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GEN 9 Corolla Transmission Fluid Exchange & Strainer ReplacementProcedure

Added May 7th, 2010

I completed this procedure at 49,000 km on my 2008 Corolla 1.8L automatic (with the 1ZZ-FE engine). Thetransmission fluid was getting a bit dark looking on the dipstick. To the best of my knowledge, the transmission fluid

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was the original fluid that was supplied with the car.

Note that my local Toyota service department advised me that they only drain and fill. However, most other referencesincluding a local independent transmission shop informed me they always drop the pan, clean the magnets, changethe strainer, and exchange all of the fluid when they perform a transmission fluid service.

The reason that Toyota does not exchange all of the fluid is not clear to me. It is my experience that the remainingfluid in the system will quickly contaminate the new fluid if you do not pull the cooler line and get all of the old fluidout..

Disclaimer Use this guide at your own risk! I assume no responsibility for any damage to your vehicle or personal injury as aresult of following this guide. Any comments to improve the procedure will be gratefully received and incorporatedwhere possible.

Special Tools Required¼” drive torque wrench, suitable to be set to 48 in.lbs. (NOT ft.lbs) of torque.

Time RequiredIt took me 3.5 hours from start to finish, including time to take photos and make notes as well as fill the transmissionto the right level and take the car for a test drive. If I had to do it again, I think I could reasonably pare this down toabout 2 hours.

Parts Required.Aftermarket transmissiongasket & strainer $24.85 taxesincluded (Partsource no. FK-372)6 liters of automatictransmission fluid T-IV $49.43taxes included (Toyota PartNo. C0BBB-000T4-OL). Ibought a case of 12 andreceived “trade” price from mylocal dealer = $8.23/liter(taxes included).Total = $74.28 CDN (taxesincluded).

Note: For comparison, mylocal independenttransmission shop charges$223.74 (taxes included) forthis service, but does not useToyota T-IV fluid. They use anInternational Lubricants CAM2product, a transmission fluidwith friction modifier – similarto the T-IV spec.

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Let’s get started!

1. Before starting, mark a 1gallon clear jug (ie. waterbottle, windshield washer jug,etc.) in 0.5 liter (16 oz)increments as shown below.This will make it handy to seehow much fluid you havedrained out of yourtransmission so that you knowhow much needs to be addedlater on. I filled the jug withwater using a graduatedkitchen beaker to make themarks and then dumped thewater.

2. Warm up the engine andtransmission by driving the carjust before this procedure. Hottransmission fluid is moreeffective than cold fluid atremoving built up sediment.Block the rear tires, set theparking brake, jack up thefront of the car and lower it onto jack stands. Note that if youhave a floor jack, there is aconvenient point (see redarrow above) to jack up theentire front end of the car.Ensure that the car is stableand adequately supported priorto proceeding. Place largeamounts of newspaper orcardboard under the car tocatch any spills.

3. Remove the transmissionfluid dip stick (red circle) andset aside. Place a catch panunder the drain plug (greencircle). The drain plug is on thebottom of the transmissionpan which is located on

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driver’s side of the enginecompartment. It is accessedby crawling underneath the carfrom the front. The white stainsthat you see on the bottom ofthe transmission pan is fromthe road salt that spread onthe roads here in the winter.

4. Remove the plug (14mmwrench required) and allow thefluid to drain. Warning: Fluidtemperatures can exceed350°F in a hot transmission,so be very careful whendraining. Wear protectivegloves. Be sure the drain panis properly centered as thefluid will come out with someforce. Draining thetransmission pan netted meabout 3 1/4 liters oftransmission fluid.

5. There are 18 bolts securingthe transmission pan to thetransmission. Strategically

position adrain panat therear of thepan.Removeall of theboltsstarting atthe rearandworkingtowardthe front(10mmsocket).Do notremovethe front

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two boltsyet. Holdthe panup withone handandloosentheremainingtwo frontbolts withyour otherhand.Thengently tipthe pan toallow thefluid todrain.This iswhere the

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newspapers or cardboard comes in handy – in case you miss the target! If the pan hasn’t been removed in a longtime, it may stick and need to be pried downward with a flat head screwdriver. In my case, the pan dropped as soonas I loosened the front two bolts. This step netted me another ¼ liter of transmission fluid.

6. Whenthe fluidhasstoppeddrainingfrom the

transmission pan, remove the last two bolts and lower the transmission pan. Here is what mine looked like. There aretwo magnets circled in red.

7.Removethe

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magnetsand cleanthem upwith arag. Ifthere areany metalparticleson themagnets,removethem. Mymagnetsand panwereprettyclean. Ionly hada finecoating ofmetalfilings onthemagnetsand thebottom ofthe pan.

