2005 Toyota Sequoia Transmission fluid Drain, Fill, and Check 

Tod Wong life lesson 👍🏽

Learn that the hard way😔

I have a 2005 Tundra. Did you still need to run a wire between pins 4 and 13? I’m wondering why that step is necessary.

so if I am just doing a simple drain and fill on my 07 sequoia with that sealed transmission, I don't need to do the first part of the video? I don't feel comfortable using a paperclip and doing that, I feel like a drain measure how much came out and pour the same in and do that on my next oil change might be enough as a preventative?

Forgot to mention that it is tricky to keep the fill tube off the exhaust pipe on the 2005 Tundra and is probably the same for the Sequoia. They are built on the same platform.

It would be a good idea to do it this way every once in a while just to make sure it's not low. Wish it just had a dipstick

A. Wisdom #1: Fluid change with fill bolt: first see if you can safely open the bolt ( rust, grime, salt ) before removing drain bolt . B. Wisdom #2: before buying waterpump, can you remove the four bolts on the WP pulley? Steel+aluminum+water could lead to wielded or broken bolts on pulley wheel. Peace.

There's another vid out there where a guy did that and compared to a temp off the computer and found difference was 5 degrees lower on thermo. gun. so he just went by temp. degree higher when viewing his gun.

Not necessarily. If you a quart low before you drain it and put back in what you took out, you are going to be a quart low (like mine was). Fill it until it comes out of the overflow tube, that's what it is there for.

@@brandyworthing558 As I said, "check the level."

@@mikeb.7068 How do you check the level without a dipstick?

@@brandyworthing558 You remove the level plug and wait until the fluid flow reduces to drips.

You might have a leak, the previous owner may have put the incorrect amount of fluid in etc, best to always do it this way

@@zippy0n942 exactly, you might not to have the correct level

That is truer if you are Original Owner, KNOW there has been Zero ATF Service, and have had Zero leakage. However, to slightly overfill with last half quart, check your ATF FLUID TEMP light is still solid, shift thru each gear slowly up and down THEN remove Level Check plug to a trickle. Just to be safe! Generally good info, was hoping he would share the EXACT Range from that 2005-06 TSM!!! But I already did this at 83K (fluid wasn't stinky but def needed that refresh). I did it twice for more exchange of new WS into torque converter; about 30 miles driving after first and second D&F next morning. Shifts smooth as new. Best if the first drain and fill is at 30-40K and every same interval thereafter. PEACE!

@@zippy0n942 also fluid expands at higher temp and is more viscous.

vkhiev was gonna ask the same thing lol

Do they have a filter in the pan?

A drain and fill is not a flush, unless you do three or more drain and fills.

nutnsp3cial because if you had a small leak you didnt know about then you just added what was missing by filling to correct level when filling! And if more went in then what came out then obviously you got a leak!

That’s what I’ve always done and never had an issue.

This is answered by a toyota technician in another video (carcarenut). It is required to accurately set the transmission fluid level using the stand pipe drain, and the fluid must be at the correct temperature. The measure and refill can introduce errors, as your'e not really checking the level against what it should be,

Drain And Fill As Many Times Till It Drains Red like it Came Out Of The Bottle Then You Good

Depends on the mileage. I plan on removing the pan at 90,000 miles. I'll only do that once while I own the vehicle but I do a drain and fill every 39,000 miles and a poor man's touch every 90,000 miles.

What kind of truck does Hyundai make?

He he I have been neglecting my transmission as well sense 100k now sit near 200 and am about to have to do like you and am now a bit more concerned.

I did on my Tundra with 180k drained and refilled the pan. You are definitely in need of a fluid change if it's never been done. Actually not as hard as you might think. There is a lot of voodoo around the temperature check. But really if you just refill until it dribbles out the straw (while the engine is running in park) or check hole, you should be fine. You're supposed to do this at around 115f...which is close to room temp. Somewhere somebody worked put the expansion of fluid from room temp of around 70f to 115-130f...and it's almost negligible. Even for 12 quarts. So simply drain and refill until it comes out the "straw"..allow the engine to idle for about two minutes then check again, fill until it dribbles put the check hole while the engine is running, transmission in park. A couple ounces low or high will not cause issues. Or just bridge the pins on the obd and do the shift sequence if you're worried about it.

