jiodaqmke

I changed the transmission fluid last week. I drained it with the drain plug then added 3.7 quarts of Mobil 1 ATF. Unfortunately the frame of my car is bent in a way that blocks a couple of the bolts to the oil pan, so I couldn't take it off to change the transmission filter.

The problem is now the transmission fluid level reads very high and it still looks brown like it did before the fluid change! No improvement in the color whatsoever! (The old fluid that drained out did have some red in it but it didn't look fresh at all)

Is there a special way to change the transmission fluid? And what do I do now? Will the fluid level eventually settle down?

Also, my speedometer doesn't work for the first few hundred feet of going, and for the first 5-10 MPH. This I only saw in the past couple days.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

The color is brown because you can't take all the fluid out through the drain plug. There is still a lot of old fluid in the torque converter that gets mixed with the new. The best you can do is keep draining and refilling(with some driving in between each one). About the level, you might have overfilled it, or you're not checking the dipstick in the right conditions - I'm not too familiar with the ES300, but on other cars, the engine needs to be running

MyEs300Yea

I have a 97 ES and just saturday got around to changing the tranny fluid, the car has 161K miles on it and the oil was brownie dark not even a hint of cherry.
So i went ahead and did a tranny flush, it is the only way to get all the dirty oil out of the tranny.

Lexmex

When I do my tranny fluid changes, I do 3 drain and fills over the course of 3 weeks (assume you are driving each week) or separate them by 100 miles apart. On the last drain and fill, that is when I would change out the tranny filter.

hypervish

x2, this is the best way. It's as effective as a flush, but it won't cause any harm unlike a fluid flush which would.

MyEs300Yea

How is fluid flush harmful? care to elaborate please.

yeldogt

As others have indicated when you drain the fluid you are only doing a partial change - normally it is 4 quarts - but you are draining from the lowest point - so theoretically the heaver sediment will drain. If you have any sediment.

What you are trying to achieve is to refresh the additive pac -- that is why if the transmission is to use Toyota Type IV -- it should be used.

You did not indicate the year - older ones are Dex 2 and 3

The filter is just a screen -- it is just to take out any stray particles. The dealers never change them - you are not achieving anything by changing it. If it is some how clogged -- changing the filter/fluid is not going to fix it.

If the fluid is particularly dirty changing it out a second time may do some good.

Transmission fluid is not subjected to the same conditions as oil in an engine.

snowmaker

I used Amsoil ATF fluid; WAY better then Toyota fluid...works mint...If it's a clogged changing the filter will help. But they are a stainless steeel filters, on these models .So you could clean them.

I installed Amsoil ATF 40K miles and 70, then 100K miles and now at 160K and will drain this summer. Runs mint (cooler too). Have Amsoil in a 98 and 06..love it.

hypervish

A transmission flush is harmful because it dislodges particles and then they flow through into the valve body and can potentially clog it.

MyEs300Yea

Are you talking about when they do it with the machine that push fluid thru the system or unplugging the return hose and let all the dirty fluid go into a bucket and keep adding new fluid until the red starts to flow.

hypervish

A flush is when the machine is used.

Unplugging the return hose (transmission oil cooler), is safe.

yeldogt

Snowmaker I'm glad that you are having good luck with the product you are using -- but it is important to point out to those on the forum what is specified for a particular car.

Every professional rebuilder of the most common transmission in the ES specifically points out to use the Type IV - Jasper makes it a point of warranty.


I'm not sure how one fluid will change a temp over another or how you determine if one fluid is better than another - but I do know that Toyota designs a additive pac for the fluid to achieve a certain shift and the electronics in the transmission are designed with that in mind.

With the R&D involved, the development of the fluid, and all the costs of stocking the product and the price they sell it for -- if spending a few dollars more on a stock product would achieve the same thing -- Toyota would buy the Amsoil fluid. So would everybody else.


The flushes have always created debate -- some say they dislodge particles - others say that some flushers use low pressure and can not do this. Most people don't touch or think about the transmission until something happens at 180k and then they change the fluid and when the trans dies they blame the flush.

LeX2K

I agree. But at the same time, the Amsoil is spec'd to be compatible with Toyota T-IV, Dexron, and others. What can (and often is) be hotly debated is if the stated specs are to be believed, and if the fluid is indeed compatible and safe.

I put Royal Purple in my ES, and the transmission shifts better than when it had the Toyota fluid in it, so from that perspective it seems to be a better fluid. I would find it hard to believe that RP or Amsoil, who are very respected, would put a compatibility on their product when it was in fact not suitable. I personally think Toyota T-IV (which is actually Mobil-1 3309) is a poor fluid, it turns brown faster than any ATF I've ever seen. I've also read several stories about transmission failures running the stuff, mostly in the Lexus SUV's.

MyEs300Yea

when we bought our ES, the first thing i did was a tune-up then i happen to pull the tranny stick and notice when i clean the stick with the napkin it was dark, so i ask which ATF my 97 needed and was told DexronIII, then i find out that DexronIII is supposed to be cherry color not Brown, and this is what led me to do my own flush, which it was by disconnecting the return hose and placing it into a bucket and watch all the Brown oil come out, i used a whole case of ATF but im happy that it looks cherry and not brown.

Lexmex

Share similar sentiments. I switched from Type IV to Amsoil and now trying Redline's ATF, both Amsoil and Redline are significant improvements over Type IV.