Haniblectre

I am wanting to replace all the tranny fluid in my 4runner with amsoil synthetic fluid. To those of you that have done this, just exactly what is the process to do a complete tranny fluid replacement?

I know that unlike most vehicles, it has a plug on the pan, so you don't have to drop the pan like most vehicles, but simply draining the pan isn't going to get all the old tranny fluid out, because there is tranny fluid in other places.

So what exactly is the process to do a complete tranny fluid replacement?

I've never done a complete replacement before, so I need to know, step by step, what the process is. Do you have to take it somewhere that has a machine that can flush it all out, or what?

98LimitedCustomized

I just recently did this on my 98 V6 auto.... I myself didn't have the best experiences right after the fact, but it looks like it's doing a bit better now.... Do not try to do a good tranny flush yourself, you simply can't do it. This isn't a human being thing, it's a machine thing. I'm not a mechanic but I know my stuff nonetheless.... Just dropping the pan or draining the fluid of tranny will only get about 1/4 or 1/3 of the total fluid out. A full flush takes a machine that I'd estimate (in small town midwest anyway) that only 1/4 to 1/2 of the places have... that's probably higher in Tejas though. I'm warning you, it's DAMN expensive, I was suprised. The fluid alone costs around $125, with labor on top of that. That's where YOU pay more! My tranny does shift nice now, I just had some problems with it not knowing how to ˟˟˟˟ quite right (do a search for details)..... any specifics I can answer!

trd90toyota

I'll agree on this. you might want to call lube shop (Grease Monkey)to see what it would cost for them to do the change. It might be cheaper if you supply the fluid. Just remember you might loose some syn. fluid because they are "flushing" the system.

Good Luck!

Haniblectre

I just found this on amsoil's website.

12 Easy Steps to Change Transmission Fluid

Read steps 10 and 11.

According to amsoil, a person can do a complete tranny fluid change themselves by removing the oil cooler line.

I wonder if that method only works on certain vehicles.

98LimitedCustomized

That does sound like it could work... but I still doubt as good as the machine. There are a lot of nooks and crannies compared to an engine. Notice how another person has to conveniently add fluid while it is being pumped out? You think they can do it at the same rate? You think tranny parts without fluid are okay without fluid? Actually, they more or less are. When you're in park there's not a whole lot moving in there. I'm just trying to say that this is probably one of those situations where a machine can do it better than a human can, which is why the better shops use it. I am unsure of the cleaning process they use: they clean the inside with solvents and then flush it all out. I wonder if it's not best to just do a COMPLETE fluid flush without the cleaning process.
I'm a lot like you, I'd rather do it myself, both for the savings and for the gaining of experience. This is the first thing I had a mechanic do, and I wish I would have done it for the cost savings but think the machine still wins..... I'll let you make your own choices!!

Alin10123

Here's a little bit of info on different tranny flushing methods.

http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.htm