Rusty Shackelford I have a 2006 Tundra in need of transmission oil change. Can you please write the procedure step by step to do it. I am still confused after watching the video. Thanks

So there are a few things to go over in regards to the fluid change procedure. Remember that these Toyota automatic transmissions are not actually very different or different at all from the usual automatic transmission except that they don’t have a dipstick. In general a small variance in fluid level, say less than a half a quart low or high will not somehow totally destroy the transmission. It could result in some odd shifting but if that does occur you could simply drain some or add some. Yes it is important to get the right amount of fluid, but there is a bit of wiggle room. This isn’t a spacecraft or something, it’s an automatic transmission with a few hundred thousand miles. A slight overfill is preferable to a slight underfill but truthfully, I doubt you would notice any difference as long as you use correct fluid and you’re within a few ounces either way. To check fluid level on these transmissions, there is a “dipstick” of sorts on the transmission pan itself. This is actually a short straw inside the transmission pan which allows for just the right amount of fluid to rest in the pan. If you saw a picture of this you would understand how it works easily. It is through this straw that the fluid level is checked. That is why these transmissions have two plugs or bolts on the pan. One, the 14mm traditional looking drain plug…is just that a traditional drain plug and hole. The other is the “straw” which is a 5mm allen head plug. The reason Toyota recommends a somewhat long and somewhat complicated procedure to check fluid level or replace the fluid in the transmission is because the fluid volume will change slightly based on temperature. Increasing temperature increases volume and vice versa. Come to find out this volume change is so small that it can almost be ignored all together. But more on that later. For whatever reason Toyota chose to establish that fluid level be checked with the engine running and the automatic transmission fluid already warmed up to “normal operating temperature” which they have defined as being between 115F and 130F. Or around 46 C to 54 Celcius. I prefer to use Celcius for temperature. So we’ll say a rough average of 51 C. The transmission fluid should be at approximately 51 Celsius before checking fluid level using the straw. You’re looking for just a trickle out the straw meaning the level is exactly at the top of the straw inside the pan. THE ENGINE MUST BE RUNNING AND THE VEHICLE PARKED ON LEVEL GROUND. Do not forget this, MUST BE RUNNING TO CHECK FLUID THROUGH THE STRAW, warmed up and the vehicle as level as you can get it. Let’s do a little math and you’ll see why this whole temperature check has been blown out of proportion and may not be necessary at all. The coefficient of thermal expansion for motor oil and ATF is given as 0.07% / C deg. So let’s say it’s 70F ambient outside temperature (the temperature of the new oil if it is sitting on a shelf), which is around 21 Celsius 51 Celsius (normal operating temperature for the transmission fluid)- 21 Celsius (temperature of new fluid at room temp) = 30 Celsius So we have a difference of around 30 Celsius. Using the equation it’s simply (0.07% / C * 30 Celsius ) = 2.1 % So we can expect a 2.1% variance in volume between the two fluids. The capacity of the transmission is around 12 quarts. 12 quarts * (2.1%/100) = 0.25 quarts. But a pan drain only gets you about 2.5 quarts of fluid…the remaining 9.5 quarts are still in the system. So 2.5 quarts * (2.1% / 100) = 0.053 quarts which is equal to 1.7 ounces of fluid. 1.7 ounces of fluid is a very small amount of fluid. Highly unlikely being off by ¼ of a quart will cause issues but almost a certainty that being off less than 2 ounces will have some effect on the system. And remember this is the MAXIMUM variance we could have due to Delta in temperature between the fluids. Assuming you’re adding fluid that is room temperature to a transmission where the fluid is totally warmed up. Which most people would know not to do anyway. So it’s really….MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Much of the recommended procedure is not applicable using the simple drain, measure, refill to that exact amount you drained out method. Although there isn’t much to talk about. Why Toyota chose to complicate what is really not all that difficult of a procedure I don’t know. Perhaps for legal reasons or to try and pressure owners to take their vehicle in to a dealer. I was quoted almost $300 for the dealership to drain and fill the pan. The guy repeatedly tried to talk me out of it, his first words were “you’re opening up a can of worms changing tranny fluid with that many miles” (~190K) He tried to dissuade me multiple times, even saying they didn’t know about it and were busy, etc. Even though I called before and actually made an appointment to have that exact procedure done. They did say the fluid is “lifetime” which contradicts the actual service manual which recommends a drain and fill every 30k-60k if I’m not mistaken. I ended up opting to not have the dealership change the fluid. I’d rather not pay $300 and wait at the dealership for hours when I can do it in the driveway for the price of fluid. Remember a pan drain and refill only gets you about 2.5 quarts. The system has approximately 12 quarts. So for your first change you are only replacing about 20% of the fluid. For a second drain and fill, the % being replaced drops. You get something like ~32% new fluid in the system with another drain and fill etc. It is a logarithmic relationship A^x with the x increasing each time you drain and fill, from 2, 3, 4... Which means each time you drain and fill your getting less and less old fluid out since it mixes each time. You would need to do something like +10 drain and fills to even approach replacing ALL the fluid. In fact it’s effectively impossible to replace all the fluid with drain and fills unless you do it literally 25 or more times which would be a huge waste of fluid. But of course at that point you’ve replaced something like ~95% of the fluid. Best to do a drain and fill about every 30K or 60K to keep the fluid fresh. There are also many ways to actually remove all the fluid and replace it with new fluid. Usually this is done by simply allowing the transmission pump to pump out the old fluid while you replace it either through the fill hole in the transmission or directly through the tranny cooler lines, either going to the radiator or to the auxiliary transmission cooler which is included with the “tow package”. You could simply run the engine for a bit to pump out one quart. Shut off the engine, add a fresh quart to the tranny, run the engine again to pump out another quart, etc. If you do this DO NOT ALLOW THE PAN FLUID TO RUN DRY YOU COULD KILL THE PUMP…but really not too hard simply replace what you took out. Never allow the pan fluid to drop more than 1 quart, having it not drop at all is best. Check it with the straw when you’re done…

