Comprehensive Guide to Performing a 5th Gen Transmission Service

https://youtu.be/H3H9JGg_rF0

**Parts**
Drain and fill:
-Transmission pan drain plug crush washer (35178-30010)
-Transmission pan check plug crush washer (35178-30010)
-5 quarts of WS transmission fluid

Transmission service:
-Transmission pan drain plug crush washer (35178-30010)
-Transmission pan check plug crush washer (35178-30010)
-Transmission pan gasket (35168-60010)
-Transmission fluid strainer (35330-60050)
-Transmission fluid strainer o-ring (90301-31014)
-6 quarts of WS transmission fluid

**Torque Specs**
-Transmission fluid strainer: 10 n/m
-Transmission pan: 7 n/m
-Transmission fill plug: 37 n/m
-Transmission check plug: 20 n/m
-Transmission drain plug: 20 n/m

**Draining Transmission Fluid**
Make sure the vehicle is cold and on level ground. There are 3 plugs (drain, check, and fill), loosen the fill plug first, loosen and retighten the check plug second, then remove the drain plug completely. You always want to do it in that order because if the fill plug won’t come out or the hex on the check plug is stripped you want to know that before you drain all the fluid and the vehicle is no longer drivable. After the fluids drains put the drain plug back in with a fresh crush washer and tighten it. Move onto replacing transmission fluid strainer, or to directly to filling transmission fluid.

**Replacing Transmission Fluid Strainer**
Unbolt the transmission pan leaving one screw loosely installed at the front and one screw loosely installed at the back. With a rubber dead blow hammer gently hit the transmission pan sideways to break it loose and remove the pan. There will be quite a bit of fluid still in the bottom of the pan. Unbolt the transmission fluid strainer and wiggle it off, this will release more fluid that will drain out the bottom of the filter. Use transmission fluid to lubricate a new o-ring and install it in the strainer. Push the strainer up into place while gently rotating it back and forth to avoid pinching the o-ring. Once seated bolt it back into place. Using lint-free rags, clean out the inside of the transmission pan, the magnets in the bottom of the pan, and the gasket mating surfaces on both the pan and the transmission itself. Reinstall the transmission pan with the new gasket making sure to start each bolt before tightening any of them.

**Filling Transmission Fluid**
Remove the fill plug and add transmission with fluid using whatever method you choose. Reinstall and tighten the fill plug. **Setting Transmission Fluid Level** On level ground start the engine and let it idle for 15-20 seconds. Shift from park, to reverse, to neutral, to drive, then back up through the gears to park and repeat a handful of times, just a couple seconds in each to help circulate fluid. Then let it idle in park and monitor the transmission fluid temperature. You can let it idle in gear or gently brake torque the engine to build up temperature in the fluid faster. When transmission fluid temperature reaches 100-105 degrees 100-105 degrees (official Toyota specification is 40-45 C which is like 103-113 F) let it idle in park and pull the check plug back out of the transmission pan and let the excess fluid drain out. If no fluid comes out the fluid level is too low. Once it slows to trickle put the check plug back in with a new crush washer and you’re done.

See the video for detailed views and to get a better understanding of everything. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Great video. Just a suggestion, You should post torque specs for all the plugs and bolts, including the filter bolts.

 

Technically everything has a torque spec, but non of these components are torque sensitive. Valve body in the trans... absolutely. Pan, filter, drain plugs... not so much. Common sense and feel you gain from experience goes a long way, however I realize my frame of reference (17 years of working on vehicles between being a technician and doing quality testing and development on prototype vehicle) is quite different than a typical person. I’m going to pay for a day of TIS access to get the proper torque sequence spec for the water pump replacement I’m going to be doing so I’ll look it up for these as well when I do it and I’ll update the original post.

 

Torque specs added

 

I’ve done my own transmission fluid maintenance twice myself and got the torque specs from another thread in the other forum. But I bet some nitwit here would have probably watched your video and over torqued their plugs and bolts.

 

Guessing this leaves fluid in the torque converter?

 

Absolutely, you’re never going to fully drain a transmission and all of its components without completely disassembling everything. No drain plug is empty the transmission. It’s not a full fluid exchange.

 

I apologize if this has been covered before. I Some other forums mention the valve body assembly bolts. In the video you didn’t re-torque those 19 bolts or it didn’t make it to the video. Is this something that should be done and do you have a torque spec for that?

 

The valve body does not need to be retorqued during a service. You’re certainly more than welcome to while you’re there, but it’s definitely not necessary.

 

I appreciate your help!

 

The drain fill plug bolt is a 24mm the check in a 5mm allen the drain bolt is a 14mm.

 

If you’re in a hurry, try refreshing the fluid by weight. The volume changes with temperature, but the weight is the same. So weigh what drains out and replace it with the same weight of new fluid.

Cheers
Mike

 

at what mileage should we be doing trans service? this is one of the few services our local dealer doesn't tries to push on me. can't believe its a 'lifetime" thing though

 

I had it done at 58k when I bought mine, then I did it again at 85k myself, and will be doing it this summer around 107k. Just drain and fills for the last two. The first one was a pan drop and new filter by an indy mechanic.

 

60K per the manual's "harsh environment" recommendation.

 

If you’re in a hurry don’t start a trans service.

 

If you could do it efficiently, maybe it will be done more often.

 

If there are no visible leaks, no fluid lost, and Toyota filled it properly from the assembly line, I assume, then why dropping and replacing with the same quantity, by weight, would not work?

