One bottle of Toyota T-IV in a transmission with original fluid

[Rattnalle]

According to Vida you're not supposed to reset the adaption and if you do there's a quite a long adaption driving cycle described to get it back on track. I think the primary logic of this is to avoid the adaption driving cycle and instead let it adapt slowly during normal driving adaption.

You should however reset the transmission oil temperature timer.

I flushed mine at 280k km (probably first time) and it improved considerably. Not as good as the previous S80 which had its flush at 200k km though so it should be done earlier
I think AW themselves recommended 80 000 km.

[ljsommar]

If you choose to do a drain and fill be 100% sure you have identified the correct plug for draining. The drain plug has been confused with another bolt which causes real problems. Read up on this if you choose to go that route.

I have done 4 flushes on my 2002 V70 by removing the top transmission pipe at the radiator, running the car to pump out 2 quarts at a time then filling 2 quarts and repeating until clear.

I am not saying a drain and fill is not a good way to go, just make darn sure you identify the correct bolt.

Good luck.

[Georgeandkira]

PERSONAL HISTORY:
My '07 V70 had a "B&G flush" at the dealership which was quoted as using 16 quarts of unspecified fluid.
That was at 42,000 miles-4 years before I bought it at 70,000.
I've spaced out 4 sump dumps in my first year of ownership; upon purchase then +1,000, +3,000 and +4,000 miles later.
I wrote that clearly, no? I've put 2,000 miles on it since my 4th D&F. That makes 10,000 miles through my first year.
The fluid is pretty darn clean and when the weather becomes human again I'm adding an in-line filter (ACDelco #89001369) and doing a 5th drain & fill. That should be at around 82K.

I'm anticipating doing a pump-out via a cooling line @ 110K. I'll change the filter and possibly switch to a single fluid.
By then the car might be too old to register any benefit from a boutique fluid like Amsoil but I'm open to ideas.

One thing I left out is that I've been using LubeGard (red bottle) at the recommended dosage of 1 oz. per system quart of fluid since the early days of my 2002 ownership.
In those days our trannies had endured Ford's stupid "stop neutral feature" and whatever else the Dearborn Demons dreamed up.
I believe Volvo dealers all over the country removed "stop-neutral" promptly. My vehicle did "double bump" into gear.

The PO had addressed the problem with fluid changes so my fluid was clear red.
A TCM download on my part helped a lot. The "Vermont Cowgirl" at the dealership cheerfully informed me, "you need a new transmission"....perky little witch she was.

Then I read about LubeGard and I've been using and recommending the stuff ever since.
Where the download created a "75% reduction" in all roughness the LubeGard eliminated over half of what was left.

The young man who test drove my car (at 198,600 miles, no less) detected nothing.
I drove him to a weird intersection and made the car do its remaining hiccough and he said, "That's normal".
He bought it. The first test driver bought my car. Kiss my shoelaces.

The point of all this rambling is to urge y'all to buy and use LubeGard (red bottle). I first bought a 10 oz. bottle then graduated to the quart.

My 5th D&F will finish my stash of both 3309/T-IV fluid and LG.

EDIT: The caveat regarding unscrewing the correct the drain plug is a good one as one of the large hex heads holds a big band or some such thing.
The good news is that the dread "wrong one" is on top of the trannie's case. People have unscrewed it thinking it was a fill hole.
Use a funnel to which you've added a wee length of plastic tubing to refill THROUGH THE DIPSTICK TUBE.
More good news is that the 24mm drain plug is at the bottom of the unit and all but unmistakable. Upon removal, the fluid will eject to the left.
With all the videos out there , clear footage must be readily available.

I use a squarish funnel with only 5 inches of tubing. The funnel jams into place and stays put. It leaves both hands free.

[abscate]

I helped wcm do a drain and fill. We ejected 3 liters at a time from the upper radiator cooler hose. A 5/8 hose slipped in and held with friction, and we routed it right into a waste container. Really nice and clean, and didn't even have to roll underneath

[Klech]