Yes here is the procedure, it is not difficult and should not be daunting to anyone with reasonable mechanical abilities. But will probably require some general automotive mechanic knowledge. Not the best job for a total newbie but even then, should be doable if you understand the procedure. I have done this twice to my 2005 Tundra with good results. 219K on the clock and tranny is shifting well. At some point I’d like to actually replace all the fluid though. You will need: --3 or more quarts of Toyota WS ATF (use WS only for this method, not a good idea to mix fluids) --24mm socket and ratchet --14mm socket and ratchet --A length of ½” (5/8” also ok, exact size not important, has to fit in the transmission fill hole and be large enough so that you can push the end of a funnel into it) clear PVC tubing probably at least three feet long. They sell these at most home improvement stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot. --A CLEAN funnel that will fit snuggly in the above mentioned tubing. --Some sort of CLEAN catch pan. Your standard black oil pan is ok, or a clean plastic container like for drinking, I thought about using a large glass pickle jar…. Just must be clean and must be capable of holding around 2.5 quarts or more of automatic transmission fluid. Also may need to be able to be marked somehow, so something that is see-through might be preferred. 1. Park vehicle on a LEVEL surface (must be level as best you can, any smooth garage or parking lot should be fine), apply parking brake and chock wheels if desired. If you need to jack up the vehicle to access the transmission pan do so and place it on jackstands. If you have to use jackstands be sure the vehicle is as level as possible. But actually levelness is not crucial for this simply drain and replace procedure. 2---Allow the vehicle, engine and transmission to cool completely to ambient temp. This should take about four hours from the last time you drove it. This is an important step. Don’t run the engine at all for at least four hours prior to starting this procedure. The idea is you want the fluid in the tranny pan to be the same temp as the fluid in the new bottles. The engine will remain OFF for the duration of the drain and fill. 3----Remove the fill plug in the transmission. This is a 24mm plug/nut that is on the passenger side of the transmission aft and above the transmission pan on a 2005 Tundra. Depending on model it may be on driver’s side for other Toyota vehicles. This plug can be a little difficult to find, but there shouldn’t be anything to confuse it with. It will be marked with a small WS for world standard. Once you find it, remove it, or you can just loosen it and leave it on there to ensure you don’t get a little dust or whatever in the hole. 4----Drain the transmission through the 14mm drain plug. You should get about 2.5 quarts for a 05-06 Toyota Tundra. NO NEED TO MESS WITH THE STRAW OR 5mm PLUG AT ALL leave it there, don’t remove or loosen the 5mm Allen plug for this method. 5----Snake the tubing (with funnel attached on top) down from the engine bay and into the transmission fill plug hole. Be sure not to contaminate the transmission with whatever off the tubing. Be sure the inside of the tubing is clean as well as the outside at least the short portion that will be inserted in the transmission fill hole. Cleanliness is important for all of this, no dust, debris or anything should get into the tranny. You only want clean new fluid going in. 6----At this point there are a number of ways to measure the new fluid you will be adding back into the transmission pan. All you are doing is replacing EXACTLY what you removed back into the tranny. Graduated cylinder could be used, etc. Perhaps the most fool proof way is to actually mark on the drain pan where the fluid level was when you drained the old transmission fluid into it. Make sure the pan is level when doing this. Use tape on the outside, a marker, whatever. Then you simply dump the old fluid, wipe out the residue if you wish (not terribly important since the entire inside of the transmission is soaked in old fluid plus 9.5 quarts of old fluid) then fill your chosen vessel exactly to your mark with new WS ATF. ONLY USE ACTUAL WS FLUID DO NOT MIX FLUIDS FOR THIS METHOD. Again be sure the pan you drain into is absolutely clean before starting. Use paper towels and brake cleaner or something similar, no dust or debris, old oil, water nothing like that should be in the pan it should be totally clean and empty prior to starting. 7----Reinstall 14mm drain plug do not over torque, just lightly hand tighten with a normal size ratchet. Don’t forget to reinstall the drain plug before adding new fluid. 8---- Simply funnel the new fluid into the transmission. Be sure not to get too much trapped in the line. Try not to have too many bends and such were fluid could settle. Take some care when routing the tubing so that the end going into the tranny is the lowest point of the tubing and that it is a straight shot without “u-bends” that will collect fluid going from the funnel down to the tranny. This can be a little tricky, you don’t want to underfill because of fluid trapped in the tubing. You may need to lift the funnel up a ways and sort of work the fluid into the tranny. 9----That is it you are pretty much done…. reinstall 24mm fill plug and you are finished, don’t over torque. Since the temperature of the fluid taken out was the same as was put back into the transmission, you should be exactly back to the level it was before with this method. Remember this ONLY WORKS IF YOUR FLUID LEVEL WAS CORRECT TO BEGIN WITH, which should almost always be the case. These Toyota trannies do not leak, the fluid is pressurized so any leaks would be very noticeable. Unless someone has messed with the tranny before, you should have the exact amount of ATF they put in at the factory. Good luck if for some reason something goes wrong. You slightly over or underfill for some reason…don’t panic. Simply idle the engine for about 25-35 mins. Be sure there is sufficient fluid in the pan to avoid damage to the transmission pump. With the engine running and truck on a level surface open the 5mm Allen head plug or “straw” located on the tranny pan. DO NOT OPEN THE 14mm drain plug. If no fluid comes out the 5mm Allen plug, you need to add more through the fill hole in the side of the tranny until it comes out the straw. If it dumps out, let it dump out into a catch pan until it is a trickle. Reinstall 5mm Allen plug and you are done. No need for a temperature check

