Procedure To Change '06 Avalon Automatic Transmission Fluid
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Replace Automatic Transmission Fluid - 2006 Toyota Avalon
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Contrary to what some dealer parts counter people believe, you really
can change the automatic transmission fluid in your '06 Avalon. That
model is equipped with a drain plug on the bottom of the transmission
pan and a dipstick under the hood.
It is important to know that you must use Toyota ATF WS. WS stands for
"world standard" and this fluid is available only at a Toyota dealership
I've seen price ranges from $4.75 to $6.15 per qt.
The owners manual indicates a drain and refill requires 3.7 qts. In my
case, 4 qts. 8 oz. of fluid was drained. The system was not over-filled.
More on this further down.
Toyota claims the fluid does not need changing in normal circumstances
until 100,000 miles. I do not believe there's anything normal about
driving in the 21st century and personally choose to ignore this bit of
non-sense. Extended intervals were designed by marketing people to help
lower the total cost of ownership so you'll buy the car. If you're the
type who buys a new car every 3-5 years, then I would stop reading
this and simply ensure that your tranmission fluid level is correct
from time to time. This article is intended for DIYERs who prefer to
keep their cars for longer than the dealer would like.
I performed my first fluid change at 25,000 miles and the fluid was
still red, but nowhere near as red as new fluid. I cannot imagine what
it would look like left unchanged for 100,000 miles.
Allow yourself ample time. I'm the type that allows fluid to drain until
it has stopped draining completely, be it oil, tranny fluid, gear oil,
whatever.
Before beginning work, read this entire document and do understand this
approach has served me well over the years. I cannot guarantee that you
will succeed. If you do not feel comfortable with doing this service,
then by all means, do not attempt to do it. It's not rocket science, but
not everyone is wired up for this sort of work.
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Procedure
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- First gather required tools/fluids to include:
a. At least 5 qts. of Toyota ATF WS. You may need more depending on
what your fluid level is. 5 should suffice if your fluid level is
at the HOT mark on the dipstick and transmission has been fully
warmed up. Driving around the block a couple of times does not
fully warm up the transmission. Remember, your local Toyota dealer-
ship is your only source for Toyota ATF WS. You don't want to find
yourself short on fluid at 9am on a Sunday when most dealership
parts depts. are closed.
b. Shop rags for the floor and your hands.
c. Lint free rags to check fluid level on dipstick.
d. Latex gloves for your hands or perhaps another material if your
skin is sensitive to latex.
e. Drain pan suitable for this task.
f. Torx T-55 socket and short extension.
g. Ratchet
h. Long breaker bar - not necessarily required, but can come in handy
if the drain pan Torx bit is tight. Offers greater leverage than
shorter ratchet.
i. Funnel suited for refill. Will insert into the transmission
dipstick tube when it comes time to refill.
- Drive car until transmission is fully warmed up. This take 15-20 mi.
of consistent driving. There are 3 reasons for doing this.
a. Hot fluid flushes out more sediment/dirt than cold fluid. You
hopefully do not have much of this in your system, but draining
hot will help to get more of it out.
b. Hot fluid drains faster. Automatic transmission fluid is certainly
lighter than motor oil, but drains quicker when good and warm.
c. You want to check your existing fluid level before draining. The
only way to accurately check transmission fluid level is when the
system is fully warmed up. "Cold" level checks are good to ensure
you have fluid, but in many cases, they do not always tell you if
the system is low or over-filled.
- After you've warmed up the transmission, check your fluid level with
the engine idling and in PARK. Even though, you've warmed it up, be
sure to first shift it through all of the gears a couple of times.
You will of course have your foot on the brake when you do this.
- Remove dipstick and wipe off with CLEAN-LINT-FREE-CLOTH. Dirt or
lint can deep-six the transmission. Reinsert the dipstick and hold
it in for a couple of seconds, then remove the dipstick and hold it
parallel to the ground in good light so that you may easily read it.
Fluid level should be at the HOT mark, assuming you did indeed warm
up the transmission. Make a note in your mind where the level is if
it's not at the HOT mark, be it low or high. More on this further down.
- Shut off engine and remove keys from the ignition.
- Drain and refill is done on a level surface and car is not elevated by
any means.
- Looking at the car from the front, the transmission drain pan is
underneath, closer to the drivers side. It has a Torx T-55 drain plug.
The engine oil pan uses a standard drain plug with a 14mm head, so
it's pretty hard to confuse the two.
