Mixing transmission fluid? (refresh vs flu$h)

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guitfit - 24 May 2004 18:57 GMT

The Toyota dealer wants $125 to flush my '95 Camry transmission,
or $50 for a "refresh" which changes 4 of the 6 quarts. At
two dollars a quart, I decided I can do this myself. The only
question I have is what fluid to buy? Can I safely mix the
old with the new? I have no idea what Toyota put in the
tranny last time - will mixing different brands cause problems?
stratification? foaming?

The dipstick/manual calls for DexronII or better. Is it safe
for me to get four quarts of say, MobilOne ATF DexronIII (three)?
Then simply measure what falls out of the tranny and put that
much back in?

I realize this will only change 2/3rds of the fluid, but this
car has >100K miles, and I'll do this "refresh" twice as
often as the prescribed "flush."

Lastly, the dipstick/manual mentions the differential fluid,
I'm guessing this is separate from the rest of the tranny
(planets/torqueconverter/etc).. does the differential fluid
need replacing too? There's no scheduled maint requirement
for the differential, so I assume it's okay?

thanks!
-guitfit!

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WillPower@mailcity.com - 24 May 2004 19:12 GMT

Anything less than a total flush can cause more problems than
benefits it may produce. Transmission fluid is highly detergent,
that is why techs use it to clean so many things. You need to
remove the OLD gunk with the old fluid. Merely removing some and
adding new fluid will result in the new stuff cleaning the tranny
and depositing the gunk wherever
it lands. The newer machines flush new fluid completely through
the tranny and converter and removes the gunk before refilling
the tranny. Short of a tear dowm, that is the way to go. $125
is not a bad price depending on where you reside.
You don't need to go to a Toyota dealer to have it flushed, price
the job around. I'm willing to bet you will find a shop or a
domestic dealer that charges less. ;)

mike hunt

> The Toyota dealer wants $125 to flush my '95 Camry transmission,
> or $50 for a "refresh" which changes 4 of the 6 quarts. At
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> thanks!
> -guitfit!

Reply to this Message

Bob G. - 24 May 2004 21:05 GMT

>Anything less than a total flush can cause more problems than
>benefits it may produce. Transmission fluid is highly detergent,
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
>mike hunt

==================
RIGHT ON THE MONEY.....
Almost any transmission place can do the job right and I would wager
that most will charge you less then the dealer...

Bob

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nItpIk - 25 May 2004 13:50 GMT

Sounds like the way I've been doing things for a long time .. never a
problem, except keeping the pan from leaking some .. just use lots of high
temp silicone. I put a drain plug in the pan the first time I take it
apart, just to make it easy to drain the next time. It's always pretty
messy. Keep everything as clean as possible. Stick with the type of fluid
the owners manual states unless you know for sure that the newer stuff is
compatible. The gunk in the tranny should be picked up by the filter, and
if you change filter and fluid often enough, there won't be much gunk.
Always change the filter along with the fluid. That $50 or $125 is the
price a person pays for not getting their hands dirty .. it's quite a bit of
money considering what actually happens.

> The Toyota dealer wants $125 to flush my '95 Camry transmission,
> or $50 for a "refresh" which changes 4 of the 6 quarts. At
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
> thanks!
> -guitfit!

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