Originally Posted By: MaximaGuy
I have read up a lot about levels on sealed transmissions. I intend to extract 4Q at a time and after 2 attempts , 8Q is out and 8Q in.
I don't intend to check temperatures and do that tango dance - I intend to do it on a cold engine.
What came out goes back in totaling 8Q.
It's your decision, but I would verify the fluid level regardless of your method. Even the original factory method of checking between 104-113F is better than not checking at all. On certain models, there is a shifter sequence that will allow you to activate the fluid checking mode, but I'm not sure if that's available on the ES.
The problem with your approach is that a pan drain does not remove very much on these units - so you probably won't be draining 4 quarts. At least on the RX vehicles, pulling the cooler lines (w/o turning on the engine) will drain a lot of fluid. But if you have to turn on the engine at any point, the fluid temperature will rise quickly and you will run into the volume issues that I mentioned earlier.
Originally Posted By: TTK
Keep hearing this all over. Why not drain cold( room temperature) and measure amount? Put new fluid at the same room temperature back in. What can go wrong? This is for drain and refill only and assumes the level was correct before Drain and fill.
This may work for DIYer, assuming that the fluid level was correct to begin with (it isn't always, even from the factory). Also, the method only works if you can let the car cool overnight, and you are only doing 1 drain and refill.