Originally Posted by McPierson

Changing trans fluid should be a cake walk for any dealership. Easy money. I don’t get their hesitation. It makes me question if the dealership has a decent mechanic in it.

Originally Posted by 93MSB

The "head parts guy" at my local toyota dealership told my brother a 07 Tundra didn't have transmission filter/strainer. I called him back with the part number and asked if he had it in stock, didnt say a word other than no.

Originally Posted by lobuxracer

What that really says is they never service the transmission on a Tundra. Parts in stock are parts that move quickly. If you have to order it, they're not selling. I once had a problem with a Camry 2.4 liter's EGR. The diagnostics said the EGR valve was bad. I was at the parts counter, ordering a new EGR valve and a good friend who happened to be a service manager asked me what I was doing. When I told him, he said, no that's not the problem. The problem is the VSV that controls the valve. I am sure it's in stock, they go bad all the time. Sure enough, it was bad AND it was in stock. His advice - check which parts are in stock before ordering anything on a widely popular platform. Odds are good the part in stock is the problem, not the part you're ordering. This has served me well for over 20 years.

Originally Posted by lobuxracer

So, I won't say my gearbox turned foul on me because it has not. I will say after completing the level check today, I think checking the level and the oil quality are mandatory.

Symptoms - after a hard left hand turn on the gas hard, transmission failed to upshift. Completely failed. Had to put it in manual and shift up, then normal operation resumed. Unsure if this actually causes damage internally since the TCU decided there was a good reason to hold in gear.

Solution: Level check and add fluid.

The level check is a PITA. I have Techstream on my laptop to make it a little easier, but the first time doing anything like this is always fraught with peril.

Step 1 - put the car up on four jackstands because I don't have a lift. Remove the undercover from the gearbox to expose the fill check plug on the oil pan.

Step 2 - Level the pan on the gearbox by adjusting the jackstands - my garage floor isn't perfectly level, but the oil pan on the gearbox was when I had the stands one click more in the front than the back.

Step 3 - Connect to the car with Techstream and check the ATF temperature. Crap. 126 degrees even after sitting for 5 hours. Wait until tomorrow to start.

Step 4 - Check ATF temperature with Techstream connected again the next day. 89F after sitting all night. WTF? It's 79 degrees this morning???

Step 5 - Start the engine, follow the procedure - row the shifter from P to M and back slowly, then move it to D, then back and forth between D and N until the N disappears for 4 seconds. Return shifter to P. Check temperature. Display is blank. When the temperature reaches 95F, the P reappears on the Multidisplay. Time to remove the fill check plug from the oil pan on the gearbox while the engine is idling. See absolutely nothing but a few tiny drops come out. OK, definitely need more fluid. Remembering yesterday's wait for the temperature to drop, and knowing if I let the car run the temperature will rise, shut off engine quickly.

OOPS. Now I have a small lake of ATF forming underneath the car. Apparently, the level drops with the engine idling, and as the fluid drains back into the pan when you shut the engine off, ATF comes out the fill check hole. Suck. Stuff the plug back in the hole and snug it finger tight. Clean up the big oily mess because my drain pan was off a couple of inches. Get the prepaid sample bottle from Blackstone, remove plug briefly again to fill a 2 ounce sample, then plug the leak again.

Step 6 - Wait for exhaust system to cool a little. Wait some more. Find out the primary cat stays dangerously hot when the piping is cool to the touch. Wait some more...Finally, get to the 24mm fill port bolt up high on the side of the transmission. Lexus recommends an SST for this. I recommend a very shallow 24mm socket and a thin breaker bar - it's not super tight, but the space is very limited. I was just able to squeeze a standard height socket on a 1/2" breaker bar onto the nut to crack it loose, then had to remove the socket and finish with an open end wrench. You could also take a standard socket and cut it down to give yourself some room to work. Be creative and inventive to figure out how to get ATF from conventional 1 quart plastic bottles up to the fill port. I used a hard plastic line I normally use for differential fills and got it stuffed in the fill port, then ran it out to a funnel on the driver's side where I was able to pour in ATF. Worked just fine, except the line had a spot lower than the fill port, so some fluid remained in the line from gravity. Luckily, I was able to use a small shot of air from my compressor to clear the line completely. I added 1.5 quarts thinking I needed to ensure I made up for my losses (also meaning I was swapping out a tiny volume of ATF).

Step 7 - repeat temperature and fill check plug drill. Small dribble out of the fill check port. Crap. Should have poured the whole 2 quarts. Reinstall plug in fill check port, shut off car, run through step 6 again adding the remaining 1/2 quart from the second bottle, PRAY to the automotive gods for the temperature to be within limits (95F t0 104F).

Step 8 - Prove you learned something valuable in step 5, and run through the whole procedure again to check the level. This time, ATF comes gushing out of the fill check port (success!) and quickly slows to a steady drip. Stuff the plug in the hole, tighten to a reasonable torque because 15 ft-lbs in the manual is making the 5mm hex bind in the bolt head.

So, after all this I button up the bottom, get the car off the stands, and take it out for a test drive. No shift hang on a left turn while accelerating hard. In fact, none of the usual symptoms I had become to expect as normal - driving down my driveway to the bottom of my street, no issues with holding gear or accelerating normally where it used to feel as if the transmission was either flaring or slipping. Only on cold cycle, and only after downhill without warming, but definitely annoying. Also noticed a noise I have become to expect to be normal - sounds like a an old hydraulic power steering pump just beginning to groan - disappeared.

So, despite Lexus firm recommendation to only check for leaks, I really think the level needs to be checked and reset routinely as well. I had long suspected I had low fluid, but I've been putting off doing anything about it while I waited for the 120,000 mile mark to send in my second ATF sample to Blackstone. I won't go so far as to say, figure out how to do an oil change (but I am fully expecting Blackstone will tell me the fluid is either dead or only has a few gasps left before necrosis sets in. I bought a case of WS just for that reason, and I have some ideas how I might perform this if it is true. I won't be using the oil cooler lines, I have a different idea. I'll post more about it when it truly becomes necessary, and hopefully it will be DIY friendly for those who know the difference between a #1 and a #2 phillips.

Blackstone sample sent off today. Should have results in about 10 days or so. I'll post them here.

It's really nice to have it shifting like new again...

Originally Posted by Adamcam707

thanks for the information
what would be the best way to do a quick fluid check and see if it’s overfilled or low on fluid?