Transmission Drain and Fill Capacity

I have done a handful of transmission drain and fills over the years on my truck, but this is a new one.

Normally, my trans only takes 4-4.5qts to fill.
This time I dumped 5 in. Took it for a spin, got the trans to around 120°, pulled the overflow and nothing....

Made a trip to the dealer to buy another, added a 6th quart, and NOTHING COMES OUT OF THE OVERFLOW.

I got frustrated and measured the fluid that came out ready to be recycled. Over 7qts!!

The only thing that I can think of that would leave me with a transmission over 1qt low after adding 5 would be if more than 4.5 came out, which seems to be the case.

My truck had been sitting for a few days before I pulled the drain plug cold. Because it was cold, I let it drain overnight. Is it possible that more fluid escapes the longer the truck sits with the drain plug out? An extra 3 whole quarts??

 

The tundra is not my daily so if the tc gravity drains over time, it's possible my pan had the 7qts in it from sitting.

Maybe I should post a how-to on changing more than the pan.
1- Let your truck sit for 3-4 days
2- Drain plug out for 24 hours
3- Three trips to the dealer for fluid
Total project time - one week

I expected a little extra fluid because of the length of time, but no more than a couple cups worth.

Any possibility of damage from running around 2.5 qts low on fluid? I've made two trips to get it up to target temps. There was no slipping or funny shifting.

 

Sorry, but that's not possible. The converter holds a certain amount of fluid that does not drain out when you drain the pan.

 

Have you ever filled a torque convertor before installing it on an engine? It usually takes like 8-10 quarts, and is separate from the normal fluid levels that we try to manage. So no, you're still wrong, sorry.

 

The fluid inside the convertor although cycled while the trans is running, still will not allow for it to be drained as you describe, sorry, again.

 

Anyway.....

Any thoughts on how managed to get 7qts out of the pan?

 

I'm prepping to do an change on mine.
In my readings and watching assorted videos, I am under the impression that the trans needs to be at a specific temp when checking the fill level.

If your temp was off, maybe that should weed things?

 

Update on this. Added two more qts. It drained off around 1/2qt at about 125°
Finally done. 8qts total consumed.

My notes:

 

Sorry, you've been running your transmission three and a half to four quarts low since it was last serviced . . .

Retroboy1989

TILLY

 

TIS shows 5 different code transmissions for 2012
A750E
A760E
A760F
AB60E
AB60F

here are the service pages for the 5,
im not a toyota tech, just trying to get my moneys worth out of the TIS sub i bought

 

Yeah..I get what you are thinking..
When you drain the Transmission you only get about 4 qts out of it..The Transmission is huge and there are parts of it that never drain, ever, unless you flush it..Example your Torque Converter which will hold an amount, not to mention that maze of other parts including clutches, ring gears,bearings.
I have yet to flush my Tundra ever..
I change it regularly but have yet to flush it so I don't know exactly how much Fluid your Tanny holds but I expect it to be 8 to 10 qrts.
Just guessing...
And rule number 1 when changing Tranny Fluids..Never ever, ever, do Tranny Flush if your Tranny has black burned oil..
Worst thing you can do.Just change the 4 liters, do another down the road and again, and only flush it when the oil comes out clean..
You do not want that dirty black sludge oil settling in your valve body (located at the very bottom of your Transmission)
,clogging it up and preventing oil flow or
causing clutch slip because neglecting that just cause damaged to those parts and the new Transmission oil is going to cause new issues like Transmission slipping cause your clutch packs no longer have that tight pressure that move gears.Dirty gunk crappy burned Transmission fluid heats up the the parts easily cause them to wear sooner.The clean Transmission fluid just cleared all that dirty gunk crap out leaving behind worn out clutch packs that will slip.
Than you will have issues..
People excuses are well I flushed it..
Well you flushed all that crap right into a settling pond (which is your valve body which sits at the very bottom of yiur Transmission and it is a maze of channels)so to speak and preventing Tranny oil to continue lubricating the rest of the parts.Or you cleaned the clutch bearing gears too well they are no longer packed together tightly.
You got to remember Transmission fluid is an extremely great cleaner and it will clean that old burned up black thick oil deposits and flow it straight to this section of this Transmission where it will dump those deposits and clog the milled out passages.You are not going to get good shifts, you will lose gears and that is something you don't want to do by flushing crappy tranny oil with good clean Tranny oil.
And many find themselves lost and confused why this happened and start pointing fingers.The bottom line is the person waited too long between changes, got the wrong advise from somewhere,about flushing and your whole Transmission is fucked up because of it.
It is exactly what will happen if you try flushing a Tranny with black burned oil.
So flow these easy steps..
Step 1. Only flush your Transmission if your Transmission oil is in good condition.
Follow the Owners manual of both Fluid and Flush schedules.
Most importantly check your Owners Manual for the Right Transmission Fluid to use.
If your Tranny oil is dirty just change it keeping in mind to change it down the road more frequently.You will get more life out of your Transmission this way than flushing it and facing a big expense bill when shit goes south fast..

