Beartracker

My 2001 4x4 SR5 2.7 has 70,000 miles on it and I have been doing a little preventive touble stopping,Lol. One thing I want to do or have done is a transmission flush. I was told that replacing the trans filter on this model was not recomended and not nesasary, anyone have any info on how true that is or should I just replace it anyway? Also how many quorts of fluid do I need for a complete flush? Thank's for any info or suggestions you may have, Mike

mt_goat

I don't know specificly about your model, but when I dropped the pan on my tranny (at about 100,000 miles) the filter was fairly clean. It had a some little tiny slivers of metal stuck in it, but it was far from getting clogged. The magnets in the pan where very dirty however and I was happy I dropped the pan just to clean them up. In general it takes about 16-17 quarts for a full flush. Here is a good read on flushing: http://www.gadgetonline.com/TransFlush.htm

wrenchmonster

Yeah, this topic has been talked about before, I'd do a search. On the filter, there are 2 types... cleanable and not cleanable. So, you need to find out which one you have. My personal opinion in dropping the pan is a good idea. Even if to just look around and see if you may have some pending problems.

On the flush, make sure you get a good power flush, that is... one that will clean out the fluid in the torque converter and clean out the lines. Not a simple drain and re-fill. I'd personally recommend looking for a shop that has BG services.

For the homemade/DIY tranny flush you can take off a cooler line and start the engine and let fluid drain while adding fluid into the dipstick hole until you see clean fluid on the other end. Also shifting through the gears to clean the valve body.

I have thought of a homemade transmission flush machine. I used to think you could have two buckets, tap into the cooler lines, have new fluid in one bucket and an empty bucket for the line draining out of the transmission. An old timer told me this. However, someone pointed out to me that there is no "sucker" line, that is, the transmission flow is neutral. It requires pressure only from one side forcing fluid via fluid. Transmission flush machines use a bladder type system to accomplish this task.

I consulted my "old timer" again and he laughed. I apparently mis-understood what he was saying the first time. Here's what he told me: (revised)

Two 5 gallon buckets. One with new fluid, one empty. Both buckets have lids (they have to be sealed). The bucket with new fluid has a tube (tube 1) that goes all the way to the bottom, submerged in the transmission fluid. Then there is another tube that goes from the top of one bucket to the other bucket. This tube (tube 2) only needs to pierce the tops of both buckets. The third tube (tube 3, lol) pierces the top of the empty bucket. Once you figure out which side of the cooler line is pushing fluid out, this side will be connected to tube 3. As the fluid from the transmission enters through tube 3 it creates pressure in the empty bucket. This pressure is transferred through tube 2 which essentially creates pressure on top of the new fluid. As pressure is created on top the the new transmission fluid it forces the fluid down and the new fluid then flows through tube 1 and back into the transmission. Simple right?

My buddy swears it works, though also tells me that he spent some time sealing everything. His lids are permanently attached and he has seperate openings on the buckets to add or remove fluid. He also has a disconnect on tube 2 so he can seperate the buckets. Furthermore, he has an air fitting with a regulator on the empty bucket so as to be able to force the fluid down (a booster) if need be. He advises to keep the air WAY down, like 3-5psi. There is also a one-way check valve on tube 3 so that the regulated air booster cannot feedback to the transmission.

So, that's it. I've yet to see this contraption or know that it works or doesn't work. I make no claims to this idea or it's usefullness. I simply hope this provides an idea to anyone thinking of making their own flush machine.

-Wrench

Beartracker

Thanks for all the great info guy's. It look's like I'm going to let my mechanic handle this one,Lol. Mike

TechWrench

I can see how, in theory, this method should work. But everything must be sealed very well in order for the pressure generated on the 'out' side of the cooling circuit to force the fluid back in the return line. It sounds like a very 'inventive' design. I would wonder about the practicality for the average DIYer though. If you only flush your unit every 30-50k, does it pay to go through all that work to construct this system, and save it between uses? Who knows............

4RUNR

Yeah, those universally highly educated and skilled professionals.

You might want to a do a search on here to look at some of the outcomes after project done by similarly minded "not mentioned anywhere maintenance" and "fix it 'till it's broken people".

Best advice to you, if you planning to keep your truck for a while, is do a simple ATF drain and refill at every or every other oil change. This will clean up the fluid, if it was dirty, fairly quickly without any surprises. Plus you'll sleep better from seeing the fluid more often.

