hey guys my girl has a 05 corolla. i do drain and fills with toyota tIV. what are some other better alternatives to that? i was thinking maxlife her car has 94k miles and counting fast. lots and lots of highway use.. i dont particularly like paying 5$ a quart for sub par T-IV.. would a good mulit vehicle atf work just as well or better?? also her differential is in dire straights to be changed. it has never been changed as far as i know of. it calls for T-IV also.. let me know what you guys think or maybe some advice. thanks fellas

I would stick to the T-IV myself.

What makes you say the T-IV is sub-par? It is what Toyota specifies and if you change fairly often as you seem to do, then there's not a lot to be gained with something else - potential problems with something else, though....

I would stick with the T-IV as I have a Toyota, and it has had multi-vehicle in it, and the T-IV is superior in noise and shift performance. I would never use anything but T-IV if that has all that has been used.

I like Amsoil ATF for multi-vehicle though. I have used Pennzoil and it didn't work well in my RAV4.

I don't know if these are better but they claim compatibility with transmissions needing T-IV: Redline, AMSOIL and Castrol Import ATF. The first 2 are synthetics.

As for the cost of T-IV. A drain/fill of the auto needs only approx 1.5L of fluid. Not much even at $5 per quart for T-IV

As for the diff, if the AW auto in 2001 - 06 Australian Corollas is similar to the one in US models (I believe it is), the diff and auto use the same fluid so you HAVE been changing the diff fluid, I am guessing.

PS: I am doing similar things to you. Using T-IV and doing drain/fill every factory service (6 months/10000 KM)

Only 1.5L?!?!?

Every Corolla that I know of drains out at least 3.5 quarts when you pull the plug.

There's no need to service your transmission at every service unless you are taking it to the race track.

Sorry. My mistake

Just checked the manual. Drain/fill volume for U341E transaxle is 2.6 - 3.1 L

Misread that as the "total volume" and assumed drain/fill would be half. Still only $AU 21 though

Cheers

I used Amsoil Universal in my mom's 2002 Toyota Solara, and that worked extremely well as T-IV fluid.

Sure, it is about $9 per quart, but it made the car feel like it was better than new. I didn't even replace 100% of the fluid, I just did an ordinary drain plug pull.

Some of those Toyotas don't drain more than 2 - 2 1/2 quarts from the drain plug. Others will drain a full gallon.
I had good luck with Amsoil as a T-IV equivalent in an 05 Highlander FWIW. 4 quarts btw. $$

As in luck do you mean you did an analysis after a run or that it just felt better? I currently own a Highlander as well and I am still on the fence about Amsoil ATF.

I have a Kluger/Highlander and also do a drain /refill at 20k kms/12k miles which has been 4.3 liters for the 4 times I have done it. Would like to go to Amsoil but it is very expensive and I feel would be of no benefit to my Kluger in view of the service the transmission receives.
Roger

byez,

Off the fence! I did a full flush of the T-IV in my wife's '05 Highlander using Amsoil ATF. It went into the power steering unit, as well. Zero problems.

The UOA of my T-IV is out there. Okay, but far from being a 60K or 100K tranny fluid.

If you are worried about putting it in your Toyota and voiding the warranty, do not be concerned. If your worry will increase after you put Amsoil ATF in, just do drain and fills or a full flush with the T-IV!

Me too! I have had excellent results with T-IV and if you shop around some dealers will sell it under $5/qt if you buy a case.

Satisfaction from the user. She runs a business out of this vehicle and drives a lot with much time idling. She's tough on cars and complains when things aren't "just right". Getting the car for service from her is a task in itself. So when I do service it, I leave nothing to chance. Except for the differential, which I may have missed. I'll go over that configuration very carefully when I get it next time. I missed a dif on an '02 Avalon for 95k miles. Can't believe I did that!
Her first oil sample (UOA) will be thhis summer at 60k. Doubt if I'll do the trans fluid.

yeah i can drain about 3.5 to 4 qts per drain and fill. i also missed the differential on that car the whole time. ill stick with t-4 or amsoil universal. thanks fellas!

I've used the Pennzoil and Castrol(import) multivehicle fluids, usually <$4 a quart and available at most stores.

Regular drain/refills will prevent issues caused by accumulated wear and fluid break down. Pick any brand of ATF that mentions the T-iv(3309) spec and use it. No need to stick with OE fluids. Full synthetics, like the Amsoil Amalie and RoyalPurple ATFs, should help make up for longer change intervals.

The diffs in some of the newer FWD toyotas shares the ATF(meaning no separate drain/fill plugs). You'll have to crawl under your to check for the plugs. I use ATF+4 in diffs and x-cases that require ATF. ATF+4 is a high group oil ATF with excellent AW additives.