2012 Corolla ATF drain and fill percentages with Maxlife

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 20, 2013
Messages
922
Location
Eastern Wa.
2012 Toyota Corolla, after a lot of research I've decided on using Valvoline Maxlife. The transmission capacity is 6.9 quarts total per the owners manual. On my past drain and fills I constantly get 2.75 quarts out. My question is how many drain and fills until I get nearly all new fluid? How many miles should I drive between drain and fills or does it matter? Car has 62,000 miles. Any Toyota WS users who have switched to Maxlife I would be interested in your thoughts also. Thanks
 
With only 62k,only one drain-and-fill is enough. They key is to measure how much fluid you drained,. and refill with the same amount. One drain and fill every 30k (or even every 60k) is plenty.

But if you still insist on doing more than one, like to get a more thorough flush, 3-4x is enough. The amount of driving between drains can be anywhere from around the block to 5000 miles, but the exact amount of driving not that critical.

A lot of people on here don't like WS that much, and love Maxlife
smile.gif
 
My cousin had a 2010 Corolla (same trans as yours, if I'm not mistaken) and he always gets a little over 3 qts out. Is your ATF level correct when hot? If it is, then it probably doesn't matter if you get 2.75 or 3 qt at drain.

Anyhow, I use the D/F procedure for my Honda (the standard procedure used by Honda dealers), and I assume a similar procedure would work well for you. A "full" replacement involves four D/F (with some driving between - I did 15 min of start-stop driving to mix the old and new ATF. This will replace most of the ATF and more changes will have diminishing returns. After you do this 4X D/F once, just a single D/F each year is sufficient to maintain the ATF (even in a crappy transmission like a Honda). Especially if you use a robust ATF like maxlife.

On the other hand, the most efficient way to change all of the ATF is to do a cooler line flush. I used this procedure on my Cad because it does not have a drain plug. If I were in your shoes I would go this route if my goal was to replace all of the ATF...you could get away with only buying 2 gallons of maxlife (vs. 3 gallons and repeated D/F).
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by RyanY
My cousin had a 2010 Corolla (same trans as yours, if I'm not mistaken) and he always gets a little over 3 qts out. Is your ATF level correct when hot? If it is, then it probably doesn't matter if you get 2.75 or 3 qt at drain.

Anyhow, I use the D/F procedure for my Honda (the standard procedure used by Honda dealers), and I assume a similar procedure would work well for you. A "full" replacement involves four D/F (with some driving between - I did 15 min of start-stop driving to mix the old and new ATF. This will replace most of the ATF and more changes will have diminishing returns. After you do this 4X D/F once, just a single D/F each year is sufficient to maintain the ATF (even in a crappy transmission like a Honda). Especially if you use a robust ATF like maxlife.

On the other hand, the most efficient way to change all of the ATF is to do a cooler line flush. I used this procedure on my Cad because it does not have a drain plug. If I were in your shoes I would go this route if my goal was to replace all of the ATF...you could get away with only buying 2 gallons of maxlife (vs. 3 gallons and repeated D/F).

Whenever I've checked the fluid it's always been correct (hot or cold) and I've let the fluid drain for over an hour and the most I've gotten out is 2.75 quarts. I've read other people getting anywhere from 2 1/2 quarts all the way up to 3 1/2 quarts on a drain and fill. I know it's worse to have too much fluid and if your too low the tranny will definitely let you know.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Corollaman
Originally Posted by RyanY
My cousin had a 2010 Corolla (same trans as yours, if I'm not mistaken) and he always gets a little over 3 qts out. Is your ATF level correct when hot? If it is, then it probably doesn't matter if you get 2.75 or 3 qt at drain.

Anyhow, I use the D/F procedure for my Honda (the standard procedure used by Honda dealers), and I assume a similar procedure would work well for you. A "full" replacement involves four D/F (with some driving between - I did 15 min of start-stop driving to mix the old and new ATF. This will replace most of the ATF and more changes will have diminishing returns. After you do this 4X D/F once, just a single D/F each year is sufficient to maintain the ATF (even in a crappy transmission like a Honda). Especially if you use a robust ATF like maxlife.

