DIY tranny flush?

[usptwins]

Has anyone ever done a tranny flush without am actual flushing machine? And how hard was it if it has been done. Thanks fellas.

[04 Rocko Taco]

I've seen people do it, but Im not sure I would try it.

It involves a couple of buckets, and some tubing, and a lot of mess.

How many miles on your tranny? Toyota tranny's are notorious for not liking to be flushed at high mileages.

[usptwins]

well, shes got over 342,500 on her... and reason i ask, is because she has water in the trans and it gets hot and boils out... Ive changed the fluid several times and it still acts up...

[troyboy162]

I rolled my truck and drained most of the fluid out at ~200k. I expected tranny issues after doing a "drain" at that high a milage, but so far no issues ~7k miles later.

your situation sounds interesting. Figure theres not a ton more miles left in it, but with water in there shes already not healthy. Id give it the drain/fill flush...water should be on the bottom right?

[Robinhood4x4]

I've flushed my 2nd gen with a bucket. Just take the hose off, run the engine until the fluid sputters out, shut off the engine, add fluid and repeat until clear fluid comes out.

On a side note, I don't think the water will actually boil out. I just hooked up my scan gauge to the 4th gen today and the hottest the tranny got was 200 deg F, with the average being around 170 ish. Not hot enough to boil water.

[usptwins]

well, idk how else its coming out. When i got under the truck earlier today, it was all over the front diff and the tranny from about where the breather nose would be... And my scangauge doesn't show anything going wrong with the trans... I was thinking about installing a tranny cooler on my truck. My buddy has about a 10 row or something around there that he took off his MKIV Supra and said he would help me install it if i just bought the lines i need to do so. Would that help out a great deal? Long as i keep draining and filling?

[Robinhood4x4]

I'm thinking it's getting whipped up like a blender and foaming. I mean there's no getting around the laws of physics. Water boils at 212 deg F at standard atmospheric conditions. I suppose there could be localized areas of the tranny that get hotter?

Anyway, you need to get the water out or your tranny is toast (it might already be too late). You might even want to do a couple full flushes. A tranny cooler will help after you get the water out.

[usptwins]

well, the places taht actually have a flush machine, are wanting $100 for one flush... and other places just don't have one... So, yea, im screwed unless i can grab $100 from my savings to change it...

[4x4mike]

I wouldn't flush it at such a high mileage.

A cooler should be on all autos, just for piece of mind.

[Robinhood4x4]

But he's gotta get the water out somehow.

[Crinale]

I flushed my tranny in my Taco at 180k, been going strong for about 2k now. It was slipping pretty bad sometimes (i think the valve body was getting clogged and not engaging the gears) and there has been no slippage since.

[4x4mike]

I've got a 5 speed so I don't know much about working on the autos. They have a drain plug in the pan right? Why not just drain it, drive it a while, drain, repeat. Do this until you've got clean fluid and hopefully most of the water has been pushed through and drained.

Is it possible the water is getting into or trapped in the torque converter? If so that might be harder to get out and then it will always contaminate new fluid. I'd do the replacement method seeing as the tranny still works.

Maybe once the fluid starts to look good replace the filter and then top it off.

[Robinhood4x4]

But it's not like it's in a single tank where the oil and water can seperate and then you can drain it. I'm sure the water is thoroughly mixed with the tranny fluid throughout the transmission, cooler, torque converter, valves, gears, etc and while the water will eventually seperate, it won't be in a single location.

I don't know...I'm still of the opinion that he takes his chances with doing a flush for $100, rather than paying $1000 for a new transmission within a year. Either way, he should be prepared to buy a new transmission since it's well known that flushing has been known to expedite transmission failures sometimes.

[4x4mike]

I realized it's all mixed. By doing multiple drains there is the chance that eventually all the fluid will be replaced (tranny, lines and TC) and you wouldn't have had to flush (as in force out and stir up everything).

[Bob98SR5]

well ive done it on a 240K mercedes diesel. in looking back, it was not bad just messy. i did the full job too. not sure if any of this applies but should be the same. i dropped the trans pan, lots of fluid came out in the pan. Very messy. I then spun the crank pulley to align the allen head screw plug on the torque converter. it took a lot of back and forth until it reared its head. drained that. then drained the main transmission bolt and drained that. left it for a few hours. you will need a lot of catch pans. after that, i then replaced the trans filter and gasket, and bolted things up. transmission shifted like a dream after that.

[usptwins]

Well, i appreciate all the opinions, but, ive changed the fluid several times already. Hell, i bought a whole box and a half of tranny fluid from toyota and i used half of the box already... Only problem with keep draining and flushing is that it would prob cost more in the end when and if it would finally clear up good enough. But, i think i will try and go see my friend at the trans shop and ask him if he can do it for me for a good deal. Hes real good at Toyota auto trans repairs or mods. Its gona suck either way though. I didn't wana spend too much money, but hey, i gotta take better care of it in the long run. Thanks guys.

[CJM]

Its worth the 100 bucks paying the shop to do it, trust me.

[Robinhood4x4]

You do realize that a tranny holds like 12-15 qt of fluid right? Also, you don't have to use the toyota fluid on the 3rd gen transmissions, regular old dextron III will work fine.

[usptwins]

Well, looks like ima try and go talk to my buddy at that shop and see when i can schedule it. And yea, i know it takes alot. I just wana use the ones i got from Toyota. And ill see what else i need. I also have a new filter and all too.

[YotaFun]

There was a write up somewhere to do this but I can't find it.
Its not to hard, with two 5 gallon buckets from home depot and some rubber hose and fittings you can do it yourself.

Always meant to do it but never got around to it, and since I am doing a 5spd swap no need to really.