I've watched AMD, the Car Care Nut master Toyota technician doing it on Youtube, full process - temp check, etc.
AMD says a full fluid flush/replace is not needed, just enough fluid replace to add some fresh fluid in for enough dilution and refresh would do.

Always wondered why not just replace by weight?

I can only think of one reason, possibly fluid loss along the years, not noticed due to washing/rust proofing, etc washed out the leaks traces so we end up with low fluid, but not low enough to create visible transmission issues, etc.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe The Car Care Nut also states that replacing the filter/strainer is not necessary with a partial trans fluid exchange when performing regular maintenance. It's just a screen and not an actual filter. Reason given was that the trans pan bolts were prone to seizing and breaking upon removal. So I don't know how to take that. The longer you wait to unbolt the pan the more prone they are to seizing and breaking. Not that a helicoil repair to a pan bolt is a big deal.

 

The argument I've seen against this is that there could be metals in the used oil increasing its weight.

Probably negligible, but I guess it's possible.

I just do a cold drain and fill. That way there is no thermal expansion of the fluid. The same amount taken out is the same amount put in (again, assuming the correct amount of fluid was put in from the factory). Also, I have no evidence of leaks.

And wouldn't you know it, my transmission hasn't blown up yet!

 

All bets are off if the system isn’t healthy.

If everything looks as it should, using weight will work fine. If you suspect fluid loss (or worse) you’re better off using a more structured technique including the temperature/overflow method to bring it to specs.

Using any shortcuts or not, this is still a good post

 

LOL.

 

THanks all, yes, this is a thing you can do better or not, but important to do it somehow. And yes, AMD said no need for filter in a regular fill. But then again, people push these cars much more than just pavement, and then things may need way more care than a regular.

 

That’s a lot of assumptions just to avoid actually setting the fluid level. If you’ve ever weighed fluid it’s so f’n tedious!

When I was doing quality testing and development the test cars tracked oil consumption. At start of test the cars would get the oil set to full at a specific oil temp. After that it was never filled until the oil level warning light came on. Every routine maintenance the oil would be weighed and the same amount that came out would be back in down the gram. You weigh an empty container and your clean gloves and tools. Get the engine oil to a specific temp, pull the oil drain plug and catch the oil, while letting it drain and drip for 20 minutes exactly weigh your dirty gloves and tools and subtract the initial weight to see how much oil transferred to those. at 20 minutes install a new drain plug and crush washer and torque to spec. Weight your container of oil and subtract the empty weight to get the oil weight. Add the tool, glove, container oil weights for your total value. We also had a dry and clean wet values of oil filters to compensate for how much oil those held. Clean everything, weigh a clean oil filling jug and funnel then add your fill of oil to the engine. Once you poured it in, reweigh the container and funnel to see how much oil you lost as residue coating the inside the those. Now you’re close, weigh a clean glass beaker, add slight more oil than you need to make up for the cling losses and pour in little by little reweighing often until the fill is accurate down to the gram of what come out at the service.

It’s a very impractical process. For this you’re starting from an unknown assumed level and you’re not going to be accurate with refilling what you took out.

It’s so much quicker and easier to just pull a plug inside a temperature range and just let it drain itself down to the proper fill level all on its own.

 

Thanks for this, an involved process indeed.

I can add that a cold drop and refill with the same amount, like someone said above, may be working.

Also, if you just pull a plug inside a temperature range, you have to get to the range which is not very precise, then pull the plug, then let itself drip out but not completely off, just a drip, what is a drip, which is not precise, etc.

Anyway, thanks for this description, it is really something to know the process of testing cars!

 

As long as the truck is level and at specified trans temp the level check plug method is very accurate. I wouldn't weigh anything because you're going on the assumption that the level was correct in the first place and might not be. Trans fluid levels are pretty forgiving just remove the check plug and put it back in when it stops gushing dripping is no big deal. This method guarantees the trans is neither over or under filled. Partial fluid changes are fine. As for exchanging all the fluid this can be a bad choice mostly if it's a high mileage trans that's had zero maintenance because the clutch material worn off is suspended in the fluid and helps provide the necessary friction to minimize clutch slippage. Point is a partial fluid change is perfectly acceptable when following your maintenance schedule.

 

I would have to agree. Using laboratory beakers, calibrated scales and trying to calculate the friction coefficient of the container just doesn’t sound practical to me.

I think when the time comes, I will pay the dealership for a drain and fill or get a scan gauge and do it myself. Depends on my mood at the time.

I enjoy these forums for the most part, but there’s an awful lot of reinventing the wheel perspectives too.

 

There shouldn’t be so much fear of doing a drain and fill (about 3 quarts) and setting the level at the proper temperature. Do it every 60,000 miles. It’s a well documented procedure and there are many YouTube videos showing how to do it. The most accurate way to determine the proper temperature is the jumper method or the scan tool method (read via the OBD2 port).

Don’t short cut it by measuring or weighing what you drain. As the Car Care Nut says, do it properly, that’s what separates the amateurs from the professionals.

See post #1 in this thread:
https://www.4runners.com/threads/transmission-fluid-change.21290/#post-269030

 

I've done the drain and fill when I had my 2012 Tacoma and it was very easy and straightforward. If you can do an oil change, you can do a drain and fill service of the trans.

I never had to do anything with a strainer though. Is this something specific to the 4runner? We have to install a new one vs cleaning the original and reinstalling? Is this also required every 60k miles?