Question on Transaxle Fluid Change

Nah, somewhere around 3.75 quarts is perfect enough. Either your "level" was slightly front end low or your factory fill was slightly over or previous owner did a swap and slightly overfilled. My "level" takes 3.8 quarts (3 quarts, 26oz.) before it runs out the fill hole. Regardless, no worries at 3.7 quarts. The factory manual recommendation of 4 quarts simply will not fit if the car is reasonably level, at least with regard to our '07.

 

Owner's Manual for second gen says 3.8 US quarts to refill:



Maybe that 4 quarts is spec for initial fill?

I think as long as you've got it level, and fill till it starts coming back out, you've got it spot-on. If you've raised just the front end, have a definite slope, you are going to be off a bit. Is the fill bolt towards the back or the front, filling with just the front raised will cause the level to low or high respectively, albeit not by a lot.

Bottom line, get the car raised and level, no problems.

 

You are good at 3.7 qts, don't over/force fill it. Vehicle lowered and on level ground fill to it runs out the plug's hole. Torque the plug back down with new crush gasket, done. Good for you for paying attention to how much came out and for trying to replentish the same amount.

 

Does anyone have the parts numbers for the crush washers/crush gaskets?

 

Not flippant: dealership parts departments.

 

That is where I went for it. Bought four of them and used three already. Wondering how necessary it really is to use a new washer.

 

Check with Amazon.

Looks like a common part.

 

New washers everytime to guarantee no leaks (assuming the drain plugs/bolts are torqued to specs). If manufactures said you could reuse crush washers, and problems arose, the manufactures would be liable.

However, I know some people who use aluminum crush washers twice.
1st) The first tightening will leave an indentation on the washer, where it met the face of the oil pan or transaxle.
2nd) On a subsequent fluid change, wipe the crush washer, then use a sharpie to mark the side that got slightly dented against the face of the oil pan/transaxle. Flip the crush washer over. The dented side will face the drain plug bolt head, and the flat side of the washer will go against the oil pan/transaxle.

Your call. Easy to just buy a bunch of crush washers from Amazon or Camelback Toyota.

 

There's an inference there, that all the stress deformation happens only on one face, I'm not sure that's the case.

I don't even think about it, just use fresh washers, every time. Again, if circumstances somehow dictated I didn't have a new washer on hand I'd have no qualms about making an exception, but planning ahead, when I'm buying supplies I make sure to buy the washer(s).

 

I recall that more deformation occurs on the side of the washer facing the head of the plug.

 

Yeah I'd agree, the friction of the bolt head is stressing that face more.

 

The autoparts stores recommend Valvoline ATF MaxLife Multi-Vehicle Synthetic transmission fluid. Is this a safe and high-quality equivalent of the Toyota ATF WF?

 

I would stick with Toyota ATF WS. You'd have to be a mechanical engineer to know if alternates are safe and compatible, and even then...

The Owner's Manual has a very emphatic caution, to use only the Toyota fluid, or risk damage. They don't use that caution for anything else. They come close, with the coolant, but they do say you can use alternative coolant, if it meets this, has that, doesn't have the other.

But the transaxle fluid, I would play it safe. Dealership parts departments should have it readily available. Last time I purchased (in Canada) it was $9.14 (CDN) per liter.

I recently read another Toyota document, that cautions to only use fluid from freshly opened bottles. In other words, don't save left-overs for next time, it doesn't store well. Maybe similar to brake fluid, it absorbs water over time? Anyway.

 

Now you’ve done it. Here comes another transmission fluid war. Some people here swear by the valvoline some here say your transmission will blow up if you use it. I say price out 4 quarts of ATF at the dealer and then ask yourself if the price difference is worth the piece of mind of using the recommended fluid?

 

And some concede they aren't bright enough to know conclusively, so play it safe.