & fills every 30,000 miles on most of our vehicles. We recommend flushes when the fluid is excessively dirty. Typically it is at higher mileage and on vehicle that the fluid most likely has never been serviced.

Hope this helps and let me know if you need any additional information,

Frank A. Driffill
Parts & Service Director
Red McCombs Toyota
[email protected]
(210) 357-1667

 

[Pablo]

MIKE -

I like your style - keep challenging them! I need to do the 2000 Avalon. Natch, I'll go with Amsoil ATF. At 30K the fluid looks and smells OK. I haven't even explored draining the thing, so your post is good timing.

 

[njcruiser]

you are fine since you have the dipstick. Drain, measure what you drained, and refill the same amount. I will be doing this every 50K on my tundra, just from underneath the truck. Be thanful you have a dipstick.. I wont be able to check it, since I will not go through that stupid procedure, but will just replace the same amount that comes out when I pull the plug.
The Tundra is a 6 speed, holds a good amount of fluid, and has a cooler. I also have a gauge to monitor the temp. I dont tow, but do haul light loads, so I think every 50K is fine for "lifetime" fluid in my case.

 

[The Critic]

Pablo,

Just drain the pan. It's easier than changing it on a Honda. On my dad's van, it was a 14MM bolt when I drained it last week. About 40% of the unit's fluid will drain out, so between three to four quarts. '00 Avalon takes Dexron so I'd use a DexronVI fluid.

 

[Pablo]

OF course. I'll use Amsoil ATF. Way better than a generic Dex VI, especially in a 2000 AT.

 

[Mike_Murrell]

Quote:

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you are fine since you have the dipstick. Drain, measure what you drained, and refill the same amount. I will be doing this every 50K on my tundra, just from underneath the truck. Be thanful you have a dipstick.. I wont be able to check it, since I will not go through that stupid procedure, but will just replace the same amount that comes out when I pull the plug.
The Tundra is a 6 speed, holds a good amount of fluid, and has a cooler. I also have a gauge to monitor the temp. I dont tow, but do haul light loads, so I think every 50K is fine for "lifetime" fluid in my case.

---

NJCRUISER - how are you going to refill if there's no dipstick above? Just curious as I'm thinking about a new Tundra. I'm assuming your Tundra is one of the newer ones that has no dipstick.

Regards.

Mike Murrell

 

[unDummy]

This is one tranny that spec's WS in one car and T-IV in another. Still surprised that Toyota doesn't have the brass balls to back spec it for all T-IV products.
WS with a drainplug/disptick is VERY rare. I believe that the Avalon is the only WS equipped vehicle with both(for a short time anyways). OEM guinea pig?????
Since you have both, simply pulling the drainplug every 15k miles for a partial drain/refill would be good maintenance. A UOA on the WS ATF will tell if the fluid is as stout as Toyota wants you to believe. VOA of it looks pretty boring and bland.

If anyone wants to change ATF in any vehicle WITHOUT a dipstick, you'll have to reference your specific factory service manual. Side fill plug, or volcano drainplug tubes for filling pans, overflow plugs, along with specific temp and various OEM requirements, IS A MUST for correct ATF level. Replacing the ATF amount removed is NOT THE CORRECT METHOD FOR ATF MAINTENANCE without dipsticks. That is just a starting point.