Just pulled the trans pan today and found a lot of fine metal particles stuck to the magnets -- they were really coated with metal slurry. Also some on the differential plug magnet. Pan has never been pulled before, car is 12 yrs old, 178k, 4cyl. Is there a 'normal' amount to expect? What are the warning signs of lethal trans wear?
Some metal in the pan and on the magnet is part of normal trans wear. Fine metal particles that form a kind of gel or goo is what you should find. What you need to look for are larger metal 'flakes', like the size of fish food and larger. Indication that chunks of metal are falling off somewhere would indicate a problem. Same goes for the diff.
It's normal, but your car will coast farther if you periodically drop the pan and change the strainer instead of just drain and refill. The particles block full fluid flow. What's your current drain-and-refill interval? Do consider strainer change every 30K miles for starters. Needless to say, any transmission service needs to be done properly or risk damage.
Ferrous (gears) and non-ferrous (bushings) metal particles are the norm. There are also gray particles (clutch and brake friction material) like your brake pads. The best way to get rid of them is to periodically drop the pan, wipe it and the magnets clean, AND replace the strainer and the gasket.
I use a ~$20 Fram ATF kit with cork-rubber gasket (instead of recycled tire rubber gasket) with Valvoline GM-Dextron III ATF. A recent change after 24K miles there's more particles than I like, so the next one I'm dropping down to 15K miles. I do my own work, so it's no problem here on a shorter interval.
The Aisin A-series transmissions in Toyotas use a soft friction material. These transmissions are among the dirtiest I've seen. A strainer is used because a filter will be plugged up in no time, causing transmission failure. A filter used in a cleaner transmission would help provide better filtration, but not in a dirty transmission.
However, the A-series is better than the new 2007 U-series. Some U- series will skip gears and the only way to fix it, according to a Jan
2007 Toyota Technical Service Bulletin, is to junk the old one and get a whole new transmission. Wonder how much it will cost after warranty expires?
Thanks for the info. I drain/refill every 15k, since it's easy, inexpensive, and less than half of the total fluid can be drained at one time. This is the first time I've removed the pan, and I'm glad I did. I used a Toyota cork gasket. I hadn't considered replacing the strainer, since it's not called for in the maintenance schedule, and the screen material looked fairly clean, but perhaps will reconsider. Thanks again.
MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.