Alphard 3.0L MNH10W Automatic Transmission Fluid change

[MarkATH10W]

Hi All,

 

Some lessons learned from the recent transmission oil change at 90,000km with unknown history:

 

Compatible Type-IV ATF fluids with the correct viscosity (7.3 @ 100c)

 

**Caution** None of the lube shops I contacted had the correct fluid in stock, although they assured me it was compatible.  The universal fluids (regardless of brand) they had in stock had a viscosity of around 5.5 @ 100c, closer to the ATF-WS used in newer vehicles.  They finally looked it up when I started talking numbers and realized they had to special order compatible fluid (JWS 3309 spec)

 

Synthetic:

1. Motul Multi ATF - viscosity of 7.6 @100c ( I chose this)
2. Pennzoil Platinum High Mileage ATF fluid has a viscosity of 7.2 @100c (hard to find in Canada)
3. VALVOLINE IMPORT MULTI-VEHICLE (ATF) FULL SYNTHETIC AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID: 6.9 @100c (hard to find in Canada)

 

Non-Synethetic:

1. Mobil™ ATF 3309 (research in forums indicate that this is the exact same manufactor as Toyota branded T-IV fluid; easy to find in Canada but not synthetic).

 

Regarding method: Drain and fill method was selected due to:

• ease/cost
• do not trust technicians from lube shop to do a flush (requires disconnection of clamp by ATF oil cooler). 
• the oil pickup filter is a coarse filter which typically shows no buildup at this KM (source: car care nut, licenesed toyota mechianic) therefore dropping pan, replacing filter, scraping old gasket, replacing gasket is not necessary at this point.

 

Other information:

 

The Toyota Type-IV will quickly discolour, not indicating degradtion in performance... however, the synthetic fluids seem to hold their color as reported on internet forums.

[MarkATH10W]

AMSOIL online store is quite good in terms of pricing within North America, I will be using AMSOIL moving forward with this branded oil:

 

AMSOIL Signature Series Multi-Vehicle 100% Synthetic - viscosity of 7.5 @100c

less viscosity variation,  better pour point (performance) at freezing.

 

AMSOIL OE Multi-Vehicle 100% Synthetic Automatic Transmission Fluid - viscosity of 7.5 @100c

25% cheaper than Signature series