I think it’s between 113-117F degrees, don’t quote me on that. Saw it in another Toyota Transmission service video

The manual says Between 115°F ando 130 °F

heating up the ATF allowed it to expand and to drag bad stuffs with it. A quick drive around the block will bring the temp up to 97-115 fairly quickly. This is the updated temp from TSB 0129-08. Don't use the 115-130. It will cause you to underfill.

Johonny Rios inside ur fuel tank

the filter is basically just a simple wire mesh from what I've seen on Tacomas... you could replace it if you drop the pan, but there is more risk than reward by doing so.... the dealerships wont even drop the pan when changing fluid.

It may be too cool...

Its flashing

Yes it does, if you have a sealed transmission with no dipstick

I have read that a sealed transmission keeps moisture out of the transmission fluid. Thats why.

Mister Berzins I never thought of it like that I was just coming from a convenience standpoint

These car manufactures are making things more complicated for whatever reason. Dipsticks have been around forever, and they worked just fine for me.

@@drummerplusone if they’re worried about moisture getting into the transmission why doesn’t the dipstick just screw in with a rubber gasket on top

From what I have heard they were more worried about people that didn't know what they were doing just dumping random fluid in.

I'd like to know myself man.

If you drain it while cold, it won't drain a full 3.5 quarts. If you're not going to do the correct way, you must measure how much comes out and replace the same amount.

If you mean for the obd2 port then yes. I use a paper clip when resetting the immobilizer on my corolla after swapping ecu, which is the same process, I bend the paperclip to a U shape, put one end in the 4th hole on top 5th on bottom. I've done it three times and it worked great

Let me know if ots the same pls.

