ATF Drain and Fill

[DMZ]

My ,05 Yaris has 71k normal driving miles on it.

I noticed recently that it was shifting with just a very slight jerk.

Looking at the ATF color, showed it to be reddish brown, so I did a drain and fill.

When I looked in the drain pan I could see the the old ATF was a bit "muddy" in color, but the big indicator was the smell. I had a fairly funky smell to it.

2.6 qts of fresh ATF made a difference in the shifting. It is back to it's normal barely perceptible smoothness.

I know the CW is that Toyota WS last the life of the car, but I can't help but wonder what the old ATF would look and smell like at say 120k or greater and would it still be providing proper lubrication?

[CTScott]

I think lifetime AT Fluid is a bit of a stretch, potentially for the purpose of fudging the expense of ownership ratings for vehicles.

[Everglade]

I am in Vancouver, BC.
Bought 6 liters of Toyota ATF WS from stealership (around $7 per liter)

Warmed up the engine, drained.
Started the engine again and rolled gear handle from P to L and back a couple of times.
Drained around 3.3 litres of ATF.
Old ATF was a bit dark.

In a month gonna do another drain and refill to ensure ATF completely fresh.

[auxmike]

I did this about a year ago. Buy 15 quarts. Yeah, its not cheap. I found exactly 3 quarts drained out every time I opened the tranny drain plug. I basicly drove my 40mi round trip to work and back and every afternoon when I got home drained out the three quarts. Did it 5 times and it was nice and red. Cheaper then a tranny failure or dealer visit... No way id leave it in there forever like the dipstick say...:laugh:

[DMZ]

I did this about a year ago. Buy 15 quarts. Yeah, its not cheap. I found exactly 3 quarts drained out every time I opened the tranny drain plug. I basicly drove my 40mi round trip to work and back and every afternoon when I got home drained out the three quarts. Did it 5 times and it was nice and red. Cheaper then a tranny failure or dealer visit... No way id leave it in there forever like the dipstick say...:laugh:

I did it twice and it looks pretty good. I do it again next oil change. Then I should be good to go 'til about 160,000.

Yep, cheaper than tranny trouble and as very quick and easy to do.

[Everglade]

Guess 2 times is enough ))
Gonna do another drain-n-refill tonight.

[frog13]

Is there a pan to drop? and a screen filter inside to clean?.

[Everglade]

Yes, but you don't change the ATF filter every time you do a drain-n-refill.