 

The 4.6L 2wd is lower drain and fill capacity than the 5.7 trucks. I just did mine this weekend and drained about 2.5 quarts or so, put back 3, warmed it up to 111f and it spilled .5 or so from the overflow port.

 

I kept getting conflicting temperature ranges for when to check the trans fluid. Each Youtube video or service recommendation had different temperature ranges for when to open the overflow port and when to plug the port and let the fluid cool before checking.

I opened each of the attachments that Brums provided above.

Here are the temperatures in Fahrenheit for each transmission type.

TIS shows 5 different code transmissions for 2012:
A750E - 97 - 115
A760E - 127 - 138
A760F - 127 - 138
AB60E - 99 - 111
AB60F - 99 - 111

You can find the code for which transmission is in your truck of the inside of the driver's door. It is in the lower left corner of the sticker.

 

I'm AB60F. I've been setting it at 115-133, which means probably too high.

Too high temp = too low level? How expansive is ATF? Are we talking a few ounces? As long as the pickup remains submerged, Id think it doesn't matter.

 

Where can I get these for a 2011?

 

I believe they cover the 2nd Gen years from 07 to 13.
Just depends on the model of the transmission in your truck.
There is another post/thread that has the actual sheets. I posted them again.
Not sure that I saved them all. So look for the other post if I left one out.

 

Gotcha thanks. I just saw where it said Model Year Start date.
I appreciate it.

 

Drained mine got 5 quarts let it sit overnight because it got dark next day figured I'd check to see if any more would come out I was expecting a small amount but got another 3 quarts. Most the specs I see don't take in account if you have a trans cooler with tow package which adds a bunch of fluid, how much, I need that answer myself, also having a 04 tundra double cab SR5 TRD it's the only year that takes T- IV, not II, III, WS. The power steering takes type II,OR, III. I got confused and added T- III in transmission so trying to do complete drain and refill. I think my filter was super dirty and that's why it took that long to drain 7 quarts. I don't know if any of this is useful

 

Well, I answered my own question. I put half a quart in today and checked it at around 105 instead of 115-133. After measuring what can back out the overflow, I was running 8oz low.

 

That's so interesting. I let mine drain and it was a slow drip after half an hour. I got out 3.5 quarts and decided that was good enough for now. Buttoned it back up and added 3.5 quarts back.

 

I wonder if letting it sit longer allows fluid to slowly drain from the pump and valve body and then migrate backwards through the filter.

It might serve as a mini wash for the filter?

Mine dropped almost 8 qts after sitting 24 hrs with the drain plug out.


Edit: after sitting undriven for days.

 

I have a 2012 Tundra that was having some slipping and vibration sound at 1-2rpms. The truck belonged to my late husband and he swore transmission was going at 180k miles before he passed away. I had a mechanic friend recommend just changing transmission fluid a few times over time instead of doing flush and I I had to buy 7 quarts of atf for him to do fluid change (not flush). I believe i bought an extra quart making it 8 total. Truck has ran fine & no slipping but think it’s time to have another fluid change it’s now at 190k.

 

I'm debating if I need to open the thermostat pin and warm to the ideal temperature or just carefully measure the amount drained and replace with the same exact amount at the same temperature. Thoughts/advice.

 

I started by doing this, but eventually bought Fusion OBD and a dongle.

If you spill any, this method is toast.

 

Question for anyone: if I pulled my overflow plug from the transmission after my truck sitting for 3 days and 2 qts of fluid drains from it, does that suggest my truck was running with 2 qts more than it should have had? I've owned this 2007 TRD since March of this year and am slowly getting all the fluids changed.

 

Was it running at the time?

 

Are you asking if the truck was running while I drained the fluid? If that's the question, no it was not.

 

The overflow plug is intended to be removed with the engine at idle to set the proper level. When the truck is off, more fluid rests in the pan.

 

Thanks, Retro! Just to get me back on the road for now, I refilled with exactly the same amount I drained. Since my temperature readout in the truck doesn't work, only the temp gage works, it will be difficult at best for me to pull the overflow plug at the correct temperature. That is, of course, unless somebody has a sure fire method to do it without a temp readout.

 

https://www.tundras.com/threads/2nd-gen-transmission-drain-and-fill-diy-how-to.137487/

Look under the "Procedure to enter check mode" section of the first post.

This is the procedure I have been using on my truck. Personally think it's the best method as the TRUCK tells you when it's time to crack the overflow. The temp to check depends on the exact transmission model in your tundra, so the truck telling you seems the most foolproof method.