On the other hand, the most efficient way to change all of the ATF is to do a cooler line flush. I used this procedure on my Cad because it does not have a drain plug. If I were in your shoes I would go this route if my goal was to replace all of the ATF...you could get away with only buying 2 gallons of maxlife (vs. 3 gallons and repeated D/F).

Whenever I've checked the fluid it's always been correct (hot or cold) and I've let the fluid drain for over an hour and the most I've gotten out is 2.75 quarts. I've read other people getting anywhere from 2 1/2 quarts all the way up to 3 1/2 quarts on a drain and fill. I know it's worse to have too much fluid and if your too low the tranny will definitely let you know.


If your level is correct and you only get 2.75 it is probably fine. However I can't imagine adding an extra .25 qt would put it over the edge. Personally I like nice round numbers and not keeping partial bottles around!
 
Originally Posted by RyanY
Originally Posted by Corollaman
Originally Posted by RyanY
My cousin had a 2010 Corolla (same trans as yours, if I'm not mistaken) and he always gets a little over 3 qts out. Is your ATF level correct when hot? If it is, then it probably doesn't matter if you get 2.75 or 3 qt at drain.

Anyhow, I use the D/F procedure for my Honda (the standard procedure used by Honda dealers), and I assume a similar procedure would work well for you. A "full" replacement involves four D/F (with some driving between - I did 15 min of start-stop driving to mix the old and new ATF. This will replace most of the ATF and more changes will have diminishing returns. After you do this 4X D/F once, just a single D/F each year is sufficient to maintain the ATF (even in a crappy transmission like a Honda). Especially if you use a robust ATF like maxlife.

On the other hand, the most efficient way to change all of the ATF is to do a cooler line flush. I used this procedure on my Cad because it does not have a drain plug. If I were in your shoes I would go this route if my goal was to replace all of the ATF...you could get away with only buying 2 gallons of maxlife (vs. 3 gallons and repeated D/F).

Whenever I've checked the fluid it's always been correct (hot or cold) and I've let the fluid drain for over an hour and the most I've gotten out is 2.75 quarts. I've read other people getting anywhere from 2 1/2 quarts all the way up to 3 1/2 quarts on a drain and fill. I know it's worse to have too much fluid and if your too low the tranny will definitely let you know.


If your level is correct and you only get 2.75 it is probably fine. However I can't imagine adding an extra .25 qt would put it over the edge. Personally I like nice round numbers and not keeping partial bottles around!

Your absolutely correct I just get OCD, I take an empty jug measure out 1/2 quart sections (okay and 1/4 quart sections after 2 quarts) and put back in what I got out.
 
Originally Posted by dave1251
If you do a drain and fill every 30K from now on you will be good. Just refill to the top of the hatch mark on your dipstick.


^This

You have a Toyota so 30k will work well. I lean more toward the safe side (1 yr or 15k) because I have a Honda...great engines and cars overall, but weak transmissions!
 
If you are changing the filter then you will want to measure the correct fluid level after the change because what comes out in the pan will not be the same as what you need to pour back in as some of it is trapped in the filter media.

As for change interval, most wear happens when the transmission is new so I like to keep the first few changes conservative and then go further after the 2nd or 3rd change. 30K Miles is a good number to stick to for the first couple changes and then you can go out to 60K miles (or less if your manual requires it sooner as per the heavy duty schedule).
wink.gif


Consider most people never change their fluid at all and get reasonable life out of their transmissions so you doing maintenance will only make it last longer so there is no need to overdo it. Especially in a Toyota.
 
