Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Discuss any maintenance you've done to your Vibe & Matrix and ask how to perform maintenance on your vehicle
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chris777
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Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by chris777 »

So I have a 2005 Vibe with 173k on it. I had changed the fluid (but did not drop pan or change filter as I apparently had bad info back then) with Semi synthetic fluid at approximately 60k, but have not done anything else to it . I got scared last year when it began shifting late and kicking, but I had forgotten about the Powertrain Control Module recall on the car, and Finally took it in, which seemingly fixed the transmission issues.

I really want to change the fluid, drop the pan, and replace the filter. BUT I have been advised by 2 mechanics that I might ought to leave it alone.

The fluid is no longer reddish pink, but sort of a greyish pink, more grey than pink. It does not smell like new tranny fluid obviously, but it also does not smell burnt.

I am trying to catch up maintenance after letting it get away from me. But I also don't want to kill my transmission if that is a likely event.
IF I had changed the filter I would probably totally risk it, but I could have sworn I heard that they didn't have filters back then, and that changing the fluid out was about all we could do.

and is their anything I could do to test the fluid for contaminants or anything?

I will leave it alone if thats what I really need to do, I just hate to condemn it to an early death if I don't have to.

to reiterate, it has 173k, I drained the fluid and replaced it with semi synthetic at 60 k, but did nothing to the pan or filter, and have driven it ever since.

thanks
Bookworm
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by Bookworm »

I did a drain and fill at 250k, and it didn't kill the transmission.

Frankly, I suspect that bad fluid will kill the transmission faster than another drain and fill will.
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vibrologist
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by vibrologist »

I am thinking like bookworm does. That talk about killing a transmission by giving it a service is based on a piece of actual history: When transmission flush machine were introduced indeed some long neglected transmissions failed shortly after. But those transmissions used old style ATF and had a long time to varnish the inside walls of these transmissions. Newer transmissions like ours never had this old style ATF in them. There are not fat layers of varnish on the housing.

I say: drop the pan, change the filter and add new Toyota T-4 compatible transmission fluid. Changing the filter (if it has one) and cleaning the magnets will likely make the transmission shift better and prolong its life. The magnets are probably full of grime. The metal shavings may have also accumulated in the shift solenoids and make them sticky. I have seen some videos were they cleaned shift solenoids and even demagnetized them for better cleaning. If the shifting does not improve you could do a second drop of the pan and clean out the shift solenoids.
Last edited by vibrologist on Sun Mar 03, 2019 6:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Caretaker

Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by Caretaker »

Get the fluid out today !! There is no harm in drain/fill or dropping the pan and cleaning any magnets or replacing a screen "filter." Even a BG or AMSOIL fluid transfer machine is fine. Just don't do a power flush at AAMCO or other jiffy shop. You simply don't want to loosen any dried varnish pieces that are likely stuck to the metal. But by all means, get that fluid out of there. Sorry Vibrologist for bumping heads with you while typing this post. We hit the send key at the same moment in galactic time. :lol:
Bookworm
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by Bookworm »

The biggest risk of a power flush isn't the varnish, but rather getting metal bits shoved into the wrong places.

Drain and fill won't cause any additional problems, but might help get some of the problems _to_ the bottom of the pan (and the magnets)
Transylvania
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by Transylvania »

My vote is on changing the fluid. That was the 1st thing I did when bought the 2010 Vibe with 160k miles. Changed all the fluids, including transmission. After 1,000 miles, changed the transmission fluid again. Now the car has 170k miles and shifts like a dream.
zbyers
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by zbyers »

I agree with the rest...Just do a drain and fill.
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chris777
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by chris777 »

Thank Goodness. I had seen a video explaining that IF the fluid was black, or had a ton of metal suspended in it, that I could actually help a transmission shift, and that removing said oil and contaminants would make it easier for the plates to slide past each other instead of catching.

But my fluid is blinked.

Unfortunately we have a ton of family business the next few days so It looks Like I will have to wait till next week to drop the pan.

Now i have to figure out what filter it uses.

and you are terrifying me with the solenoid talk, lol

thanks
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vibrologist
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by vibrologist »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En9pE78Wifk

don't be scared, just do it. Derf shows how.
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Mark
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by Mark »

I wouldn't bother with the pan and filter at all. Drain 3.5 qts., put 3.5 new back in. Drive a week and do it again.
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Bookworm
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by Bookworm »

Mark wrote: Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:46 pm I wouldn't bother with the pan and filter at all. Drain 3.5 qts., put 3.5 new back in. Drive a week and do it again.
I agree with Mark. At least the first time you drain and fill, don't bother with the filter, unless you want to replace the filter the second time... and the third.
chris777
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by chris777 »

Well thats what I was wondering. I guess I will do a few drain and fills first.

I just figured since I have never changed or cleaned the filter(or screen Im confused about that part) that I might ought to do it when I can, but obviously I don't want to do it and then start clogging a new/or freshly cleaned screen.
chris777
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by chris777 »

How many drain and fills should I do before I break down and clean the pan and change or clean the filter/screen?

I want to try and make sure I get as much of the old fluid out as possible, But obviously don't want to do a flush and stir up the system too much.

After draining and filling Should I put synthetic, or semi synthetic in or just stick to regular fluid?

And any recommendations on fluid ?

thanks again.
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vibrologist
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by vibrologist »

Use Toyota Type IV transmission fluid. That way you don't have a mixture of brands and types in the tranny.
There is no hard rule on how many drain and fills to do before changing the filter.
1st drain and fill (d&f) gives you about 50% new.
2nd d&f gives you about 75% new.
3rd d&f gives you about 87.5% new.
(BTW, that's a beautiful example for the law of diminishing returns.)

You pick how far you want to go. If the shifting improves after the 1st d&f I would change the filter at the 2nd. d&f and be done for a while.
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andrewclaus
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by andrewclaus »

It is very easy to drop the pan and change the filter. Get the number from the transmission and count the number of bolts and get the $15 kit from the local auto parts. You only get a few more ounces out when you drop the pan but that's enough to cause a mess--work with large piece of cardboard under your drain pan.
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ctgottapee
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Re: Should I risk changing Transmission Fluid OR seal its fate and leave it alone?

Post by ctgottapee »

You don't need to drop the pan, it can be a mess, and tedious to clean up the gasket and get a new one on.
The 'filter' is not really a filter; it is a screen that face down, large debri falls of it into the pan bottom when the car is not running, where magnets collect it. It doesn't need to be changed.

You can use the cooler lines running between the radiator and the trans, real easy to loosen clamp, put how in empty bottle, run engine till bottle is full, then add new bottle until fill tube. Do as much as you want, or until new bright red fluid starts coming out.
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