What ATF & periodicity for 2002 Camry 4 cyl?

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OK. I'm going to ask for your guy's expertise. I did about an hour of reading on these cars. My brother owns a 2002 Camry V4 automatic with 155K miles. We were discussing our "old" cars and I asked him about transmission fluid. He knew really nothing except it never needing changing per the manual (and printed on the dip stick)....and that his mechanic took care of that kind of stuff. He trusts him to do the right thing.

He's had the car for a long time yet has no knowledge of trans fluid being changed, never mind how often. It could factory fill. What I came up with is that 30K drain and refills are pretty popular and make sense. 100K-150K full flushes, filter (rock catcher) might be in order. I think 3 successive drain and refills (3.5 qts?) make sense over the next 12 months. Fluid choices seem to be OEM T IV, Mobil 3309, Valv ML, Castrol Import ATF, Mobil 1, Amsoil ATF, Redline D4, etc. This is a Dex3/Mercon/Mercon V type trans right? There's some sort of differential using the same trans fluid. That sounds strange to me. Is it a transaxle of sorts? Pan drain and refills seem very easy as this has a 10mm plug.

Am I missing anything? Other words of advice? He intends to keep the car for as long as it runs well. I'm not a fan of 155K miles on factory fluid...or even on 2 OCI's so far. I read some old Bitog threads on the these trans. It wasn't like there was a single fluid of choice other than sticking with factory T IV at $9/qt. Nothing fancy here - just what will work and makes great sense. I don't want to be part of a 10 qt flush only to have his trans fail a month later. We all know the saying: "no good deed goes unpunished."
 
Originally Posted By: 69GTX

. Nothing fancy here - just what will work and makes great sense. I don't want to be part of a 10 qt flush only to have his trans fail a month later. We all know the saying: "no good deed goes unpunished."


Lets dispense with internet myth and focus on what is best. If it is full of original fluid beat to death, changing a little is foolish. Dropping the pan and cleaning the magnets, inspecting the filter, and refreshing all the fluid is the smart play.

Also, if this is the U140e transmission, which I think a 2000 i4 had, anything other than optimal care is insane. They have a serious, known flaw in the thrust bearing behind the forward planetary set. Look in the door jamb on the plate for the code. They can grenade w/o warning. More common behind the V6 like in the Lexus ES, but the I4 applications are not immune when neglected.

If it is the u140e, you need to get serious. If it is still an A series 4 speed, you can get away with being lazy as you indicated.

Regardless of which it is, stick to a TIV compatible fluid with the same viscosity. Castrol Transmax High Mileage is my fave here, though there are others. If it is a u140e, lubegard red as an additive is wise. If it has a mesh steel filter, don’t replace it. Aftermarket ones have flowed low enough to starve the pump.

Do the ps system at the same time. The ps pump is a pita on these engines/bodies. Don’t neglect ps fluid maintenance.
 
I think Toyota recommends service around 100k or 10 years and every 50k after that
I have same car but changed fluid at 30k, 60k,100k,130k,180k.
Maybe you can use whatever's cheap to clean and flush and refill with genuine Toyota t4 on the final drain n fill.
My local shop uses Valvoline universal ATF.
Approaching 200k with no issues on universal fluid so I don't think this transmission is too picky.
I do think the original T4 was not a synthetic formula though.
 
Wiki info

At least according to this link, the troublesome U140E is only on the V6's. The V4's got the U241E (no transaxle). No idea if those were troublesome too. The lower HP rating certainly was of benefit to the transmission. Toyota sure used a lot of different transmission in that era.
 
I asked the same question about the car in my sig. Did a full change at 160k, and I think 168k. If its a 10mm hex plug on the pan make sure to hammer it in because thats the only way to properly seat it. Also get a new drain plug washer from the dealer as the old one I found was rusted. Most people I asked about this a year ago said that there's no need to change the pan filter. I used castrol import both times and it works just fine. I'd use any you put on your list, whichever is cheapest. Mind you I have no prior knowledge of anyone changing the fluid before I owned the car. First change it was black and after ~8k second change was also black. It has a 7 qt capacity so you're not getting all of the fluid out with a regular d&f. Some mechanics do a full flush through the trans cooler line, but I did not want to take that risk since I didn't know the history and it has 150k+. Next fluid change will probably be in a year or every other oil change until the fluid doesn't smell burned or look dark.
Link to my original question about tranny fluid https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthr...ny_#Post4215475
 
Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I always thought that trans fluid changed every 30K was the universal norm for all cars.


But is that 30K pan drain and refill? Full flush via cooler line? Or? And if your OEM manual says it never needs changing, then what?

But I agree, 30K is pretty "universal" if you're shooting for 200K miles and up. My own 2002 Linc calls for 30K. Then again, I know people who swear by doing 15K-20K because the AX4N transmission can be problematic at 75K-125K miles if driven hard. One's driving style - heavy or light footed, highway vs. mostly stop and go, ambient temps, installed coolers, conv vs. synthetic etc. can all factor in so that one size might not fit everyone.

