Changed Tranny Fluid And Filter. . .not An Easy Task!

[Micah]

What a mess. i had that fluid in my hair, clothes, and everywhere in my garage. Next time it will be taken to the shop! I just was wondering if anyone else's toyota or lexus dealerships state that the filter need not be changed. I always thought it to be a good idea to change them. I did and the pan looked fairly clean (a few very fine particles and a little trash stuck to some magnets, but not much. Fluid felt a bit gritty. I'd like to get a whole system flush. I put the Lucas Transmission Additive into the mixture and it calmed 3rd gear down a little bit and smoothed out the other gears some too, but 3rd still clunks into gear at about mid throttle. My old fluid is very dark. I put some in a jar to show and tell. Does it look normal?

Next I need to try an get some Daizen bushings next week after payday. I'd like to try and put them on. Are they difficult to do?

Also, does the rear knuckle have replacable bearings??

[whitesnake SC400]

Hi,

It looks darker than what i can see at my car's dipstick.

I changed original bushings to Daizen for front lower control arm. I gave it my car mechanics.

If you do it yourself , you need a torch to head original bushings and press it out of control arm.

Stan

[Micah]

Thanks! I teach high school and the person over the automotive department said it smelled burned. I'm going to get it changed next time I can get to the Toyota place. I think it is starting to shift a little better now with the lucas transmission fix additive. I'll probably start looking for a good low milage used transmission. Thanks for the reply!

[lexus082]

I find it very easy to drain the transmission fluid. I drive the car up onto ramps. Then I place a piece of cardboard underneath the car 3' x 3' or so along with newspaper. I used a empty milk container (1 gallon) and cut very upper half off. Then just place underneath the drain bolt, loosen drain bolt and then remove drain bolt from the pan. Then I refill accordingly to the dipstick. If you remove the pan however then it can be a little more messy. I just looked at your post again and read you removed the pan.

Unless your getting it flushed (which may have its own pros and cons), draining and refilling the transmission only takes approx 2 qts. I had Lexus do a drain and fill when I first bought my car and they charged $60.00 for the drain and fill. That didn't improve the color of the fluid at all. Over the course of several months I repeatedly did drain and fills on my transmission and the fluid went from being near black ( looked like used motor oil in a dirty engine) to looking like what I was pouring in, new pink ATF fluid. Took about 10-15 drain and refills to get mine back to looking normal.

Make sure your using Toyota Type TIV fluid with your SC400.

[Micah]

Sounds good, I just don't know why the toyota place told me that my transmission fluid still looked good. They said it didn't need changing. Loosing confidence in my local toyota dealership. They used to be good. I found a lube shop that will do a system flush and put toyota type IV into it. I'll probably take it there as they use the right fluid and only charge 110 dollars. The dealership charges 5 dollars a quart for the stuff. If I were to do 15 refills thats about 30 quarts at 5 dollars each quart, so 150 dollars. I'm going to chance their machine. If it burns up, oh well. I figure it needs a new transmission anyways.

[jzz30]

wow thats funny i did my filter on monday too! i was prepared though cuz i did it before on my LS. had a big box full of rags to absorb the falling oil. and well i did have access to a lift so it wasnt that bad for me...

[Micah]

Not something I want to do again. It did seem though that the filter was probably original as the gaskets were very hard where it mates to the transmission. The pan didn't have a lot of metal shavings in it, but I could tell it hadn't been changed in a while. I wasn't prepared for the mess. I didn't realize more would come out after dropping the filter, and the dip stick was a bit of a pain as well with my limited space underneath and all. I should have taken it to the transmission shop to have it done probably, but at least its done. Its getting repainted right now, so it is in the shop yet again. Not the cars fault, though. Previous owner must have gone off-roading in it. big dent in rear quarter panel and bumper. That should set me back another 1500 smackers, but it will look like brand new afterwards.