I got an oil change and mechanic told me that I have a transmission pan gasket leak, has anybody ever replaced this Gasket on there 3rd gen? I looked under my car and sure enough there is tranny fluid leaking from the pan/tranny area. My question is this Gasket hard to replace? or is it fairly easy and is it safe to pour more tranny fluid in to compensate for what has leaked out already??. any advice/info will be appreciated. thanks

 

Haven't done a 4Runner, but it's not bad on the other cars I've done. You'll have to drain all the ATF, and you'll have the pan off, so you may as well change the fluid and filter while you're at it.

If there's a drain in the pan, drain out all the fluid. There's just a bunch of bolts around the perimeter of the pan, undo them, replace the gasket and put it back. It is very important that you tighten the bolts in an crossing pattern to the proper torque.

Or you could just keep filling it up. Some Lucas tranny additive may help too.

 

Toyota was very nice and put a drain plug in the tranny. Remove it and drain the fluid. Then like tc said undo all the bolts and remove the pan. It'll probably be stuck so carefully pry it off with a flat paint scraper of something. Don't use a screwdriver or chisel, the pan is soft and if you gouge the surface it'll never seal properly. The filter is just a fine mesh screen, doesn't need replacing unless it's torn. Clean it with carb or brake cleaner. Replace the filter and pan, with new gasket.

 

Is it an actual gasket that needs replacing or is it a sealant on our transmissions (3rd gen)?