Flushing the AT Fluid - This is How I Will Do it

[gnb]

So simple-

1) Drain the 4 quarts ( or so ) from the pan and refill with new AT fluid;
2) Disconnect lower (i think) hose from the AT fluid cooler in front of radiator
3) Connect a clear hose long enough to go to a large bucket
4) Have an assistant start the engine and run until first sign of air/bibbles appear in the clear line running to the bucket and IMMEDIATELY stop engine
5) Add Approximately 2 quarts of fresh AT fluid (I will use Mobil 1 ATF) thru the dip stick tube via funnel;
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until AT fuid is bright pink ( approximately 14 quarts);
7) Reconnect the AT cooler line;
8) Top off AT fluid
9) Start her up and check for leaks and confirm fluid level

This is essentially the same procedure I use on my Volvo 850 turbo - except it is easier with the Toyota because there is no tricky hose connection to deal with.

The above is my way of doing the at flush and is for information only - please do your own research and proceed with care.

[KLS]

Don't you replace the 4 quarts in the pan before pumping it out the hose?

"The above is my way of doing the at flush and is for information only - please do your own research and proceed with care." You a lawyer?


Ken

[gnb]

Originally Posted by KLS

Don't you replace the 4 quarts in the pan before pumping it out the hose?

"The above is my way of doing the at flush and is for information only - please do your own research and proceed with care." You a lawyer?


Ken

Yepper- need to refill those 4 quarts. Thanks!

Not an attorney at all- just realize there are a lot of guys who can manage to screw up the simplest of jobs (me included). IMHO- If you aren't comfortable working on your vehicle- pay a professional to do it. I work on my cars because I get enjoyment out of it (weird, huh?).

Just wanted to post this DIY job as it seemed like some big secret. I learned the method I quoted off my performance Volvo forum. Same concept- just easier to do on the Sequoia.

[akauth]

Originally Posted by gnb

So simple-

1) Drain the 4 quarts ( or so ) from the pan and refill with new AT fluid;
2) Disconnect lower (i think) hose from the AT fluid cooler in front of radiator
3) Connect a clear hose long enough to go to a large bucket
4) Have an assistant start the engine and run until first sign of air/bibbles appear in the clear line running to the bucket and IMMEDIATELY stop engine
5) Add Approximately 2 quarts of fresh AT fluid (I will use Mobil 1 ATF) thru the dip stick tube via funnel;
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until AT fuid is bright pink ( approximately 14 quarts);
7) Reconnect the AT cooler line;
8) Top off AT fluid
9) Start her up and check for leaks and confirm fluid level

This is essentially the same procedure I use on my Volvo 850 turbo - except it is easier with the Toyota because there is no tricky hose connection to deal with.

The above is my way of doing the at flush and is for information only - please do your own research and proceed with care.

You don't need a clear hose. Though it can't hurt.

Too, you can do this with one person (easily). After you get the first two quarts you can easily judge how long the engine has to run.

alan

[gnb]

Originally Posted by akauth

You don't need a clear hose. Though it can't hurt.

Too, you can do this with one person (easily). After you get the first two quarts you can easily judge how long the engine has to run.

alan

You are probably right.

However, I recommend a clear hose because you will be able to see the first signs of air/bubbles. You want to shut your engine off immediately at the first sight of air/bubbles as this is a sign of pump cavitation ( bad).

Having a helper is recommended to signal to shut down the engine.

AT is too expensive to risk cavitating the pump and consequential damage.

[arkie6]

Originally Posted by gnb

...I recommend a clear hose because you will be able to see the first signs of air/bubbles. You want to shut your engine off immediately at the first sight of air/bubbles as this is a sign of pump cavitation ( bad)...

Rather than run the engine until the transmission pump starts to cavitate, why don't you just run it until you have pumped out 2 quarts of ATF. Stop the engine. Refill the transmission with 2 new quarts of ATF. Repeat 7 times for a 14 quart flush. No risk of operating the transmission pump dry using this method. It may take a few more starts and stops, but overall shouldn't take much longer to do it this way since the slowest part of the project is refilling the transmission using that tiny dipstick/fill tube.

[gnb]

It is the lower of the 2 hoses to the AT cooler that you disconnect to flush- Confirm?

[akauth]

Originally Posted by gnb

You are probably right.

However, I recommend a clear hose because you will be able to see the first signs of air/bubbles. You want to shut your engine off immediately at the first sight of air/bubbles as this is a sign of pump cavitation ( bad).

Having a helper is recommended to signal to shut down the engine.

AT is too expensive to risk cavitating the pump and consequential damage.

Once you do it, you'll find that you're making it out to be much more difficult than it really is. It's not even close to being in the same league as bleeding brakes (two man method).

I did it at night by the overhead light in the garage shining out into my driveway so I don't think I would have seen any bubbles in a clear hose anyway. It was one step better than by flashlight on a pitch black street. The only problem I had was I had to walk the dipstick into the light to read the clean fluid (it's practically invisible) and I wished I'd thought about marking my catch container so that I knew when I was filling it by two quarts at a time. If you mark a stick ahead of time and poke it in the bucket if you're in the dark like I was you can walk the stick to the light to see how much you actually took. Obviously daylight makes thing much easier!

