[socalUser]

Hello,

I recently flushed my 2008 RAV4 4-cyl ATF with WS. I originally paid my mechanic to flush it at around 90K and then did it myself at 104K.

I was careful to measure and replace the same quantity that I drained. It came out to be 4 quarts, which looks to be higher than some datapoints I see here? The manual says 3.5 quarts.

My guess is that my mechanic got a little careless and just emptied out the remainder of the last quart!

So, the question is, is 0.5 qt overfill something to worry about? Should I drain it out? The dipstick measurement indicates that its past the notch by about 1/4 in.

Thanks.

 

[vanib]

I would definitely drain it out.
Also, you need to measure on the HOT tab after driving at least 20 min.
Maybe you need to take even more than 0.5 quart out after all if you previously too measurements when cold.

 

[RAVN4RED]

Yeah, make sure you are checking the dipstick with the engine fully warmed and with engine running. If you check when stopped, it might read high.

And yeah, if there is .5 quart extra, I personally would drain out the excess to meet the spec. I'm sure a lot of folks wouldn't bother.

One other point, you mentioned "flush" but sounds like what you did is more like a "drain and fill" which takes about 3.5 quarts. A true "flush" takes like 12 quarts to circulate out all the old fluid through the whole system using a machine or the ATF return line.

 

[socalUser]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I did measure the ATF level at temperature but I neglected to go through all the gears before measuring the level. Once I did that, it was right at the upper HOT notch on the dipstick, so I'll just keep it at that.

RAV4NRED, sorry, I did a drain and fill (both times) and not a flush; not sure why I wrote 'flush'!

 

[RAVN4RED]

No worries, sounds like you are dialed in. I'm also in the 'drain and fill' camp, feeling it is less intrusive than the flush and have no shifting problems at 85k-miles. I plan to drop the pan at some point and see what kind of gunk has built up.

Thanks for reporting back and glad you hit your mark. DIY!