tranny fluid change
 

i'm gonna change the tranny fluid in my mother-in-laws 99 camry and i have a couple of questions. first there doesn't seem to be any troubles with it but it hasn't been done in like 130,000 miles and the fluid is orange and needs to be done. i'm not going to drop the pan i'm just going to drain the fluid from the plug, add it to level, drive it some, drain it again, then add it to level again to get as much as i can. my first question is the drain plug nut on the tranny pan is 10mm correct? also how much fluid will come out each time i drain it from the pan plug? lastly i'm not sure about some kind of differential fluid, what am i looking for and what to do? is there a plug and a filler spot, and what kind of fluid to put in, or do i need to at all. any help would be appreciated and any other tips i might need to know would be great. thanks JZ.

V6 or 4 cylinder engine? The V6 fluid capacity is larger and the diff fluid chamber is connected to the trans fluid chamber.

The 4 cylinder trans has separate chambers for diff and trans fluid. Both trans, diff and power steering pump use the same type of trans fluid.

Can't remember the trans bolt size but 10 MM sounds correct.

The trans pan holds about 1/3 of the total trans fluid (about 1.6 quarts), the remaining is in the torque converter which does not drain out by gravity. Total trans capacity is about 5.6 quarts for 4 cylinder engine.

You will need to drain and refill the pan then start engine to draw the new oil into the torque converter then push it out into the pan. Repeat the process until the drained fluid looks more like new fluid then old. This can take a lot of drains and refills as the oil and new fluid will mix.

The trans dip stick and PS reservoir lid will have the trans fluid type used marked on them. It may be Dexron II or III which as been discontinued under that name.

Auto stores will have a direct replacement, tell the sale person what type of fluid you are trying to replace and type of car. Read the container to make sure it is a direct replacement for Dexron III which is sometimes called Dexron III/Mercon.

There are lots of transmission fluid. Chevron had ATF MDIII, Quaker State Dexron III/Mercon.

As to the diff this job is a drain and refill. Find the diff housing where the axle plug into the trans. The filler plug is on the back side of the housing facing the firewall. The drain plug us under the housing.

Make sure you can first remove the fill plug BEFORE you remove the drain plug as in rare cases the filler plug can be difficult to remove (as some owners have found out after draining the fluid out).

Drain the diff fluid out, then install and tighten drain plug.

Slowly fill the diff housing with trans fluid until it start to run back out the hole. Think the capacity is less then 1 quart.

If your Mother is going to keep the car suggest changing all the trans and diff fluid at least every 60K miles.

Thanks a lot