@@andrewmiguel8951 It's my son's car and he's not interested in doing it sooooo.

yes exact way

Hi, if I understand you correctly you want to activate the temperature detection mode and then drive around until it reaches the proper temp to check. this will not work because once you put it in gear it takes it out of detection mode. I believe it has to be in park to be in Temp detect mode. the light stays on as long as the fluid is the correct temp to check. If it gets too hot the light will start flashing. I let mine idle for 15 min. or more and it never got too hot. So you should have more than enough time to check the level.

Hi, Thank a bunch for your quick respond. I guess I can drive around for 2 ~ 3 minute before put it in the detection mode for checking instead let the car in running idle time for more than 20 minutes.

Starting in model year 2007, the fill port was switched from the passenger side to the driver side.

That’s crazy.

Mine is an 04 wanting to do it myself 😊

TheFastMhz YEAH, I'd like to know that too. JUST bought an 06 tundra 4x4. Hate it doesn't have the dipstick but guess I'll get used to it.

I’m 90% sure it does

@@gta3214 I'm gonna hold for 10% more.......

@@mikejoyce3782 I'm 1% sure. Just 9% more to go.

so you can bring it to Toyota dealerships.

2002 Tundra/Sequoia Here's what you'll need: 4 US quarts of Dexron II or III Toyota transmission fluid New drain plug crush gasket from Toyota dealer 14 MM? wrench (can't remember wrench size off hand) Funnel with long stem rags drain pan gallon jug 1: Warm up the transmission by driving around about 10 minutes, park on level ground, check for proper fluid level. If it's low, top it off. This is important because you will be pouring in the same amount you drained. 2: Then open the drain plug on the bottom of the pan and drain fluid into a clean drain pan. Careful, it will be a little warm. Screw the drain plug back in with a new crush washer, being careful not to strip the drain plug threads. These drain plugs are small with fine threads, and easily stripped, so 15'lbs or 20NM is probably all you want to apply. My local dealers do not stock these, I had to make a trip to a wrecking yard and grabbed one off a early model Lexus. I think the manual states 25 or 30'lbs--way too much. All you want to do is compress the washer sufficiently to hold fluid. Wipe up the residual fluid so that when you leak check the drain plug you'll be able to see whether it's leaking or not. 3: Measure amount of fluid drained from transmission pan, should be approximately 3 to 3.5 US Qts. I usually do this by pouring drained fluid into a gallon jug that has been thoroughly cleaned. Make mark with permanent marker at the fluid level, then pour out old fluid into suitable storage container for disposal. Clean the jug again. 4: Pour new ATF (I only use Toyota fluid in my transmission) into clean gallon jug up to the permanent marker mark. You'll need a funnel with a long, thin stem. Pull the transmission dip-stick out and insert funnel stem into dipstick port. Holding the funnel, pour the fluid in from the gallon jug until empty. (keep plenty of rags handy, and perhaps a willing assistant) Reinsert dipstick. I usually can't resist checking the fluid level at this point even though it's cold, but you really need to warm it up for an accurate fluid level check. 5: Start engine, ensure no fluid dripping from fill plug, apply parking brake and foot brake, take transmission selector from park to low, and back, stopping at each detente until back in park. 6: 10 minute test drive, park on level ground and recheck fluid for proper level. Take one more quick look under the truck to double check for leaks, if none are found you're done! I do this procedure with every engine oil change. (6K mile intervals give or take a little) Approximately 1/3 of the transmission fluid is changed with every drain and fill. My Sequoia has 200K miles, and the transmission fluid is always clean and smells new, and the transmission shifts like new. Sorry for the long post, hope it helps!

Lyle Kliewer Some people recommend using Valvoline MaxLife Dex/Merc: Fully synthetic($17 gallon) what do u think? www.toyotanation.com/forum/#/topics/1164409

@@Arctic5fox Thats not bad, I am planning on going that or mobile 1 and adding some lucas transmisson stabilizer.

I’m wondering that myself. Just add the same amount that was removed.

Speaking of, have you seen the starter placement on their 4.7 ltr

It's not difficult, there's no such thing as a sealed transmission. All the temperature related stuff is unnecessary.

@@Randyw2779 Starters are good for 300,000 miles or more.

How do you check it without the temp stuff. I'm trying to do mine​@@mikeb.7068

@@Randyw2779 agreed, however, when you consider the water damage that caused starter failures in the traditional location, maybe the “new and improved” location offers more protection/longer life?

It's accurate for his year model.

Yeah man tsbs are model specific in most cases

@@hughlong5152 No it's not. According to TSB-0129-08, 2005 Sequoia also has 97F - 115F.