- I ended up using a long 3/8" dr. breaker bar(Torx T-55 was 3/8s) to
loosen a VERY tightly seated drain plug. Go slowly and make sure you
have the Torx socket firmly seated. It's best to place one hand on the
socket to ensure it stays seated and the other of course to turn the
breaker bar counter-clockwise to loosen. The metal inside the drain
plug can easily "round" if the Torx socket slips. In my opinion, a
person will have to change this drain plug more than once during the
life of their '06 Avalon. The metal inside this plug is soft and even
with the precaution I've provided, the plug will eventually become too
"rounded" to remove easily.
- I noticed that as soon as the drain plug was barely loosened, fluid
began to run out, unlike the drain plugs on automatics in transverse
mounted engines which don't start flowing in many cases until the plug
is further out.
- There was no sediment of any kind on the drain plug.
- Allow fluid to completely drain.
- Wipe off drain plug and ensure that the gasket is still attached.
Since this was my first drain, I reused the original gasket. It is
a metal gasket and is tightly seated on the drain plug.
- Reinsert and tighten drain plug. I did not use a torque wrench. I
snugged it down with a conventional 3/8s ratchet, not too tight, but
snug. More on this futher down.
- At this point, I always measure exactly how much transmission fluid
was drained. There are all sorts of ways to do this. One is to have
a qt. size measuring cup handy. Pour in exactly 32 oz. of old fluid,
then pour that into an empty 1 gal. water jug; the type that drink-
ing water comes in for example. Keep track of how many of these 32 oz.
qts. you pour in the water jug. In my cases I drained out 4 qts. +
8 ozs. When I checked the HOT fluid level, it was at the HOT mark, so
I needed to add 4 qts. + 8 ozs. back in on refill. If your unit was
low when you checked it earlier, I would add in what you drained, then
slowly top up during the refill process. If it was over-filled. I
would guestimate how much to subtract from what you drained during the
refill.
- Ensure your funnel is clean, not just the surface area you will be
pouring into, but the stem area as well.
- Remove the transmission dipstick. There are 2 dipsticks under the
hood on an '06 Avalon. The oil dipstick is to the left looking at
the car from the front. The transmission fluid dipstick is the one
on the right. Set it aside in a clean area. I always wrap mine in
a clean cloth before setting it aside.
- Place another VERY CLEAN drain pan or first thoroughly clean the
one used during the drain process underneath the drain plug before
you begin the refill process. Up above you snugged down the drain
plug, but not TOO tight. The idea here is to catch any fluid that
might escape if you didn't tighten down the drain plug sufficiently.
It's best to not over-do the torque on this plug.
- Insert the stem end of the funnel into the the transmission dipstick
tube. Slowly pour in 1 qt. of Toyota ATF WS. Afterwards, get down
underneath and see if any fluid is draining due to a loosely fitted
drain plug. If so, tighten just a hair, then wipe the plug area with
a rag; then watch for more dripping. If it continues to drip, tighten
again just a hair, then wipe with a rag to see if it's now sealed.
If any drippage occurred, pour what's in the pan into the funnel.
Reinstall the drain pan underneath the drain plug.
- Pour in a 2nd qt. of Toyota ATF WS and once again, get down below and
check for leaks at the drain plug. You should be OK now. This is just
a precautionary measure.
- You now have 2 new qts. of Toyota ATF WS. Continue to add based on the
calculations made above.
- !!! DO NOT OVER-FILL THE TRANMISSION !!!
- After you've completed the refill process, clean off and reinsert the
transmission fluid dipstick. Double check below for leaks.
- Start the car and shift it thru the gears several times, holding your
foot on the brake. With the engine idling and transmission in PARK,
get out and look below again for leaks, then remove the transmission
fluid dipstick. Wipe it off with a clean, lint-free rag and reinsert.
Hold it in for a few seconds, then remove and hold parallel to the
ground to check level on the stick. Because the engine is still likely
to be warm, the fluid level may be higher than the COLD level.
- Clean your hands and go for a drive to warm it back up. Drive it about
15 mi. again, return home and with car parked on a level surface, once
again recheck fluid level. It should be at the HOT mark if you drove
it 15 mi. If it's lower, then SLOWLY add just a bit of fluid and drive
again for a mile or so. I find that if I top it up and do not drive it
again for a short distance, it takes awhile for the fluid to settle
to it's true level. If the fluid level is above the HOT mark, you have
over-filled the transmission and that is not good. You'll need to
get back down underneath with the drain pan and pull the plug after
first stopping the engine of course. Drain whatever amount you feel is
necessary and be sure pan is clean as the fluid you're draining may
be used again.
Happy fluid changing.
__________________
Mike Murrell
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