2008 Yaris - (150 K Miles) AFT Flush

[SHI2RG]

I'll appreciate if anyone can answer this.

I have read at several places that one does not have to flush/drain the ATF in the Transmission on a Toyota Yaris unless driving in adverse conditions.

However I would like to know if is there any harm in flushing the Transmission using the Radiator cooling hoses as described at the following article:
http://myautomatictransmission.com/diy-transmission-flush.htm

Thank you in advance....
:help:

[BIGTAZ351]

My advice is drop the pan and do it right... I bought a Wix filter (rockauto) and WS fluid on amazon.
The Yari expert is CTSCOTT he may have some ideas?

[tmontague]

^this

[CTScott]

Doing the line-based flush has the advantage of being able to swap out more of the fluid than you can remove with just a drain and pan drop. If you are going to change the fluid, it really makes sense to drop the pan to change the screen filter and clean off the magnets. It will also give you a better chance to see how much debris is present.

Many people say that if you do not change the fluid regularly, you should not suddenly do so at a high mileage.

[tmontague]

I chnged my a/t fluid at 287,000km when I got my Echo and again recently at 365,000km after I'd realized it'd been a while longer than I had thought.

Because of the high KM's I decided to leave the pan attached and just drain and fill the fluid. No metal pieces were found and the tranny shifts just as good as before if not better. In an engine w/ that many km's I don't think there is much benefit in replacing the filter and dropping the pan unless you do it as normal maintenance. This engine is on its last legs since it's burning oil and needs new rings. I'll get about another 2 years out of it before I won't bother making it pass an e test to get licensing renewed.

[SHI2RG]

Doing the line-based flush has the advantage of being able to swap out more of the fluid than you can remove with just a drain and pan drop. If you are going to change the fluid, it really makes sense to drop the pan to change the screen filter and clean off the magnets. It will also give you a better chance to see how much debris is present.

Many people say that if you do not change the fluid regularly, you should not suddenly do so at a high mileage.

Appreciate you response. I will do this as recommended. Is the amount of debris, you mention, indicate anything that I should be concerned about?

[CTScott]

Appreciate you response. I will do this as recommended. Is the amount of debris, you mention, indicate anything that I should be concerned about?

You expect to see fine metal particles attached to the magnets, but what you don't want to see are flakes of the bands. If you see any of those in the pan, you know that you are nearing the end of the useful life of the tranny.

[SHI2RG]

You expect to see fine metal particles attached to the magnets, but what you don't want to see are flakes of the bands. If you see any of those in the pan, you know that you are nearing the end of the useful life of the tranny.
Thanks..

[macmotano]

CTScott, you forgot to mention how to fill the aft fluid back to the trans... where is the fill cap and/or any special tool to do so? Thank you

also any DIY?

[tmontague]

Fill it up via the dipstick hole.

The drain bolt is located on the bottom of the Trans pan. You should see it pretty easy w/ the car raised

[bronsin]

Many people say that if you do not change the fluid regularly, you should not suddenly do so at a high mileage.

I would go further and say leave well enough alone. Auto transmissions have a LOT of oil in them and theres no source of contamination like exhaust gas polluting the oil.

It makes some sense to check the filter for contamination (like maybe offer to change the oil on a used car you are thinking of buying) but even then that's probably not a predictor of when a trans is going to blow. There might be lotsa miles left in it.

In general people give up too early on their cars when good management will prolong its life resulting in the saving of $$$$.

[RutherfordmanX]

I wish I would have done mine early on (heard it was lifetime fluid but had no idea how long a life these cars have) so about 100,000 miles ago I did just a pan drain. Currently have 320,000 miles on my 2008 Yaris and transmission is still doing OK. To be honest with you I am now afraid to mess with except maybe another pan drain. When it comes to transmissions in all my vehicles I tend to stay with the factory fluid also.

[bronsin]

They do oil analysis for engine oil how about auto trans oil? :iono:

[tmontague]

Yes, blackstone labs as well as others will inspect Trans fluid as well