Replace Transmission Filter or No?

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lancerplayer

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I would like to drop the pain do a transmission fluid change since it has never been done on the wife's recently acquired 2012 Toyota RAV4. The fluid looks black/gray in color with almost 87k on the clock. I want to do a few poor man flushes to get as much old fluid out as possible. Is replacing the transmission filter necessary? If so, at what change cycle is the best to do it?

I plan to do 3 flushes to get most of the fluid out. Is it best to replace the transmission filter at the first, second, or third fluid change?
 
Drop the pan to clean all the clutch dust and gunk from the bottom of the pan, might as well change the filter while you have the pan off. First change
 
At 97k or so, my filter looked very clean. It's a rock catcher, so it will take some time to clog up. I won't bother with the filter for another 150k. If I dont get rid of the car that is.
However, do drop the pan, I got an extra quart out of my IS that way.
 
Toyota calls it a "strainer" but Rock Auto calls it a filter and has aftermarket replacements.







 
Originally Posted By: SilverSnake
Do you care about your transmission? If so, then change it every time you take the pan off.


He is doing 3 changes all in a row to exchange most of the fluid. Not sure changing the filter is needed for every single one of those.
 
I don't think that trans has a filter, just a screen. I clean screen and check for damage. If they are intact I just reuse.
 
I read on here a long time ago that the greatest amount of wear material in an automatic transmission is generated in the first 10-15,000 miles, and it's this wear the factory filter is designed to catch. Ideally, one would replace the filter at around the 15k mark and then it shouldn't need replacement again, unless the transmission is being serviced for something other than routine fluid change.

To answer the OP's question, if you are going to do a number of drain & fills in short order, I'd wait until the last one to remove the pan, clean it (and the magnet, if any) and replace the filter then. In future, just doing a simple drain & fill every 25k or so will keep the fluid fresh and your transmission happy.
 
I would change it after the first D&F for sure. Your factory fill is probably past contaminant saturation, therefore flesh fluid will probably start cleaning junk out slowly. I would do it again on the third D&F depending on how clean the fluid gets.

Every car is different on how much can be extracted, if you can get a lot of contaminated fluid out then you might be able to skip the second filter. There is no way to check filter condition, so you might want to err on the side of caution.

Honestly man if you have high mileage on factory fill, you should do a cooler line flush. D&Fs made a difference on my neglected transmission, but when I want to service a neglected auto trans in the future I am going to do a single D&F, then a cooler line flush and splice in a Magnefine filter. My car had 200k km when I did my first D&F and on the second the fluid was just as black but had a reddish tinge. If you want fresh, clean fluid in there a cooler line flush is the only way to roll.

My car has some sort of heat exchanger where the coolant travels to the transmission instead of a oil cooler in the radiator or else I would do a flush.

PS: Get an ATF Funnel, makes things super easy especially if you have no dipstick.
 
I drop the pan clean it and the magnet, swap out the filter, and then do my fluid exchange. I'm sure that process can be modified for different transmissions/trans-axles.
 
Depending on how the fluid looks, I drop the pan and change the filter first and then proceed with spill and fills.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I drop the pan clean it and the magnet, swap out the filter, and then do my fluid exchange. I'm sure that process can be modified for different transmissions/trans-axles.


Clean magnets with new addition that I really enjoy …

 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
I drop the pan clean it and the magnet, swap out the filter, and then do my fluid exchange. I'm sure that process can be modified for different transmissions/trans-axles.


Clean magnets with new addition that I really enjoy …




thumbsup2.gif
We think alike. I want to replace the transmission pan on my Liberty this fall. It has a some rust and it's going to be due for a service. I'm not about to chance it going through what might be a snowy winter with a lot of road salt. A new pan with a drain plug, and an additional magnet are locked, loaded, and sitting in the basement ready to go.
 
Originally Posted By: 4WD
Yes, I can do pan volume and external XG16 (20 micron) in 20 minutes … clean job too !


Nice!
 
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