Transmission flush and fill on a 2006 Corolla 94,400 miles

[wdn]

I just did a drain and fill yesterday on my 2006 Corolla with 94,400 miles, it still had the factory fill. It says right on the dipstick that there is no need to change the fluid. The original fluid came out a very dark red. Dark but not black and it has no burnt smell to it. The car shifted fine before changing it and the transmission has never had any issues. The dipstick read slightly above the full mark for the factory fill. The dipstick is easy to find at it is in the front of engine right next to the battery.

I got it up on Rhino ramps which is a steep angle for that Corolla. It is easy to remove the transmission drain plug which is a 14 millimeter bolt under the transmission pan, on the driver's side. The capacity of the transmission is 7.7 quarts. I was able to drain exactly 4 quarts of Toyota Type IV fluid. Fluid drained for half an hour. It drained over half, or 52% of the Toyota fluid.

I filled it with Castrol TRANSMAX Multi-Vehicle Full Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid. It is certified for use in all Toyota automatic transmissions, as well as being certified and approved by GM for Dexron VI and by Ford for Mercon LV. License #s on the label.

Because the car has a transmission dip stick I used a funnel and poured the four quarts of Castrol into the funnel then cycled the transmission through Park, Neutral and Reverse a few times before I backed it off the ramp, then drove for about 10 miles to get it flowing throughout the transmission. The whole thing was an easy job.

 

[JTK]

Nice!

We had a 2007 Pontiac Vibe base model in the family (same powertrain as your corolla) that I did a few drain/fills on. Super easy as you say. Didn't even need ramps for the Vibe. I used Valvoline maxlife ATF.

 

[Kira]

+1
Sure seems you got good maintenance done in a timely manner.
For whatever reason I love the grey panel between the tail lights of that generation Corolla.
Good clean design from the peak era of Japanese quality.

 

[rob1715]

Good going. I have an 03 Matrix and use Castrol Import MV which is great. ATF is so cheap and doing a drain and refill is so easy there's no reason to not do a D/R every 25 - 30k miles or so. 10 minutes and about $20 later you're done. Your trans will love you long time.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

I like it when they include a drain plug for the transmission

Nice to know Toyota uses a regular bolt now. They used to use a 10mm allen key for the transmission

 

[Chris142]

Did you only do it once? I did our FJ 4-5 times in an afternoon. I don't know how much 1 drain and fill will do.

 

[wdn]

I just did the one drain and fill. It drained 4 quarts of Type IV fluid and replaced it with the Castrol, leaving 3.7 quarts of T-IV behind.

A second drain and fill of 4 quarts would remove another 1.9 quarts of T-IV (along with 2.1 quarts of Castrol) leaving less than 1.8 quarts of the Toyota factory remaining. At that point the transmission would then contain about 77% Castrol. Doing another one beyond that, I am purging more brand new fluid just to get rid of a smaller amount of the old stuff. That would happen after another 30,000 miles, which will take four to five years at the rate I drive it.

 

[sw99]

Glad you got it done! I picked up my 2008 Corolla last year at 93k. Not knowing the service history I immediately did a D&F also. In fact I have done three to date and I/m at 116k now. I use ML just because it's easy to order from WM online and it's only $17 a jug. Transmission shifts fantastic and no problems so far. I hope to get this car to the 299999 where the odometer stops on these.

 

[supton]

Probably very similar to the one in my '99 Camry. I did a pan drain, refilled, then pulled a cooler line. In some ways it was easier to do the first time: the oil was dark, and that made it real easy to tell when it was fully flushed. Now I can't tell when fresh fluid has gone all the way through... IMO though it doesn't matter, fresh(er) fluid is better than old fluid, and what automatics will live on is surprising (lots of ugly looking ATF out there).

 

[meep]

Nice work! ive liked every aisin transmission I’ve owned, both fwd and RWD, and they always seem to take well to regular drain-fills. Most don’t have any real filtration, so the drains are also how particulate gets out.

 

[JC1]

I just did a drain and fill yesterday on my 2006 Corolla with 94,400 miles, it still had the factory fill. It says right on the dipstick that there is no need to change the fluid. The original fluid came out a very dark red. Dark but not black and it has no burnt smell to it. The car shifted fine before changing it and the transmission has never had any issues. The dipstick read slightly above the full mark for the factory fill. The dipstick is easy to find at it is in the front of engine right next to the battery.

I got it up on Rhino ramps which is a steep angle for that Corolla. It is easy to remove the transmission drain plug which is a 14 millimeter bolt under the transmission pan, on the driver's side. The capacity of the transmission is 7.7 quarts. I was able to drain exactly 4 quarts of Toyota Type IV fluid. Fluid drained for half an hour. It drained over half, or 52% of the Toyota fluid.

I filled it with Castrol TRANSMAX Multi-Vehicle Full Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid. It is certified for use in all Toyota automatic transmissions, as well as being certified and approved by GM for Dexron VI and by Ford for Mercon LV. License #s on the label.

