Gearbox Fluid Renewal Without A Flush

[mwhtc]

It's occurred to me that my 120 is at 165,000 miles now and there's a good chance the gearbox oil has never been changed. I've noticed a slight hang (sometimes) between gears, it's mostly smooth. But to ease my own anxiety with the car I should really get this done.

I have had a quote last year about how much it would cost for a flush, with the reasoning being you wouldn't get all the oil out of it by just simply dropping it. It's a lot of money, and I'm not paying it really. Plus the idea of a flush causes me anxiety. There is a lot of seals there that could go pop.

So what I am planning is to just do a phased change. Drop what I can out, fill it up, drive for a few hundred miles, drop it out, refill, do it again and then do a final drop and fill. More protracted of a job but it's done then and I'll get 90% of the old stuff out.

Question is, well two questions - is this the accepted norm for one of these gearboxes? And at what point do I change the filter - would it be on every refill or just the last one?

Thanks

 

[Shayne]

I suspect its an auto and i never had one , but i have read on here all sorts of headaches resulting from an oil change so your plan sounds good to me .

I have wondered myself why not just fill as you empty which removes the possibility of an airlock and gives you minimal mixing of new and old oil .

There's a filter on the gearbox ?

 

[mwhtc]

Yes sorry it's the 5 speed automatic gearbox.

From what I can see there is a sump on the gearbox and inside the sump is a filter. I've also found out that it's £70(!!!!!) for this filter.

 

[Shayne]

 

[Juddian]

I changed several sumpfuls over the course of one day, the speed the oil circulates you don't need to drive far at all, i used a laser thermometer pointed at the sump to gauge the correct temperature for final level checking, in between fills i replaced each sumpful with the same amount drained out, roughly 4 litres each time.
Didn't disturb the sump, each drain the oil got cleaner.

By all means buy genuine Toyota WS (world standard) fluid, but its a lot cheaper to buy 20 litres of Dexron 6, whatever make you prefer.

 

[mwhtc]

Thanks guys.

I'm not a stickler for the brands. As long as the oil is reputable and it meets the specs required then it'll do.

I changed several sumpfuls over the course of one day, the speed the oil circulates you don't need to drive far at all, i used a laser thermometer pointed at the sump to gauge the correct temperature for final level checking, in between fills i replaced each sumpful with the same amount drained out, roughly 4 litres each time.
Didn't disturb the sump, each drain the oil got cleaner.

By all means buy genuine Toyota WS (world standard) fluid, but its a lot cheaper to buy 20 litres of Dexron 6, whatever make you prefer.

Out of curiosity, what temperature would I be looking for really?

 

[Dave]

If you have a dipstick tube, you can suck it out and measure, replace the same qty. Do it a few times, and then everytime you change engine oil. The filter on older transmissions was just a gauze strainer, and little point in replacing.

 

[Shayne]

Land Cruiser KDJ120 & KDJ125 Vehicle Specifications | RoughTrax 4x4 - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

 

[Tractionman]

No dipstick on these auto transmission (oddly) and the expensive item inside the transmission sump is a strainer, rather than any replaceble filter.

 

[Juddian]

Thanks guys.

I'm not a stickler for the brands. As long as the oil is reputable and it meets the specs required then it'll do.


Out of curiosity, what temperature would I be looking for really?

Don't quote me but 46'C rings a bell.

I got the correct figure from one of the LC forums, it might have been LCOOL.
Blowed if i know where to find the article now, course they didn't use a laser thermometer, as i recall they jerry wired a couple of contacts on the diagnostics socket, not for me chances are i'd end up blowing some bit of electrickery made of unobtanium.

 

[Betoner]

So 40-45°C it is. I have a Scanguage II, so I can always look at the ATF and torque converter temperature, beside voltage and coolant temp.

Once I went camping and fridge didn't start up. I had multimeter in the car, so I checked voltage, and it was less than 12V. So I thought maybe I drain the battery over night, so I went driving further. At the destination, I checked one more time and it was alarmingly low, started a car with struggle. It was sunday, so shops were closed. Just turned off everything I can and drove another 100 km to my service guy, so he can fix it on monday. Thankfully I have two batteries under a hood (winter edition). After that event I decided, I need one voltmeter, so scanguage is perfect for this.

Check it out: Auto transmission oil change. High mileage. Never changed before - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]