Just drained the transmission fluid and dropped the pan at 63k miles. A good amount of sludge on the bottom of the pan and around the magnet. There was no metal shavings -- overall looks not too bad. O ring was in good condition. Cleaning it up right now but I was only able to drain about 4 quarts of oil including what was in the pan. I saw on other threads it should be about 4.9. Like here: Gen1 tranny service DO IT NOW! | PriusChat . I don't think the oil has been drained before. Doesn't seem to be a good way to check the level on this. I only have car ramps and doing it on a slightly sloped down driveway with the front of the car facing the street. So the car is slightly raised on the front I'm thinking about just putting in 4 quarts vs the 4.9 or just filling it until it overflows a bit. Any issues?
I thought it was four quarts but you check it like you do a rear end so fill it up with what you think but the plugin just finger tight roll it off the ramps and I'll take the plug out and have a ball of shop rag paper towel handy and then when it stops coming it's full that's the gist of it.
Don't think overfilling is a problem with the tranny fluid, as it would be with engine oil (I never exceed 3.5 quarts, manual says 3.9, but overfill spillover isn't good for the pollution control apparatus). I've had the tranny oil changed twice now, at c. 90K and again at c. 165K. The oil looked OK at the165 change, some sludge around the magnet, no metal. I'd say fill it until it just barely starts to drip out of the fill hole. Your old oil looks pretty good, about like mine, but you can't tell by looking, so changing it is a good idea. Should be good for at least another many thousand miles.
Thanks for the tips. I had a partial quart so I ended up filling to 4.7 quarts on the slight incline and there was no overflow. I didn't get a chance to check it on level surface since it got dark. But hopefully there was some extra oil in the transmission. I made a reminder to do just a drain and fill in 15k miles and see how much comes out. It's its still 4 than maybe I'll just do 4, if it's more then perhaps will do 4.9.
Good to hear yours is in good shape also. Sounds like you've dropped it both times. For engine oil I usually end up using 3.9 but I usually let it drain and until it completely drops dripping.
You need to check it on a flat, even surface. There's always some fluid left in the cooling loop of the ATF, so if only 4 quarts came out, your probably 0.5 quarts overfilled - unless you had a leak. That sludge on the bottom of the pan is very fine wear material. Everything sticking to the magnet is magnetic ferrite dust being captured. That looks like normal wear for 60K+ miles; your next one should come out much cleaner - since the first factory drain has all the break-in debris in it. That's why I usually advocate for early change out of ATF. Dumping that stuff out will reduce wear, but these trannys don't fail too often either... Hope this helps....
FYI, the Owner's Manual doesn't specify *any* transmission fluid change; it merely says to check the level at certain mileages. Nevertheless, many of us long-time classic owners do change (or have service change) the fluid every X-thousands of miles, using type Toyota type T-IV fluid *only*! Dropping and cleaning the pan should also be part of a fluid change, IMO.