Because the car has a transmission dip stick I used a funnel and poured the four quarts of Castrol into the funnel then cycled the transmission through Park, Neutral and Reverse a few times before I backed it off the ramp, then drove for about 10 miles to get it flowing throughout the transmission. The whole thing was an easy job.

Good going. I would just do a drain and fill once a year for the next two years. That will be very good for the transmission. Don't overthink it.

 

[JustinH]

I do a similar service in the Scion XB. Very similar setup to what you have there.

I change the fluid once every couple years regardless of miles and never had a trans issue with these four speed autos.

I have been replacing the crush washer that goes under the drain bolt with a new one from Toyota, I think they are $1.49.

Anyone just re-use that crush washer?

 

[ccs368]

The u341e transmission on my '03 Corolla has been pretty robust at 165k with the 1st atf change at 125k from factory fill. Same observations with deep red color and no odd smell prior to changing. Although a scarred history where an idiot mechanic drained 3+ qts thinking it was the engine oil plug but no permanent damage after throwing codes and car shaking for ~15 miles until I was able to check my fiance's car the next weekend.

I dropped the pan and changed the internal screen filter refilling with Toyota IV followed by unhooking the appropriate transmission cooler line from radiator and flushing and replenishing until 8 qts of the Toyota IV fluid filled a bucket. The main reason I elected this method was the accessibility ease of the said transmission line, more theoretical cleanliness with 8qts as collateral bettering 77% vs. two separate drain and fills, similar overall time, inspecting original screen, and not that much more $$.

I wish this tranny was in todays Corolla as I would not hesitate to buy this car again.

 

[SatinSilver]

wdn

i take it the dipstick pic is after the drain and fill? I know what you mean abt the steep angle going up the ramps. Not fun at all, whew. Good to know abt the 7.7 qt capacity since that’s news to me. I just did a drain fill on the 05 Matrix 4 months ago for the first time. Will do 1 or 2 more over next few months. Easier than an oil change.

 

[WylieCoyote]

I miss transmission dipsticks. Had the fluid & filter changed in the Canyon a while back, and I can't even check their work.

 

[Hall]

A second drain and fill of 4 quarts would remove another 1.9 quarts of T-IV (along with 2.1 quarts of Castrol) leaving less than 1.8 quarts of the Toyota factory remaining

Those numbers are only theoretical though. It's really a crapshoot though I do believe the more you dilute it with 'new' fluid, the better.

 

[madeej11]

Those numbers are only theoretical though. It's really a crapshoot though I do believe the more you dilute it with 'new' fluid, the better.

No kidding, isn't that the point?

 

[wdn]

wdn

i take it the dipstick pic is after the drain and fill? I know what you mean abt the steep angle going up the ramps. Not fun at all, whew. Good to know abt the 7.7 qt capacity since that’s news to me. I just did a drain fill on the 05 Matrix 4 months ago for the first time. Will do 1 or 2 more over next few months. Easier than an oil change.

The dipstick picture was taken BEFORE the drain and fill, that was the factory fluid the same as shown in the measuring pan photo. I do like that clear measuring pan it is Rubbermaid brand by the way. I still have plenty more of the TRANSMAX ATF so I suppose I could do another drain and fill any time I feel like it. I do not consider the T-IV a contaminant I need to get rid of immediately, what went out still looked fine and serviceable but this service freshens it up. Still this turned out to be so easy and a 2nd one would get me close to 77% fresh fluid. I might do a 2nd drain and fill soon just to satisfy my curiosity, maybe during the next oil change 1,000 miles from now. I am driving much less nowadays.

 

[nthach]

I don’t like the feel of low-viscosity fluid in Toyota T-IV applications though in theory LV fluids are at the same viscosity as used/sheared T-IV. My poison of choice for those is Castrol Transmax non-synthetic import multi-vehicle. But, I’ve used MaxLife with no issues in Nissans and Subarus calling for high-viscosity fluid(Nissan-Matic J or Subaru ATF-HP).

keep us posted with the full synthetic Transmax - that stuff has intrigued me.

 

[SatinSilver]

The dipstick picture was taken BEFORE the drain and fill, that was the factory fluid the same as shown in the measuring pan photo. I do like that clear measuring pan it is Rubbermaid brand by the way. I still have plenty more of the TRANSMAX ATF so I suppose I could do another drain and fill any time I feel like it. I do not consider the T-IV a contaminant I need to get rid of immediately, what went out still looked fine and serviceable but this service freshens it up. Still this turned out to be so easy and a 2nd one would get me close to 77% fresh fluid. I might do a 2nd drain and fill soon just to satisfy my curiosity, maybe during the next oil change 1,000 miles from now. I am driving much less nowadays.

Did you notice any differences after changing the fluid? I noticed that acceleration seemed smoother and quicker. Kind of like the difference between having the ac on and off while accelerating. From some reports on here a few more drain and fills improves things even more. Where did you buy all the Transmax from and how much was it? I just used oem T IV but will likely go with Transmax next time.