Beartracker

4Runr, Lol , sounds like good advice to me. Mike

wrenchmonster

First of all. I'm an ASE master tech. I also hold a B.S. in Business Administration, a minor in Geography, and an associates in Automotive Service. So there goes your theory of uneducated technicians. LOL.

I'll also add that simply removing 1/4 of the transmissions fluid and topping off with new fluid will only serve to dilute the fluid. There would be little to any benefit in this procedure. I would compare it to not changing your oil filter and only dumping out 1/2 of your engine oil every oil change.

Sure the fluid might be a little better, but I have to wonder why one would choose this route when there is a far better option. I would find a shop that uses BG services and do a transmission flush. This flush would exchange ALL of your transmissions fluid. Why settle for less?

Just make sure to check your fluid level when it's all said and done. Lube techs (the guy who would most likely be performing such a service) can be hit or miss. Sometimes you get a good one, and sometimes a bailing wire mechanic. (Bailing wire mechanic = def. A man of little to no mechanical skill)

While you're getting your transmission flush I'll be busy figuring out why you only have power windows on one side of your vehicle, and when you hit the door lock switch your dome lights flicker and your radio goes blank.

-Wrench

dragon564

Were you driving my truck while I was skiing?

I get lotsa work from those bubble gum and bailing wire mechs. best one I ever saw was the guy who used JB weld to hold a ground wire for stero job....only he 'welded' the wire to the antenna shield/ground and must of put it all back together before it was dry and cured.....you know where it goes from there.....BG AND BW mechs have me convinced that darwin does not work fast........

4RUNR

I have real doubts about your basic math skills though, or your interpretation of English words such as "little" or "any". After the 2nd such "dilution", 44% of total original supposedly contaminated fluid in there will be replaced with clean.

I can draw you a pie chart to represent the 44% relative to the whole 100%.

ChickenLover

I was under this same 'delusion' once myself. I tried that method during the first couple of years of owning my runner. I regret it. In my experience, it is a waste of time. A few quarts of new fluid is not a cure for your old fluid. Why drag out the life of aging aft fluid? A complete system flush is just about as easy as changing your engine oil. If you are going to spend any time and money at all, why not do it right?

4RUNR

ChickenLover, I'm certainly not going to argue with anyone who thinks long worded unsubstantiated opinions have any weight to sway opinions.

I primarily suggested to do a search to the original poster to come up with his own conclusions. After all, it's your transmission, you can do whatever you want. Even pour SeaFoam in there.

mt_goat

The first time I flushed the cooling system on my BMW I used a repeated drain-refill-run, drain-refill-run....after about 4-5 cycles of doing that in the driveway the stuff draining out looked just like the stuff going in and I was happy. Now I think if I just do it once a year I'll be ok.

The last time I flushed the ATF in my truck, I dropped the pan and changed the filter and cleaned up all the magnets, then put it back together and refilled and drove to a quick lube place that let me bring my own Mobil 1 ATF (17 quarts). They used the flush machine with my ATF and charged about $40.

wrenchmonster

Wow, your math is stunning. I'm sitting here just pondering how intelligent and verbose you are. Sorry, I'm not writing a disertation here. You are correct oh wise one, I should have stated "little IF any". Sorry, I'll never doubt any future statement you should make here on the forums.

For the record, no I did not sit down and calculate how much fluid is retained in the pan vs. the total amount of fluid in the system. Frankly, I think your method of dilution is a waste of time.

Let's say you have a cup of dirty oil. You drain 1/2 of the oil. Then you place clean oil back into the cup, mix it around and what do you have in the end? A cup of dirty oil. And if you repeated the procedure what would you have left over? Still a dirty cup of oil. The amount of dirt left over is less, okay, big deal.

My point is that if there is a better alternative, why not use it? Why only remove 1/2 of the dirty oil when you can remove all of it?

Maybe you should stop making pie charts and try to gain some real skill and knowledge where you clearly lack. If I performed a transmission service as you detailed I would not have a job. You wouldn't last a day in a shop. You are wrong sir, plain and simple.

And hey, you dished it out first. Let's just hope your massive brain can sustain an insult from a mere common man like myself.

-Wrench

bikeguy18974

As mentioned before do a search- not just here but try google too. There are folks on here who will tell you to do a complete flush and how much it helped their trans. There are folks who've had a complete flush done and had nothing but problems afterwards.

There's no right answer. I think it all depends on the age/mileage on the trans and probably a million other things.