hi all,
i'm a noob ...been reading and searching this forum for the pass month...Gadgets write up on flushing the auto trans fluids is great seems really simple.

my dad has a 00 tacoma 4wd. Can I use valvoline dextron as oppose going to the dealer and getting the $4 dollar quarts?
Do you guys/gals recommend this?

From what i've been reading many of you prefer amsoil. But I really don't want to spend that much as the car does not really do heavy towing or offroading much...

Let me know thanks!

 

Haven't flushed YET....but when I do I'm going to Mobil ATF.

a

 

I think any dex3 tranny fluid is ok. You don't have to go to synthetic, but it doesn't hurt. I wouldn't get the fluid from the dealer though, way too expensive. It's not like there's anything special about it.

 

Considering synthetic can go twice as long the price is a wash, almost. The tranny will run cooler, too and as you probably know, heat kills. Overkill?...maybe. But its a $20,000+ truck that you probably want to give the best maintenance possible. If I had to do it all over again...I would have gone 100% synthetic after the first 1000 miles.

 

hmmm...i guess it would not be too late to go synthetic????
the truck has 50k miles on it. would it be to late to go with synthetic?
thanks

 

No problem. I switched @ 116K .

 

Valvoline synthetic is available at Checker/Schucks. Made my power steering a lot quieter and smoother.

 

thanks all!! i did the whole flush this weekend, rather simple but a little messy...i must say the first 4 quarts out of the line were a little discolored. but after using 19 quarts it became really clean thanks for the tips!!! i ended up using maxlife dex3.

 

hey man,

what's the details....I need to do mine b4 winter.....do you just keep adding fluid till it's clean? got a link?

thanx!

aaron

 

Here is a good start http://www.amsoil.com/faqs/faq8.htm I used a 5 gallon bucket, made up a dip stick to track how much came out versus poured in. Had to stop twice to catch up. You don't want to run the pumps dry. The steel line nearest the front on the A/T is the output, follow that to the radiator cooler and disconnect the output from the cooler (driver side on my tacoma). I make up a plug (piece of hose with a bolt in it) for the return. Place the hose in the bucket, and start it up Figure on using about 18 - 20 quarts of ATF to make the flush.