Howdy
 

Greetings all. I have been very active on Passatworld and bikeforums.net over the past several years, but I have recently purchased my first Toyota, a well-maintained single-owner 2005 4-cylinder Camry with a fully known history. I do as much of my own work as I reasonably and efficiently can, and so far the Camry looks a bit easier to maintain than my 2001 Passat wagon (1.8T, tipronic), which continues to serve our family admirably and reliably.

I do have a couple of newbie questions which I'll post under DIY, as well.

1) I have been using Shell 5W-30 dino oil in the Camry, a welcome change from the much more expensive Mobil 1 0W-40 I use in the VW, because of the turbocharger. Does anyone recommend any other oil, and if so, why?

2) The car is 4 years old and has almost 60k miles on it, at least half open road and at least 1/3 urban stop-and-go. I think I should change the ATF pretty soon.

2a) Should I go ahead and change the ATF?

2b) Is Toyota ATF mandatory, or is another brand compatible with it?

2c) I was thinking of just opening the drain plug and refilling every 10 to 15k miles from now on. Should I drop the pan and clean the screen, or is it likely to be pretty clean in there?

Thank you in advance for any help anyone can offer a newbie.

RE: Howdy
 

If mineral oil any major brand will be fine. Use the 5W-30. A lot of owners use the Mobil 1 in the same weight.

What type of trans fluid is used? If Toyota WS the fluid is supposed to last for 100K but needs to be inspected for color. The blacker the worse the condition.

If Type IV or something else that is not synthetic it would be a good idea to change the fluid at this time. T-IV is the same as Mobil ATF-3309 which appears difficult to find.

The are some substitutes for some Toyota fluids but it depends on what your trans specifies. No subs for WS, questionable subs for T-IV.

1/3 of the fluid is in the pan, the rest in the torque converter. If changing fluid in the pan do 3-4 drains and refills over a short period.

Unless run for a long time without changing the filter should be OK but cleaning pan and magnets helps.