matt36415

Having done this and now driven for a while, several hundred km, I think all the fuss about destroying the transmission by replacing some fluid... is rubbish. Its just not that hard

White smoke = burning oil = very worn engine usually.

Given that a brand new atx is only $29 990 drive away at the moment $17000 probably close to the used value of your damaged carDont most insurers write cars off when the repair is over three quarters of the insured value?

Having done 200km since the pan drop, no cel, gear changes are really the same as before, no leaks... all seems good.

That pump you have for the fluid looks helpful, is that a Toyota tool?

I measured all the fluid that came out 2.7 litres, so that is the amount I will funnel into the fill hole. The fluid did not smell burnt but it was not a clean clear red like the new fluid. It was darker. Some of the above photos show the two magnets in the pan, they have a thick coating of metallic sludge but the rest of the pan was quite clean except for two circles of metallic sludge where I had put strong magnets on the outside of the pan 55 000km ago.

After removing the wheel, wheel arch lining, half the front under body tray and one extra plastic shield I had a pile of dirt and leaves that would have filled a 5 litre tub. It was many times more crap than I have seen in any other cars wheel arch.

The oil drain plug is an odd size, a6mm allen key was too large, 5mm much too small and the non metric ones didnt fit properly either.

So I just loosened the sump bolts slightly to let some oil drip out before taking it off fully. In the pictures there is one with a jack holding up the passenger side transmission mount. Without loosening this and raising up the transmission slightly it is impossible to get to one of the sump bolts.

Why not just drain the oil via drain plug? It would be more thorough and you dont need to raise up the car at all. I dont see any good reason to use this method but there is a good reason not to. If you leave the drain plug off and let it drain for a few hours you will remove a far larger amount of the crap that collects on the bottom of the pan. Mine is still dripping slowly after an hour. That is also a reason why dealerships and shops dont do such a good job, they are quick and don't let the oil drain out for a long time

Filter and gasket came today. See pics. The filter is not a strainer like in my 1998 camry and most other cars. It looks the same pleated material as the air filter except it is yellow. The area of folded filter is approx 15x5 cm, far more if it was unfolded though.

WS fluid can.

I know that there are other posts about various aspects of this transmission, I thought I would add my experiences and pics when I do the service. Just as a bit of context, I used to be a mechanic at a Holden dealership and I mainly did transmission work, most often complete rebuilds which from a mechanic point of view are easier than most of the little problems that happen with them, just pull it out, strip everything, clean it (this is actually the biggest time consumer) and rebuild with the new parts ( mainly o rings and friction plates / clutch packs).

Bought WS fluid from Toyota 4 litres $71. It only comes in 4litres. It is a metal container which is unusual. I may buy another one as the trans takes about 6.5litres but that would bring the job to $203 & the inline filter I am going to add. I suppose if I am putting in the effort to clean the pan and do the fluid change I t is worth the money for the extra fluid. Car is at 65 000km, will be at about 70 000 when i get to it after a family Christmas holiday.

Filter and gasket - ebay. $61.35 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/130978591438?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649. Seller is carsrusaustralia

I am also going to add a magnefine inline filter on the return line from the radiator. (just needs extra length of high pressure fuel hose, the filter and 2 hose clamps.

This. http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-5th-6th-generation-2002-2006-2007-2011/501098-07-se-v6-u660e-transmission-pan-drop-filter-change.html

is the USA Camry v6, same car just sold as a V6 Camry. The description in this thread is really helpful.

I like the new shape, however if the boot has shrunk that isnt so good

Does Whiteline make one?

So with this much power needed for the stereo, are we all deaf? or at least on the way to some good, long term hearing damage.

I just dont understand how massive volume can be nice to listen to?

Another issue relating to changing the air filter, the filter that is fixed into the lid of the air filter, is that cleanable, replaceable or is it just a permanent thing for the life of the car?

I got my 2007 at 88k and did the first change at 100k with just dropping what came out the drain into a measuring jug and putting that amount back in. It gets changed every 20k the same way. Its about 2.5L each time (had the top up with the previous owner) and now sits on about 216k with no problems. My car was a hire car for the first 25k of its life then went to country NSW (where it still lives) tows with the previous owner and with me. I flog it but service it often ;)

Thanks for the reply. Do you then refill via the 'refill plug' - shown in the post above with the service manual pic?

Is there a reason not to take off the cooler lines to the radiator, stick the out line in a bucket and put the 'in' line in a 5 litre bottle of new fluid, run the car and keep an eye on the liquid, possibly let it suck up 2 x 5 litre bottles, that should replace the old fluid fairly thoroughly without taking stuff apart or paying toyota a million bucks???

this is an easy way to flush the oil that is used by many on their 1mzfe camrys,

anyone have a reason not to do it this way?

Is there a reason not to take off the cooler lines to the radiator, stick the out line in a bucket and put the 'in' line in a 5 litre bottle of new fluid, run the car and keep an eye on the liquid, possibly let it suck up 2 x 5 litre bottles, that should replace the old fluid fairly thoroughly without taking stuff apart or paying toyota a million bucks???

I get the idea of tyre heating... but the weight seems to be more over the front tyres - I think that because the rear feels more bouncy when the pressures are the same as the front

I didn't know the word 'co ar se' would be censored.

I've done 88k on my Michellins and told at 85k service I had 4mm left on them. I do City driving and M7, M5 bmotorway driving in Sydney. I've been impressed by the tyres generally.

Always rotated at service and aligned every 6 months.

I am guessing that the road surfaces make a difference to tyre wear - (on my pushbikes the road surface makes a significant difference to tyre life). The smooth 'tar' surfaces and the co**** blue metal roads have very different effects on tyre noise and probably wear

I used to be a mechanic at a holden dealership - in the 90's. Now teach primary school.

I think a large part of the problem with dealerships is that they are too focused on profit. Our service dept manager (suttons city holden in roseberry - sydney) used to get quite decent bonuses when we got through more than the set quota of services. There was virtually no training of apprentices or ongoing training of qualified guys either. That would be non chargable time.

They were charging about $110 per hour but the qualified guys got about $20 per hour. Apprentices got $140 to about $450 per week. I used to do all the transmission work, usually a remove - put a rebuild kit in, fit to test car then ship back to whichever dealer it came from - or back into customer car. That took about 5-6 hours and the kit, trans oil and a road test. I got under $100 a day but the job was charged at over $1000 - I think about 1300. So how valued did I feel? What motivation did I have to do it well?

Mechanics are often treated fairly badly by dealerships so they don't always do things carefully and properly - even if they have had the training needed - and even if they are qualified, at Suttons Holden they had way too many apprentices because they were cheap.

Why do all that stuff on an aurion? surely there are many other cars that would be cheaper to buy initailly and easier to improve and rear wheel drive for faster sprints...

Its a nice car for driving around but I wouldn't race it.

I think machining is another way of extracting money form customers - If your pads have not gotten down to the metal backing then machining is not normally needed - sometimes they will machine them and then ring you and say they are below minimum thickness so you have to have new discs - and you are stuck buying over priced Toyota ones then.

Get a manual - do the job yourself

My SSS Pulsar had a timing chain, I sold it at 201,000km and it was still going well - had an oil pressure tensioner too. That car got worked hard - lots of 2nd gear up to 100kmh, and a fuel cut off at about 7500rpm. I did however change the oil every 5000km from new