Home › Forums › Stay Dirty Lounge › The EricTheCarGuy Video Forum › 2004 Toyota 4Runner Transmission Fluid/Filter
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November 26, 2012 at 4:24 pm #479832
Since this one is 2 parts I’ll end up posting both videos here when done. I think the most ‘controversial’ part of this series will be the service interval. I did have quite a bit of trouble nailing down a service interval, in fact most of what I found said ‘don’t change it’. What are your thoughts and experiences?
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November 26, 2012 at 10:15 pm #479841
Think that if something is disassembled, at least it is necessary to clean everything, at the best to replace that it is possible for once again then to do it there is no desire)))
November 26, 2012 at 10:57 pm #479844[quote=”Zummer3642″ post=39387]Think that if something is disassembled, at least it is necessary to clean everything, at the best to replace that it is possible for once again then to do it there is no desire)))[/quote]
Not sure I follow you on this one sorry.
November 26, 2012 at 11:22 pm #479850Eric I think you missed something.I found this trick many moons ago Most tranny gaskets that come in a box have 4 bolt holes in the gasket witch is just a little smaller than the rest after you clean every thing down find the smaller holes in the gasket lay it on the pan Take a bolt and insert it to the pan to the gasket Two things happen here first the bolt will hold the gasket in place and 2nd the bolt will NOT fall out because the gasket hole holds the bolt in place with This trick you never need a sealant to hold the gasket This works 100 % Over the years I have showed this trick to a lot of techs that never knew it was there Next time you do a tranny service look real close to the gasket bolt holes You will find about four that are just a tad smaller :cheer:
as far as service interval is every 30.000 miles
November 27, 2012 at 3:38 am #479950Not all gaskets have holes in them that are tight enough to hold a bolt in, most but not all. But yea if the gasket will hold a bolt, definitely thread a few bolts into the gasket to keep it in place, makes things so much easier. I am a bit surprised that Eric didn’t clean out the pan properly, I always clean the pan and magnets spotless by using dish soap and water (or some other grease cutting detergent) and then dry things up with compressed air. Otherwise a lot of sludge and crud stays in the bottom of the pan where it loves to accumulate.
As for changing the filter versus cleaning, I’ve tried to clean them but you can never get all the gunk out, it is just easier to replace the filter, which comes in a filter kit along with the gasket anyway. A note on the exhaust fasteners Toyota uses, they are designed to be one time use nuts, they have a split design which is supposed to make sure they don’t come loose. Well they don’t come loose, but the design also makes it much harder to remove them, in fact sometimes the stud gets stripped out. I have a collection of used ones that I prefer over new, the used ones that did come out clean go back in nicely. Have not had a problem with reusing them and having them come loose.
November 27, 2012 at 4:05 am #479960Yes I don’t understand why he did not clean out the pan I all ways clean and dry it so there is NO dirt to be mixed with the clean fluid and yea those exhaust bolt can be a pain I all ways use a little heat on them and when I put them back I all ways use anti seize on them
as far as the gasket with the small holes I think the real Cheap kits don’t have them but a good quality kit like wix will have them It does make life much more easier .You be surprised how many techs out there don’t know of this trick .I found out years ago by accidentNovember 27, 2012 at 2:23 pm #480112Ah yes how i love those cork gaskets.I have found that when they are warmed up with a old hair dryer the cork levels out.Also when spraying gasket adhesive and letting it tack up for ten to fifteen minutes helps.The pan didnt look that dirty for all the miles that car had on it.Now the fluid that came out was really dark,so it will be a lot better with new fluid.
We need to get eric some new batterys for his cordless drill.By the way the cordless drill trick works wonders and here is the secret…..total full torque for the drill is 330 inch lbs at max…now divide that number to how many settings on drill 24 i think on that drill.Each number has about 13.75 inch lbs of torque +-5.November 28, 2012 at 1:40 am #480164I like the idea of putting the bolts in there, I’ll have to try that next time. As for cleaning out the pan to be honest I just forgot and it really wasn’t dirty. I did clean the magnets. Sometimes when doing these videos I forget something or overlook it, that’s why I started doing Re: videos and also the reason I started this forum thread.
Thanks for keeping me honest guys.
November 28, 2012 at 10:51 pm #480480First off — Thanks Eric — These videos are so great for the home mechanic. I had a question about how you set cars on jack stands. It looked like you had the 4Runner in neutral and no parking brake when you jacked the front wheels. I’ve found that this is a little easier than what’s sometimes recommended (parking brake on) in that it lets the car roll a bit in case the jack gets hung up on the floor. What’s your preferred procedure?
November 29, 2012 at 2:07 am #480519[quote=”kirksieg” post=39677]First off — Thanks Eric — These videos are so great for the home mechanic. I had a question about how you set cars on jack stands. It looked like you had the 4Runner in neutral and no parking brake when you jacked the front wheels. I’ve found that this is a little easier than what’s sometimes recommended (parking brake on) in that it lets the car roll a bit in case the jack gets hung up on the floor. What’s your preferred procedure?[/quote]
I normally set the parking brake AFTER I jack it up for that very reason especially if I’m only jacking up one end of the vehicle.
November 30, 2012 at 2:20 am #480726I have a 2005 Toyota Sienna and my manual does not recommend changing the transmission fluid. The only exception would be under harsh driving conditions such as towing, dusty conditions, or constant hot weather. I think it would be safe to have it changed often though.
November 30, 2012 at 5:16 pm #480787Here’s part 2
November 30, 2012 at 7:08 pm #480790If your dipstick cap is red, and the vehicle takes dex 4 fluid, I would recommend changing it every 60k or so if not sooner(ive seen trans fluid go dark quick, around 40k sometimes. It’s a simple drain and refill. The fluid isn’t anywhere close as expensive as the World Standard. The siennas don’t come with wold standard until they put that bigger 3.5L engine in them. So if you have the 3.3 3mz-fe motor, then you should be equipped with dex 4 fluid. Oh, and you might want to invest in a new washer for the drain plug, i’ve seen almost every car that didn’t get their washer replaced leak. They are fairly cheap as well.
November 30, 2012 at 9:39 pm #480808So what do you do if you don’t have a dipstick?
December 1, 2012 at 12:16 am #480898Hi Eric! I’ve just watched the part 2 of the video and…what the heck!
That little silly exhaust bolt that decided to quit on you was very bad!I’m not surprised you cut that part of the video out, in your place I would have been swearing a lot! 😆
And I bet you would like to be all alone while swearing! 😆I’m sorry you had to stay up all night and…the next day I can tell you, your eyes were a little “spirited” so you have all my understanding and comprehension for the hell of night you had that night. 😉
I’d like to see what you did to the exhaust bolt to replace it, but it’s ok anyway.
I just wanted to show you my understanding and support.If I was there I’d offer you a drink pal! 🙂
You’re great! Keep on going!
With friendship and love from Italy
10nico
December 1, 2012 at 1:28 am #480920Something I discovered when working on my Toyota MR2s (with manual transmissions) is that the fill plug is similarly positioned, way up in there where you can’t put a funnel in the hole. The manual tells you to use a pump of some sort, but I don’t happen to have said pump, and that sounds like a pain in the neck anyway, so I came up with a different solution.
Basically, you take one of those really long trans fluid funnels, and stick a piece of hose on the end, and thread the hose down through the engine bay, and into the fill hole. You can then stand next to the vehicle and have a soda while you pour the fluid in, instead of lying on your back working the pump.
Just a thought – I could totally imagine this not being possible every case, especially in a crowded engine bay.
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