Thanks THafeez for your personal Solara input.
 
I service a lot of these cars (Toyota's). I drain the pan, pull the cooler line and do a fluid exchange with 11-12 quarts of Toyota T-IV from the dealer. Toyota does not require replacement of T-IV under normal maintenance conditions, but I advise customers to replace (flush) at least every 60K miles. For the Toyota transmissions that require WS, I advise minimum every 100k but preferably every 60K. To date, have not had any issues with this routine. In fact, I have flushed several Toyota trans that still had the original fill of T-IV at almost 200k miles.
 
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Originally Posted By: Merkava_4
I always thought that trans fluid changed every 30K was the universal norm for all cars.


You couldn't be more wrong. That's a ludicrously low mileage interval for most vehicles. Many now have lifetime synthetic fluid though some debate that lifetime means closer to once every 100K mi. People who don't change their fluid at 100K, typically get around 250K without any problems. Except certain makes and models with bad design which is ironic because they thought they were buying for reliability.
 
I've used Castrol IMV in a few Toyota's with zero issues. The newer Castrol Full Synthetic claims to "be suitable" for all Toyota A/Ts but I prefer the IMV because it's closer to the viscosity of T-IV.
 
It needs a complete exchange including filter. But I would not get involved. Suggest he take it to a Indy shop or Indy transmission shop or dealer. A JiffyLube will not change the filter, they may even say their flush cleans the filter (it does not).

You want OEM ATF or a high quality ATF that specs the Toyota spec. Some places use a generic ATF with an additive for Toyota. Avoid that.
 
I had a 2004 Camry XLE with the 2.4L & auto trans. I would use the Toyota Type 4 tranny fluid to just do drains & fill with 3 quarts of tranny fluid at 30K intervals. Tranny shifted smoothly at all times. Aunt bought the car brand new & she was a fanatic about maintenance.
 
Use Maxlife
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The car is easy to do changes with the drain plug, so why not drain and refill periodically. I would use only Toyota T IV, the others are not the same. Look on the specs, they have other vehicles listed. If they say only for Toyota, then OK. It does make a difference I found on an 02 Camry v6 that had previously been Jiffy and Firestone lubed. The one size fits all's are not the same.
 
From reading this post and in no particular order:

1) He's your brother so you can ignore any "don't get involved" posts.
I'm guessing the relationship is good enough to withstand the trannie blowing up 5 minutes after your maintenance.
If it's not, get another brother.

2) Start by doing a drain and fill so you have SOME IDEA of what's going on. It's a 15 minute job and might help you come to a conclusion.

3) I'd heavily weigh the advice regarding pan drop, cleaning magnets, replacing filter (or back flow the existing filter if it's an intact rock catcher).

3a) With all the talk here regarding shoddily made, imported trannie filters, I'd consider going to Toyota for one if necessary.

4) If you do suggestion #2 above you'll have all Winter to procrastinate.
 
Many varied ideas here, and sort of expected. But, they have a general theme that suggests do something at periodic intervals if you want to raise your odds of having a very long-lived transmission. Kira's idea is probably the "safest." Do a quick and drain fill...and observe for 6 months until the next engine oil change at his small Indy shop. Can't go wrong using the specced T-IV fluid. But, no doubt advances have been made in competing fluids over the past 15 yrs. The car is a beater so he doesn't go overboard on anything. He's dropped from 7500 conventional engine oil changes to 3000 per his mechanic's suggestion. I'd agree with that considering his work commute is only 2-3 miles. He does about 10K miles per year though. I'll have to check what engine oil it takes as I have a pile of cheap QS oils I picked up during the AAP sell off...I can afford to give him 10 qts of oil that cost me $2.50....and I already got the rebates.
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Yeah, he is my brother and we have a solid relationship. I'm not going to inject a full trans fluid flush into though. That's for him and his mechanic to discuss. My job is to give the information that's out there to follow "best engineering practices."
 
MaxLife ATF drain/pan drop/filter/refill every 30 K since buying my ‘02 2AZ-FR Camry from my MIL at 115K has gotten it to 265K miles. Pan drops are a bit of a pain; they book at 2hrs labor because they have to loosen mounts and lift engine/tranny slightly to get to the outboard pan bolts.
 
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Originally Posted By: khittner
MaxLife ATF drain/pan drop/filter/refill every 30 K since buying my ‘02 2AZ-FR Camry from my MIL at 115K has gotten it to 265K miles. Pan drops are a bit of a pain; they book at 2hrs labor because they have to loosen mounts and lift engine/tranny slightly to get to the outboard pan bolts.


What a pain. I guess if that's done once about mid-life it should be OK.
 
Any vehicle having a dipstick & drain bolt is so much easy to work with, just a couple of drain and fills for now and run it for a year.
If the transmission holds up to the new "good & shock" fluid, then flush as Critic mentioned via return line.
 
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