You'll find that you can *easily* connect to the upper cooler connector with a 3 foot transmission hose (or whatever the "out" on the cooler is, if you have one, you don't need to splice it to any hose that way). Put that line into a large 2 1/2 gallon plus container. Leave your driver door open, turn on the key and run the engine for 10 seconds or so (until you get two quarts... do it for 5 seconds the first time to be conservative), put two quarts in through dipstick (or whatever you took out), reach in the driver door again and run the engine for about 10 seconds (Sorry, I didn't time it exactly - once you get the first amount you know to go longer or shorter the next time you turn the key. I just did it by "feel". Count by thousands if you want.)

The only thing that I would have changed with the way that I did it was that I'd make some way that you can tell when you've put 2 quarts into the "catch container". The first "cycle" I had to empty it and measure what I drained so I could adjust to take 2 quarts the rest of the time. Then you know to refill it with slightly more or less than two quarts of fluid each time. Just eyeball it all until you get to the end. *THEN* (at the end) make sure that you haven't overfilled - if you underfill you can always add a little more later.

But in the end all that matters is that you have 4 gallons of waste trans fluid and you put 16 quarts in (one way or another). When you know you've pulled a gallon (two cycles), double check that you've put one gallon in. When you hit two gallons, ditto.

Double check the fluid level before you close everything up (as now you can easily take any extra out by running the engine a second or two) and do a "gross" check again the next morning when it's cold, then check it again in the parking lot when you get to work and you've been running it for 20 minutes at least.

The only thing I'd add is that if you change it on a hill (that's fine, rear is downhill) that you look at the dipstick when it's all cold so you get the "hill measurement" and then when you're done and the engine's cold again the next morning that you make sure that the fluid is roughly at that same place (assuming you're still parked in the same spot on the hill) as it was before you started. Of course always double check the fluid when it's properly warm (I'd even (over) check it two or three times during the week when it's warm/hot. It's often hard to see the clean fluid and you might misread it once. After that check it occasionally, but regularly.)

The other thing I'd add is that since the key is in the ignition and the door is open you'll want to pull the key out a little so that the "key in the ignition and the driver door is open" alarm doesn't keep sounding while you're filling the trans fluid.

Alan

[gnb]

Originally Posted by akauth

You'll find that you can *easily* connect to the upper cooler connector with a 3 foot transmission hose

Alan

Don't you mean the lower hose into the at cooler mounted in front of the
radiator?

Please confirm direction of flow - Does the AT pump fluid thru the upper hose of the cooler then out thru the lower hose?

I would want to get the old fluid flushed thru the at cooler.

Thanks and Great comments !

[mazatec]

Originally Posted by gnb

So simple-

1) Drain the 4 quarts ( or so ) from the pan and refill with new AT fluid;
2) Disconnect lower (i think) hose from the AT fluid cooler in front of radiator
3) Connect a clear hose long enough to go to a large bucket
4) Have an assistant start the engine and run until first sign of air/bibbles appear in the clear line running to the bucket and IMMEDIATELY stop engine
5) Add Approximately 2 quarts of fresh AT fluid (I will use Mobil 1 ATF) thru the dip stick tube via funnel;
6) Repeat steps 4 and 5 until AT fuid is bright pink ( approximately 14 quarts);
7) Reconnect the AT cooler line;
8) Top off AT fluid
9) Start her up and check for leaks and confirm fluid level

This is essentially the same procedure I use on my Volvo 850 turbo - except it is easier with the Toyota because there is no tricky hose connection to deal with.

The above is my way of doing the at flush and is for information only - please do your own research and proceed with care.

When do you change the filter?

[DevinSixtySeven]

for a great catch container, get a clear plastic drink jug from target or somewhere with quart marks...i used the two-....uh...i used the "get your girlfriend to turn the key" method, it went really fast with the graduated jug.

[akauth]

Originally Posted by DeepStealth

for a great catch container, get a clear plastic drink jug from target or somewhere with quart marks...i used the two-....uh...i used the "get your girlfriend to turn the key" method, it went really fast with the graduated jug.

Actually, that's a great idea! Using an restaurant sized drink container that is graduated.

I used the two and a half gallon trans fluid containers that my Amsol came in to catch. Two of those is more than enough space. Then all I had to do was screw the top on and I was ready for recycling. I didn't think about marking the containers first though.

Took me like 15 minutes even in my dark driveway (by myself).

Any two and a half gallon conainer is a good size though. Easier to handle than one four or five.

Though I guess if you drained into 4 milk containers you'd easily know how much to put back in each time (or at least when you should have put a gallon back in).


Alan

[DJ]

I did it this morning on my Tundra and found a few "tricks of the trade", so I thought I'd pass them along.

I connected a six foot piece of hose to the upper port of the transmission cooler. I mounted a big, blued-steel paper clip to the other end of the hose using a hose clamp, which let me clamp it to the lip of a two quart Pyrex measuring cup. I set the cup in my oil drain pan out to the side of the vehicle, which let me see it while running the engine. Then I could purge exactly two quarts at a time. The pouring lip on the cup made it easy to pour the two quarts of old fluid into the two quart bottles I just emptied.

So, the procedure was: drain two quarts, then fill two quarts, then pour the old fluid into the just-emptied bottles, and repeat until done.

Piece of cake.

[KLS]

Originally Posted by mazatec

When do you change the filter?

It doesn't have a filter...just a suction strainer in the sump. I add a filter, either a Magnefine or SPXFiltran in-line filter or a Racor LFS22825 transmission filter in the hose to the cooler.


Ken