8.Removethegasket.Mygasketwas stillpliableand itcame offin onepiece. Ifyourgasket isstuck tothe pan,use ascraper toremove it.Try not toscratch

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the pan.Ensurethat thereis noresidualgasket oneither thepan or the

transmission prior to proceeding to the next step. The instructions in my filter kit indicated that it is NOTrecommended to sand or wire brush the gasket surfaces, presumably because it may damage the surface andpotentially cause leakage. There was no residue on the transmission flange.

8. Cleanthe panwith a ragandreplacethemagnets.

9.

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Reposition the drain pan over the strainer drain hole (blue arrow). Remove the three strainer retaining bolts (10mm)with one hand while holding the strainer up with the other hand. The green circles are short bolts and the red circle isa long bolt. Make a mental note of which bolts go where. Carefully tip the strainer in order to drain the fluid into thedrain pan.

10. Hereis whatthe

transmission looks like with the strainer removed.

11. Iobserveda verysmallamount ofgrit on themetalfilter cloth(redarrows).Based on

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the smallquantityof grit onmystrainer, Icouldhaveeasily re-used it,but sinceI alreadyhad anew onein thefilter kit, Idecidedto tossthe oldone.

12.Comparethe newstrainerwith theold one toensurethat theyare thesame.

13. Installthe newstrainer.Ensurethat thelongerbolt goes

in the correct position. Therecommended torque for thestrainer bolts is 96 in.lbs.

14. Install the drain pan. It isnot recommended to usegasket adhesive to adhere thegasket to the pan. Somerecommend using grease to

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hold the gasket in place, but Ididn’t find it necessary. Isimply started a few bolts ineach corner and that seemedquite adequate to hold thegasket in place. Some of thebolts protrude through thetransmission flange and areexposed to the elements onthe top side, and were alreadystarting to corrode, so Iapplied antiseize compound toeach of the bolts prior toinsertion. Snug the bolts up byhand using a nut driver.

15. Evenly torque the bolts to48 in.lbs., NOT 48 ft.lbs! Becareful not to over tighten thebolts, or it may squeeze thegasket out, causing a leak. 48in.lbs is a very low torque. Iused a ¼” torque wrench to dothis step. I went around thepan twice just to make sure allbolts were properly torqued.Install the drain plug.Recommended torque for thedrain plug is 36 ft.lbs.

16. With the car still jackedup, locate the twotransmission cooler lines.Disconnect the fluid returnhose from the transmissioncooler. On my Corolla, thereturn hose was the one onthe driver side (red arrow). Ifyou are not sure which one isthe correct hose, disconnectone of them and get a helperto momentarily start the car.With the car running, you wantthe hose from the cooler withfluid coming out.

I found it easier to access thecooler line from below, so I

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worked from under the car.The hose can be difficult to getoff the metal cooler line. Oncethe hose clamp is moveddown, you need to grasp thehose firmly and twist it tobreak the friction. If you cantwist it, it will slide off easily. Ifcan’t twist it, is my experiencethat it will not come off, nomatter how hard you pull it. Ifound it easier to twist with aglove on. With a glove, you get

a bettergrip anddidn’thave toworryaboutskinningyourknuckles.

17. Asmallamount of

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transmission fluid will leak from the hose – not much. Insert a nipple into the transmission hose and connect a clearPVC hose to run to your collection container. Note that transmission cooler line is 5/16” (8mm) ID. I didn’t have theright sized hoses, so I had to improvise. The above photo is taken looking up from ground level.

18. Lowerthevehicle sothat it islevel.With theengineoff, add 4liters ofclean

transmission fluid to the transmission through the dipstick hole.

18. Get a

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helper tostart theengineand pump1 liter ofold

transmission fluid out into the clear collection container. This is where the marks on the container come in handy.Shut off the engine when 1 liter is pumped out. Add one liter of fresh fluid down the dipstick hole.

Note that the fluid doesn’t come out very fast. It is very gentle – maybe one liter every 20-25 seconds. Continuereplacing the old and adding the fresh until the fluid coming out of the transmission cooler into the bottle is a nicecherry red, like the new fluid. On mine, I only had to replace 2 liters in addition to the 4 liters I originally added, for atotal of 6 liters. This surprised me because on my Camry, it took about 3 + 6 liters for a total of 9 liters to get all ofthe old pumped out.

19. Replace the transmission cooler return line and securely clamp it in place. I used a gear type clamp so that I willknow which line to use for future transmission fluid exchanges. Start the engine and shift the selector into allpositions from P to L, then shift into P and apply the parking brake. Check under the car to ensure that there are noleaks.

20. With the engine idling, check the fluid level on the dipstick. Add fluid up to the “cool” level on the dipstick.Replace the dipstick. Over the next several days, re-check the level and adjust if necessary. CAUTION: Do not overfillthe transmission as this may cause the fluid to foam and not lubricate properly.

21. Dispose of the old transmission fluid in an environmentally responsible way. In our city, they will take the oldtransmission fluid free at the hazardous waste disposal depot or will collect it with the recycle goods if it is placed inthe original containers. It might also be possible to drop it off at a local garage or transmission shop, or auto partsstore.

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