MolaKule
Staff member
One cannot determine ATF condition by smell or color alone.
"If in Doubt - Change it out!"
"If in Doubt - Change it out!"
ATF brown color, smells sweet; Lexus 5pd SC430
- Thread starter lexsc430
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4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Been going thru this with a Cruze my son drives. Read a driver forum that said the
Dex VI can get bad in a hurry in that car. I dumped it at 20k - for a second I thought I pulled the motor oil drain - it looked worse than this picture. Took a gallon to fill. (my ramps/angle). Did it again at 40k - much better, but reddish brown. Did another gallon at 60k and it looks real good. Car has driven well all along.
Don't think a Cruze has a filter - so I might keep doing this ... very easy/cheap.
Dex VI can get bad in a hurry in that car. I dumped it at 20k - for a second I thought I pulled the motor oil drain - it looked worse than this picture. Took a gallon to fill. (my ramps/angle). Did it again at 40k - much better, but reddish brown. Did another gallon at 60k and it looks real good. Car has driven well all along.
Don't think a Cruze has a filter - so I might keep doing this ... very easy/cheap.
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Correction on my post - that car does not have a serviceable filter - you have to do a tear down to get to it ...?
Like MolaKule said, color and smell aren't always significant. I've run into this with Subaru's ATF HP, which will lose the red color in a fairly short time once the bottle is open, even if stored appropriately.
Changing it more won't hurt anything.
Changing it more won't hurt anything.
MolaKule
Staff member
Originally Posted By: lexsc430
Hi,
I bought a high-mileage (100k miles) Lexus SC430 on the cheap. It ran well during test drive...
After I purchased my used 2012 Nissan Frontier (~ = 33,000 miles), I immediately changed all fluids including the ATF (described elsewhere on BITOG). Tranny shifted fine.
The fluid on the dipstick appeared only slightly off color, but what came out of the transmission sump looked similar to a thick 5W20 mineral oil that had been run in an engine for 20k.
Much darker than the OP's fluid pic.
After a complete fluid replacement, the tranny still shifts well and of last check, the fluid is still cherry red. I sampled it recently so a UOA is forthcoming.
Hi,
I bought a high-mileage (100k miles) Lexus SC430 on the cheap. It ran well during test drive...
After I purchased my used 2012 Nissan Frontier (~ = 33,000 miles), I immediately changed all fluids including the ATF (described elsewhere on BITOG). Tranny shifted fine.
The fluid on the dipstick appeared only slightly off color, but what came out of the transmission sump looked similar to a thick 5W20 mineral oil that had been run in an engine for 20k.
Much darker than the OP's fluid pic.
After a complete fluid replacement, the tranny still shifts well and of last check, the fluid is still cherry red. I sampled it recently so a UOA is forthcoming.
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4WD
$50 site donor 2024
There was a mention of an ATF drain plug in this chain - B&M and others come with a cheap nylon gasket that limits torque and mine leaked. When I dropped the pan again - tossed the nylon for M14 copper crush gaskets.
No leak now - Pan dump = clean 20 minute job with my spin on XG16 ...
No leak now - Pan dump = clean 20 minute job with my spin on XG16 ...
My experience with T-IV is that it turns into a dark-cranberry like color fairly quickly. There's a RX330 parked outside that received a full 12-qt flush with T-IV about 6,000 miles ago, and the fluid already looks similar to cranberry juice. The fluid is probably just fine.
Also, the pan threads on Toyota transmission pans can be very delicate. I have personally destroyed one of them. When that happens, you end up replacing the trans pan b/c it is difficult to get the plug back out.
I think the torque spec on some of those drain plugs is as low as 14 ft-lbs. Nowadays, I elect to remove the cooler lines and "flush" the unit instead of touching that drain plug.
Also, the pan threads on Toyota transmission pans can be very delicate. I have personally destroyed one of them. When that happens, you end up replacing the trans pan b/c it is difficult to get the plug back out.
I think the torque spec on some of those drain plugs is as low as 14 ft-lbs. Nowadays, I elect to remove the cooler lines and "flush" the unit instead of touching that drain plug.
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