I just asked my dealer about their "new" machine to flush automatics. The person didn't know anything, offered to ask, and then came back on the phone saying "it is processed through the dipstick." :wtf:

This doesn't sound right given what I've learned from Gadget and all other Yotatechers.

Any insight?

 

Looks like this time instead of "flushing" it out, they are "sucking" it out.

Interesting.

 

Sounds to me like a basic drain & fill w/o a filter change.

 

If he does not understand the process and it not able to explain it to you, why would you even consider letting that Toyota dealership touch your truck?

Gadget

 

No way he is touching my rig Gadget. I had just hoped they ordered a pump inlet machine like you recommend.

What do you think of the DIY Amsoil fluid change method? Seems straight forward from the write-up on their website.

I may call the dealer back and ask for someone I actually know.

 

They are not going to order a pump inlet flush machine. No one is these days. There is much more work involved to use it and it takes much longer. The machine cost much more. When they add all this up they can not sell a tranny flush at twice the price of other flushes, because the consumer can not understand the difference and the shop must be competitive on price.

The home AMSOIL flush does the same exact thing as a cooler line flush and you can save yourself a lot of money.

Gadget

 

So you are saying "go for it" - right? How does the Amsoil method compare to the pump inlet machine in terms of long term durability of my transmission?

BTW - I'm saving up for the URD fuel upgrades, might be a while though. Thanks for all your help

 

Bump (sort of) I'm planning on buy 20 quarts of Amsoil universal transmission fluid and do the change myself. Does 20 quarts sound right to everyone? That is going to be over $150 dollars to Amsoil. Maybe I should stick with conventional??

Any other tips would be welcome.

 

I've used the amsoil method on two cars. Piece of cake! I used a 5 gal bucket and made up a dipstick by gallon. You will NEVER keep up with the pump by pouring through the filler tube. I shut it down twice to catch up. The dip stick lets you keep track of how much gets pumped out versus poured in.

I had ordered two cases of ATF and ran 20 quarts throught the system. Wanted the 4 quart reserve to be on the safe side. From what I have been able to find out, you can't go wrong with the Amsoil ATF and the largest cooler you can fit!

BTW, if you are going to buy that much ATF become a prefered customer for either 6 or 12 months. More that pays for itself and your questions to Amsoil Tech Support seem to get more attention.

 

I am a preferred Amsoil member and so should save a little bit. Thanks for info tomstin!! I think I'll stick with Amsoil. Its only money right

 

Yes 20 quarts is the right amount.

Please do yourself a favor and don't pay full retail for the AMSOIL ATF.

Go to my site and sign yourself up as a preferred customer or dealer, costs just $10, and then you can order the stuff at dealer cost like I do. Last time I bought it it was about $100 for two 2.5 gal jugs in a pack. So you can see how it would be foolish not to do it that way. This is the very best hook up I can do for you.

If you do the dealer thing, you can then put up a webpage like me and let AMSOIL take all the orders, collect all the money, ship all the product, and send YOU a check every month.

Gadget

 

Anyone have a link to the writeup on Amsoil's website about dong it yourself?


thanks

 

www.Gadgetonline.com/AMSOIL.htm

Then click on the link to the corportate site.

Look in the FAQ section and see if you can find it.

Gadget

 

FYI... Following Gadget's leader, I found this:

http://amsoil.com/faqs/faq8.htm

 

thanks!