Lifetime fluid is a farce. Also, I am unsure why you would only want to replace 1 - 4 qts of fluid at a time. There is absolutely no harm in giving the system a full flush. My S40 has the same transmission - different valve body, but same transmission - and I do full flushes on this car every 50K miles. That involves 12 qts of fluid. With 200K on the transmission, and no shifting issues (not to mention my performance upgrades - see my sig) I'd say mine is doing pretty well. The detail that you need to be mindful of is to not overfill or underfill the transmission. The lines on the dipstick - the range from min to max is 200 ml. Each hashmark is 50 ml
The procedure listed above for measuring the fluid level - hot, running and in park is correct. There should also be marks for cold, to get you in the ball park.
You will want to reset the transmission adaptation after you flush the transmission, and you'll be glad you did.
EDIT: no external machine required to perform a flush. You simply disconnect the line on the the return side of the transmission cooler, attach a hose to that pipe and run it into a drain pan. You'll remove 4 qts or so of fluid at a time. The first 8 qts are flush fluid. The Toyota T-IV fluid is fine. After the last flush add 3 qts of fluid and start the car and check your level. Add 50 ML of fluid at a time until you are half way up to the full mark on the dipstick then take the car for a drive and get it hot. After it's hot, check your fluid level and add fluid until you are full, being careful not to over fill.

Thanks for the advice. One thing that i would have to argue against however, would be that whIle I am no mechanic by any means, just about all of my research on the flushing transmissions topic would be that you are being at least being fairly risky flushing a transmission that has no history of being flushed when its about 100,000 miles or more. But that's just from research and no personal experience. Thank you for all the help though

[Rattnalle]

The dangers of flushing are a point of discussion on Swedish boards as well. So far no one has been able to provide any information closer to home than "my dad's friend told me he knew someone who..".

I don't really see how it would make a difference in practice. You're still introducing new cleaning agents that could dislodge old crud you're just not taking all the dirt suspended in the fluid away as well.

[Klech]

According to Vida you're not supposed to reset the adaption and if you do there's a quite a long adaption driving cycle described to get it back on track. I think the primary logic of this is to avoid the adaption driving cycle and instead let it adapt slowly during normal driving adaption.

You should however reset the transmission oil temperature timer.

I flushed mine at 280k km (probably first time) and it improved considerably. Not as good as the previous S80 which had its flush at 200k km though so it should be done earlier
I think AW themselves recommended 80 000 km.

So would most people be in agreement with letting the adaptation feature on the transmission be left alone, and only reset the transmission oil temperature timer? Both of these things I haven't come across in any other threads and haven't heard of at all so I'm very curious to see if I need to do these things after getting the fluid clean by performing periodic intervals of a fresh liter per 1000 miles. Awesome advice guys thanks

[Rattnalle]

According to Vida you're not supposed to reset the adaption and if you do there's a quite a long adaption driving cycle described to get it back on track. I think the primary logic of this is to avoid the adaption driving cycle and instead let it adapt slowly during normal driving adaption.

You should however reset the transmission oil temperature timer.

I flushed mine at 280k km (probably first time) and it improved considerably. Not as good as the previous S80 which had its flush at 200k km though so it should be done earlier
I think AW themselves recommended 80 000 km.

So would most people be in agreement with letting the adaptation feature on the transmission be left alone, and only reset the transmission oil temperature timer? Both of these things I haven't come across in any other threads and haven't heard of at all so I'm very curious to see if I need to do these things after getting the fluid clean by performing periodic intervals of a fresh liter per 1000 miles. Awesome advice guys thanks

The temperature timer isn't really critical either. All it does is count the number of seconds the oil is above a certain temperature considered to be harmful to the oil. When it reaches a limit it gives you a message that the transmission needs service. In reality it seems you can easily drive the car 300-350 k km or more without triggering the timer. It has no connection to the adaption of the gearbox as far as I know.

I'd say especially if you're just replacing a litre at a time or so (if you pull the drain plug it'll be 2-3 litres) there's even less sense in resetting the adaption. I'm no transmission expert though. Just working logic here.

[QUARKS40]

The dangers of flushing are a point of discussion on Swedish boards as well. So far no one has been able to provide any information closer to home than "my dad's friend told me he knew someone who..".

I don't really see how it would make a difference in practice. You're still introducing new cleaning agents that could dislodge old crud you're just not taking all the dirt suspended in the fluid away as well.

That fresh cleaning agents are , in my mind, a plus. Keeping the valve body clean is, at least in my mind, paramount.
On the S40, Texas summers take their toll on fluids, hence the frequent flushing.
On my XC60, I had the dealer flush it - different transmission, I know. My point is that until I read these posts, I had yet to have anyone tell me it's bad. My personal experience with flushing the transmission has been anything but negative. As for resetting the adaptation, I agree, It does take some time to settle in. Then again, I drive decent distances, so it takes less time for me.
What I noticed with the S40 after resetting the adaptation was less wheel spin. now it's just standard practice after I flush the tranny.

[abscate]

What I noticed with the S40 after resetting the adaptation was less wheel spin

I have some other ideas about improving transmission life...