Did my first series of drain & fills this weekend and came across a strange leak. I noticed ONLY during the refilling stage, that somewhere between the dipstick hole and the pan, I'm losing a bit of fluid that finds its way on my garage floor. I did not lift up on the funnel during, nor did I overwhelm the funnel with fluid. It was a pretty slow pour both times. Maybe a hole in my dipstick tube?! Anyone?

 

Could be not pouring slow enough. I had the same thing happen. It's a really small tube with an angle. Backs up quickly

 

+1

The same thing happened to me. I probably could've been a little more gentle with my filling technique, but wasn't too worried about it when I saw the small pool of tranny fluid in my garage. I just wiped off the undercarriage of the car and floor, and went about my merry.

 

I'm sure it's just coming out when you're pouring.

 

I'm quite conservative and am a firm believer that unless we are the original owners and have replaced trans fluid from the onset..... let sleeping dogs lye. Our transmissions are quite robust and after 120,000 miles my fluid is bright red... Not touching it....

 

Yep, you guys were right. I did another d & f this weekend, and slowed the pour down to the point where any slower the fluid would run down the side of the bottle. Guess that's the trick for anybody considering this procedure.

 

Awesome. Yeah for my last drain and fill I actually got a fluid pump and some rubber hose and connected that to the bottle. I then ran the hose a few inches into the dipstick. Very clean, and not dribbling out. You live and learn!

 

I am in the same boat with you so I hope there is no leak in the bottom! My SC has 198K on the clock. I bought it with 180K and have no idea what the transmission history is. I took it to the Toyota dealer and asked if they would do a drain and fill because I didnt want to do a flush. They wouldnt do either ( on any Toyota) and told me is was better to follow the dealers recommendations, which is "its a lifetime transmission and fluid". . I shifts like new.
I wonder if there is any history showing that transmission fails were more or less common if you screwed with factory recommendations or just let it lay as recommended?

 

I don't believe that there is any sort of "lifetime" fluid. Lifetime of the transmission, lifetime of the fluid??? Drain and fills introduce a fairly low amount of new fluid to the system, I think its around 2.5 qts or so. I would never entertain a flush as I feel that can "shock" the system vs slowly introducing new fluid through multiple drain and fills. Just my $.02...

 

Lifetime of the manufacturers warranty is what I hear!

 

Agreed. I drained mine to replace the pan and shift seal as they were both leaking. It was pretty dark but didn't smell funky. I'll probably do another drain and fill in a few thousand miles to slowly introduce the new fluid as I have no idea if it has ever been serviced before.

Now if I had an 80's Chevy with burnt fluid that shifted fine I would leave it.

 

Find a different dealer. I've had both my 04' GX470 (160k) and my current 16' Tundra (60k) serviced at my local dealer with no questions asked. Super expensive ($240-ish) as the dealer's rate is $204/hr... Both are sealed units and I didn't want to mess with the fill procedure and the Tundra is still under the certified warranty until 100k.

 

You can also spend a few dollars for the high flow pump kit to pump in the fill on the transmission. I cut a longer clear tubing so I dont have to lay under the car. But you can squirt the new fluid in pretty quickly and painlessly.

Plus its obviously universal so it works on all your cars :-)
https://a.co/d/5scXrsx
This kit has the clip that wont fall out of the plug hole as you pump- just add 3 or 4 ft clear tubing from ACE. And I have a valvoline gallon jug I like so I fill that and fits the pump straw perfect for depth.

 

For sealed trans there's a pump that makes it super easy. I did my LS430 and GX470