I had my tranny fluid swapped over to Mobil1 synthetic at 60K miles. I had a local shop do the swap and I provided the fluid (they'd have marked it up). It was pretty cheap and I went back into the shop and helped them do it so I could make sure it was right. They basically used a big machine with the new fluid dumped into it and it hooked up to the input and ouput lines. Started the truck and let it idle and the old fluid was evacuated while the new fluid went in.

This is the way to go IMO. Only took about 15 minutes, no mess to clean up, no fluid to dispose of, and besides the fluid, relatively cheap.

 

I just dumped the pan and refilled and 3-4 months later dumped and refilled again. Waited a year and did that process again.

took about 3.5 quarts each time.

 

yeah ill call around to see who would do that service.. i am tempted to just drain and fill every oil change (5k miles) for about 4-5 times and then just do drain and fills every 15k miles BUT it would be nice to have all fresh fluid, well most fresh fluid...

 

my god, i cant find anyone that will do just the drain all atf and put more in for less than 100$... screw that

 

mkgarrison, you must be the most obsessed person I have ever seen when it comes to automobile fluids/lubes. LOL! J/K man but I just came to that realization after seeing a lot of your posts. I think I am obsessed too if I have been reading them all!

 

Even if you bring your own fluid? That's the key. The labor on this is literally 15 minutes.

 

This is a good read before you go buy your ATF:
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f2/w...-other-105153/

 

Interesting thread, but it dead ends. What happened to all the data that was gonna be posted?

At 60K miles I changed over to Molbil1 Synthetic (http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/Mo...hetic_ATF.aspx) and Mobil1 Synthetic gear oil in my transfer case and diffs (http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/Mo...75W-90LS.aspx). I can tell you that even with my SC installed the shifts are quite firm. I couldn't tell a difference after installing my SC so I went to a local tranny shop and had the guys test it out to see if I needed a VB upgrade. The tranny tech and I went for a ride with him driving and he said things felt fine and didn't recommend a VB upgrade for my vehicle. He pointed out things to watch for such as RPM drop between shifts and how quickly the RPM came back up after shifting, burned fluid smell, etc.

I can't tell a difference in shifting from NA at all. I'm not saying this Mobil1 fluid has anything to do with that, but it is what it is.

Also, I run a 4454 TruCool tranny cooler. I never see temps over 190 on my tranny temp gauge.

 

I guess he got busy Speedy, but there was plenty there for me anyway.

 

my 02 tacoma states dexIII so thats what i will stick with. Mobil atf syn fullfills my needs and so does maxlife dex\merc..

btw T-IV isnt quite as good as you may think. if you use T-IV do drain and fills at 15k mile intervals. seriously, i have seen many uoa's on T-IV and it is NOT a 60k mile atf fluid for sure..

 

yeah 100$... he is such a punk.. i am going to call around some more and if i cant find the right price i may either start doing drain and fills with M1 or pull the cooler line and do it that way.

 

Check a local GoodYear. That's who did mine.

If you have to just pull the cooler line and let it idle. As the fluid pumps out pour in new until it comes out the color of the new fluid. That's basically what this machine does anyway, but if you can find someone to do it you wont' have to fool with fluid disposal.

 

Plus you don't have to worry about the shop having a dirty machine or fittings. I found one place that would do a $35 flush with my oil, but I had to ask the guy to wipe off the dirty fitting as he was starting to push it into my cooling line. I just do it myself now.

 

Good point. Also make sure they're machine is completely empty of standard ATF in the reservoir.

When I did mine I actually filled and ran the machine myself.