 

been working on automatics my whole life - they are funny sensitive creatures - if youve changed your tranny fluid every 15000 miles or less from the get go on a brand new trans or rebuild a complete flush is good - if not a drain and fill is best and replace filter every 30000 - old tranys dont like all new fluid and if you havnt changed your fluid in ovr 100,000 a drain and fill with filter and a 24oz bottle of lucas tran fix is what i recommend - if the trans is shifting funny or slippping do not change and add the lucas and expect a trans rebuild soon..

the drain and flush via the dipstick machine has replaced the older flush via the trans cooler lines because it is easier less expensive machine and doesnt push any harmful deposits or debris into your trans valve body which can cause your trans to shift inproperly or not at all due to sticking valves - the dipstick method if done properly gets out ovr 80% or better cause the vehicle is started during the process sucking some of the fluid outta the converter...

if you want to do a complete trans fluid change incld converter yourself this is easiest home method - if you have a trans drain plug drain the trans - if not pull the pan off carefully not to make a mess and have at least an 8 quart catch basin - if you remove all the pan bolts except for a few before dropping you can lower the pan slowly at an angle to get the fluid to drain from only one side of the pan to make less of a mess - you also need to use a pan where you can approximate closley the amount of fluid you drained out - after removal clean the pan and magnet in the pan well - remove the trans filter and also replace the pan gasket - be careful cleaning the trans gasket housing surface as not to nick it cause tranys will leak from the smallest imperfections...

when u pull the filter more fluid will come out so be careful - depending on the size of trans you will get anywhere between 4 to 7 quarts out from draining via the pan - you can buy an aftermarket trans drain plug setup at yur local part store which is a good idea for easier future service - it installs by drilling a hole in your pan and installing drain plug set up...

ok replace the filter gasket and pan - maybe use a little gasket sealer if you have a cheaper pan gasket - now that you have everything back together and you were careful not to overtighten trans pan bolts - fill the trans back up with close to the same amount of fluid you drained out but do not start the vehilce yet!!!

remove both of the trans coolant lines that go to your radiator and place each lines end in a gallon clear plastic milk jug - start the engine no throttle idle in park for about 3 to 5 secs max and turn off motor promptly - the dirty fluid from the converter comes out of these lines being pushed out by the clean fluid you just put in trans and it will piss this dirty fluid out into the containers - now figure out how much fluid came out - there are 4 quarts in a gallon so if each gallon is half full then you have 2 quarts in each totaling 4 qts - replace those 4 quarts with fresh fluid via the dipstick tube and repeat the process until you see a change in color of the fluid becoming clearer and cleaner - dont get greedy and run engine longer as you only want to remove a max of 4 quarts at a time - with 2 people is best - one to eyball the jugs and one to start and turn off the car - filling up both milk cartons usually is ideal - 8 qts total - on an average 10 quart trans you will probly need about 14 quarts to complete this process - (note on some transmissions fluid will only come out from one line or mainly one line as one is a send and one a return - still drain and replacing about 8 quarts from the coolant lines even if its all in one bottle...

put everything back together being careful to replace the same lines in the same place they came off of - most trnas have different size fittings for the send and return - start vehicle and shift with brake on thur the gears and check trans level and not to overfill - make sure you check trans hot as well - overfilled trans can cause rear seal leaks or in vented trans can cause fluid to come out vent or dipstick and catch on fire via the exhaust! if you need to remove some fluid you can drain a liite from coolant lines or suck some out with a clear plastic syphon tube via the dipstick but dont swallow it! LOL - hope this helps and agian its from my experience and my advice only.. thank you

 

Couldn't you find a respectable shop that can do a BG flush for less money. I have a reliable garage who I get BG flushes from and I believe the trans flush was less that $120. And it's no dipstick flush or let's hope the old fluid totally evacuates before the new fluid.

 

At the shop we worked at we had the Snap-On trans-flush machine. What it does is suck the old fluid out when the car is off. Then you start the car and it will put the new fluid in. While the car is running, it will suck it out and then add new fluid in. It will do this until the amount you wanted to change, example would be 12 quarts, is all used up. When the car is running, the new fluid will mix with the used fluid until it is clean. Same procedure as tomstin said but faster, cleaner and easier. You can also give them the AMS trans fluid and they can add it to their machine if they haven't filled it already with something else. Here is what the machine I used looks like and others as well: http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/item....group_ID=18158

James

 

Resurrecting a four year post, impressive