Last edited:
Code
Total Fluid Capacity: 6.9

Amount Replaced: 2.75



Change #1 39.86%

Change #2 63.83%

Change #3 78.24%

Change #4 86.91%

Change #5 92.13%

Change #6 95.27%

Change #7 97.15%

Change #8 98.29%

Change #9 98.97%

Change #10 99.38%


After the 3rd change, consider it pretty much fully MaxLife.... The drain-and-fills after that are only making minimal "swaps" at that point.
 
Originally Posted by hallstevenson
Code
Total Fluid Capacity: 6.9

Amount Replaced: 2.75



Change #1 39.86%

Change #2 63.83%

Change #3 78.24%

Change #4 86.91%

Change #5 92.13%

Change #6 95.27%

Change #7 97.15%

Change #8 98.29%

Change #9 98.97%

Change #10 99.38%


After the 3rd change, consider it pretty much fully MaxLife.... The drain-and-fills after that are only making minimal "swaps" at that point.

Thank you for the chart I appreciate it. That's what I was looking for.
 
I would do 1; drive for a week or 2 and do another.
Your Corolla will thank you.
Recently I stepped up to Idemitsu fluid. Good stuff.
FYI I am a MaxLife fan...
 
I have a 2010. I drain and fill ATF with each oil change. I'm at 184K so I must be doing something right. I've switched back and forth between MaxLife and WS. I have no problems with either. I measure in and measure out for my own convenience, but the Corolla has a dipstick and a drain plug (and a drain pan and an easily removable filter), so life is easy.

I would look into replacing that filter soon.
 
Originally Posted by HangFire
I have a 2010. I drain and fill ATF with each oil change. I'm at 184K so I must be doing something right. I've switched back and forth between MaxLife and WS. I have no problems with either. I measure in and measure out for my own convenience, but the Corolla has a dipstick and a drain plug (and a drain pan and an easily removable filter), so life is easy.

I would look into replacing that filter soon.

Every oil change?? I'm pretty sure the filter is good at 60,000 miles, I've already done 3 drain and fill over that mileage which is probably overkill to begin with. In reality your tranny would have lasted 184k with no changes I'd bet.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted by Corollaman
Originally Posted by HangFire
I have a 2010. I drain and fill ATF with each oil change. I'm at 184K so I must be doing something right. I've switched back and forth between MaxLife and WS. I have no problems with either. I measure in and measure out for my own convenience, but the Corolla has a dipstick and a drain plug (and a drain pan and an easily removable filter), so life is easy.

I would look into replacing that filter soon.

Every oil change?? I'm pretty sure the filter is good at 60,000 miles, I've already done 3 drain and fill over that mileage which is probably overkill to begin with. In reality your tranny would have lasted 184k with no changes I'd bet.

No... I drain and fill a little over 2 quarts on each oil change. Filter about every 2 years.

A friend's Corolla transmission took a dump at 198K on original fill. So that will be the true test, if I get past 200K.
 
Originally Posted by HangFire
Originally Posted by Corollaman
Originally Posted by HangFire
I have a 2010. I drain and fill ATF with each oil change. I'm at 184K so I must be doing something right. I've switched back and forth between MaxLife and WS. I have no problems with either. I measure in and measure out for my own convenience, but the Corolla has a dipstick and a drain plug (and a drain pan and an easily removable filter), so life is easy.

I would look into replacing that filter soon.

Every oil change?? I'm pretty sure the filter is good at 60,000 miles, I've already done 3 drain and fill over that mileage which is probably overkill to begin with. In reality your tranny would have lasted 184k with no changes I'd bet.

No... I drain and fill a little over 2 quarts on each oil change. Filter about every 2 years.

A friend's Corolla transmission took a dump at 198K on original fill. So that will be the true test, if I get past 200K.

What I meant was your doing a tranny drain and fill at every single oil change? I usually get 2.75 quarts on my drain and fills, the last one was 30,000 miles. I think I'll stick with 30,000 intervals. I think transmission fluids (even Toyota ws) can last a decent amount of time/miles.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top