Review on 🚗 Optimize Your Vehicle's Performance with Beck Arnley 044-0330 Automatic Transmission Filter by James Crofton

I've wanted to change the transmission filter on this 2007 Corolla for a long time as it was never changed even though it only had 120,000 miles and it's 14 years old. old. I did a few "drain and fill" operations when I bought the car (4 years and 30,000 miles) so I knew the ATF was still good. I bought a genuine Toyota transmission pan gasket for this filter change, so I did not use the rubber pan gasket that came with that filter. I figured if the original Toyota gasket wasn't leaking in 14 years I would buy another one but I don't think it matters as the rubber seals seem to be very good. FYI: Toyota's gasket is cork composite and the one that came in this box was rubber. Next time I change the filter I think I'll just use this rubber gasket instead of buying an original Toyota gasket. You drain the ATF by loosening the 14mm drain screw on the drain pan, then putting the screw back in and then removing the screw. 18 bolts (every 10mm) securing the transmission oil pan to the transmission. I loosened the bolts closest to the rear of the car first, then moved forward on either side so I could tilt the pan backwards. Auto to methodically and SLOWLY drain the fluid into the basin I placed under the oil pan. I'd recommend still having some store-bought towels or old t-shirts to catch some of the liquid that spills outside the sink and then throwing them away. Do this slowly or the gear oil will tend to spill out too quickly and make a mess. I then removed the old transmission filter by removing 3 bolts (all bolt heads are 10mm as are the flat head bolts), 2 short bolts on one side and a longer bolt on the other side. I put a new filter in and it fit perfectly and looked the same as the old one. I made sure that the long bolt was installed separately on the side and the 2 short bolts on the other side. I removed the old transmission pan gasket (mine was still attached to the transmission pan mating surface and came loose easily) and cleaned any remaining gaskets on the transmission pan mating surface with a single edge razor blade angled about 5 to 10 degrees. Grad and did the same with all the old gasket residue on the transmission pan mating surface (surprisingly there was very little old gasket residue on either mating surface). I cleaned the two magnets that were in the tub (they had a fine gray dust that looked like shavings - this is normal) with a paper towel, then washed the tub with water, then with brake cleaner and dried with paper towels. I returned the magnets to their original places; If I remember correctly there are two raised lines on the pan (one for the length and one for the width) so you can line it up in the right place. I then put a new washer on the oil pan, lifted the oil pan to the transmission and manually installed a bolt or two (just a few threads) to hold the oil pan in place, and then started installing all the other bolts (18 total). enough to hold the pan. I then tightened the screws in a star pattern, still using only my fingers. The goal is not to tie one part of the pan tight while the other part of the pan is barely snug; You want the gasket to be pressed down evenly so it seals well. I took my size 10 socket wrench and tightened them all up a bit. The torque requirements for these bolts are very low (48 to 80 in/lbs (NOT ft/ft!) from what I can gather from reading conflicting torque specs), so DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN them. . The Chilton Manual mentions 13 ft/lbs. This is an error as they appear to have copied the torque for the transmission drain plug which is 13 ft/lbs. At that torque you will likely loosen the oil pan bolts and ruin the gasket! I'll have to double check what Toyota says, but I decided to do it without a torque wrench as there were too many conflicting answers. This may be because the original Toyota (cork composite) seal requires a specific torque, while the aftermarket rubber seals require a different one. Still, it's better to stay on the lower torque side at first. I started pouring new automatic transmission fluid through the ATF tube (make sure you have a narrow funnel to fit that narrow tube). I first put in about 3.2 liters of automatic transmission fluid if I remember correctly, started the car and shifted into each gear (park, drive, reverse etc.) for about 5 or 10 seconds and checked the fluid. When full it should be near the "cold" mark on the transmission dipstick since you just started the car, but checking the level on a hot car will give the most accurate reading. According to the owner's manual the 'drain and fill' on this car is 3.2 liters (3.0 liters / 2.6 English start. I started out very conservatively with 3.2 liters but over the next few days I checked this and added a little more each time .Ultimately I think I put in about 4.0 liters I would recommend driving the car for 20 minutes and then just checking the dipstick and adding more fluid if necessary I've read that the Amount of fluid required to move the level from the "COLD" mark on the dipstick to the "HOT" mark on this car is about 1/2 quart To get this to work , it's not difficult Important things: 1-Slowly and methodically loosen the oil pan bolts and tilt them sideways to avoid the AT fluid flowing out too quickly and in the filter 3-make sure the mating surfaces on the Oil pan and gearbox clean r are to get the oil pan gasket to make a good seal, and perhaps most importantly 4 - tighten the transmission oil pan bolts a little more than hand tight as you don't want to loosen the bolts. It's best to be conservative with 1-add new transmission oil and 2-tighten those 18 transmission pan bolts. If you notice a leak in the transmission pan when you start the car, you can always tighten the bolt or bolts at the leaking spot a little, but if you snap the bolt by over-tightening, you'll have a problem. If you have a torque wrench I would start with 48 in/lb and see if it leaks. If it is indeed leaking I would gradually increase until there is no leak. I was surprised at how little torque it took to loosen the 18 oil pan bolts when I first removed the transmission pan. Finally, after 15-20 minutes of driving (to allow the engine to warm up to normal operating temperature), park on a level surface with the engine running, check the automatic transmission oil dipstick and, if it is below the "hot” mark, you can just do some AT -Add liquid. If you put too much liquid, you need to drain some of it after the car cools down. For reference, there was very little metal shavings in the transmission oil pan and old filter; When I cleaned the transmission pan I could see small metal shavings glistening in the sun. These are tiny silver particles and I have noticed gray dust particles on the magnets, bottom of the sump and inside the old filter. This is normal wear and tear; You just don't want to see big chunks of metal particles.