I have inherited a granny-driven Avalon with 40K miles recently and am working on catching up on some maintenance. Most of those miles were driven in Arizona, mostly stop & go around Tucson. No towing, no jack rabbit starts.
As far as I can tell, the transaxle fluid was last changed at the Toyota dealership at 22K miles. The current ATF is a healthy red color, no burnt smell. Dipstick says to use Dexron II or III.
I have had good luck using Transynd in the MT and power steering of my Saturn, which specs Dexron III; Transynd specs claim full compatibility with Dexron III, and costs ~$40/gallon at my local GMC/Allison dealer. I plan on draining the transmission and differential (and if not too hard, radiator/cooler return line) over several 15-20K mile drain intervals to gradually approach 90% synthetic.
Possibly, at that point, I'll increase the drain interval to 50K miles or more, given Transynd's extended service life compared to regular dino ATF.
Any concerns or issues I should be aware of? Approximately how much of the transmission fluid should I expect to change out each interval? 4qts? 6qts? of the 8 to 8.5 qt total capacity of the transaxle?
I gather the differential portion of this transmission drains separately yet fills from the common dipstick. Does the A541E's diff fluid co-mingle enough with the main transmission fluid to merit a drain each time?
As far as I can tell, the transaxle fluid was last changed at the Toyota dealership at 22K miles. The current ATF is a healthy red color, no burnt smell. Dipstick says to use Dexron II or III.
I have had good luck using Transynd in the MT and power steering of my Saturn, which specs Dexron III; Transynd specs claim full compatibility with Dexron III, and costs ~$40/gallon at my local GMC/Allison dealer. I plan on draining the transmission and differential (and if not too hard, radiator/cooler return line) over several 15-20K mile drain intervals to gradually approach 90% synthetic.
Possibly, at that point, I'll increase the drain interval to 50K miles or more, given Transynd's extended service life compared to regular dino ATF.
Any concerns or issues I should be aware of? Approximately how much of the transmission fluid should I expect to change out each interval? 4qts? 6qts? of the 8 to 8.5 qt total capacity of the transaxle?
I gather the differential portion of this transmission drains separately yet fills from the common dipstick. Does the A541E's diff fluid co-mingle enough with the main transmission fluid to merit a drain each time?