Hello all,

< FACTS >
I have a 07 Camry 4 cylinder automatic.
Previous owner maintained the vehicle well.
Unknown when the fluid was last changed
Currently no transmission issues.

Here are some quick questions for you.

< Questions >
1) Do I just do one Drain and fill, or do a drain and fill x 3 over a few weeks?
2) Do I remove the pan and replace the transmission filter?

 

How many miles on the car?

The standard procedure is to replace the filter say every 100K miles. Filter and pan examination can also reveal issues.

If the trans still has a dipstick might look into replacing all the fluid at once. This involves changing the trans fluid. Then disconnect the return trans oil cooler line to the trans pan. Start engine and let the trans oil pump move the fluid out into a container to be replaced by new fluid in the pan. After a couple of quarts come out. Stop engine, refill with new fluid and repeat the pump out. Repeat fill and pump out until the fluid coming out is now clean.

A repeat trans pan fluid and replace is though better than nothing.

Determine if the pan still has a gasket or uses sealant.

 

Joey thanks for the reply

It has 150,000 miles on it.
Yes to the dip stick and the pan appears to be a gasket.

Since it's 150,000 and I assume the Filter was done once already, I'll do the filter again.

So do these steps sound reasonable
1) drain and drop pan
2) replace filter
3) replace pan with new gasket
4) fill transmission with the same amount of fluid that was originally drained.
5) Disconnect return cooler line and put it into a bucket,
6) start engine after a few quarts are spit out into bucket, stop engine and refill again. Repeat until fluid looks clean.
7) top off to correct fluid level.

 

Looks good on the list.

YouTube may have videos of this trans procedure. It's the same procedure regardless of make of car it the trans has a dipstick. It's a common DIY procedure.

Since you are just going to be pumping the trans fluid out, you only need be concerned about an accurate dipstick fill reading on the last and final fluid refill. You can over fill the trans during the pump out procedure stage as the excess fluid will be just pumped out.

This procedure may take 9-12 quarts total. Whatever the TOTAL capacity of the trans, add say 3 quarts to this amount.

Use a fluid drain container where you can determine how many quarts are in the container. I use a translucent 1-gallon container.

The fluid pumps out slow. If the trans pan holds say 3-quarts then pump out only 2. You don't want to pump out too much as this will starve the trans oil pump.

You want to stop the engine BEFORE the fluid stops coming out of the line at its full output rate (the being the same rate as when first coming out). The result will be leaving 1 quart or more in the pan.

The torque converter holds approx 2/3 of the total trans fluid capacity and this does not drain out. If trans pan holds 3 quarts, then the total fluid capacity may be 9ish. This is why a complete fluid change is better than a trans pan drain and refill which just mixes old and new fluid.

Go slow and easy on pumping out the trans fluid. STOP the engine well prior to the fluid slowing down coming out. Any excess now new fluid in the trans pan will be pumped out during the next trans pan refill and pump run. There is NO need to get all the fluid out of the pan during any pump out run!

Once clean/clear fluid starts coming out stop engine. Reconnect hose. Accurately refill trans pan via dipstick. Run engine and check for leaks.

Use the correct transmission fluid.