driving with low transmission fluid
 

this past weekend i performed my first oil change on a 95 4runner V6 with 110k miles. i bought it last weekend. i accidentally emptied the transmission fluid instead of the oil. i drained the pan, about 5qts worth, thinking it was the oil. then i replaced the oil filter. and poured 5qts of oil in. i drove it a while and noticed that it was hesitating and jerking when taking off. i realized what i had done after i drove about 35miles. so i bought a funnel and 5qts of transmission fluid. filled it back up and checked the oil level. the oil level is way high, and i plan on draining some out today after work. i drove it today and it seems to shift fine again. i guess i am just asking if anyone knows if i did any serious damage to my transmission by driving it 35miles at 5 quarts low? i feel pretty dumb for not noticing when i drained it, but whats done is done. thanks in advance for any suggestions or help.

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

thats a new one...

Fill it up your fine, dont overfill thats about as bad as underfilling it.

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

the only info i could find said that the transmission pan holds 5 quarts of fluid. so i put 5 quarts back in. i tried checking the transmission fluid but it has a hot indicator on it.. what is the correct way to check the transmission fluid level. its an automatic by the way. so far it seems to riding fine again. thanks in advance.

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

owners manual.... Need to check it.

Usually there are notches in it, and it should read between this and that notch for good and this and that notch for low.

transmission oil usually should be checked when warm anyway. Much like motor oil..

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

totally unrelated... but thought i would ask. when i changed the oil i used a regular fram filter and castrol gtx from wal-mart. i planed on watching it to see if its leaking or burning oil. if all is good i wanted to make the switch to synthetic. what oil and filter would you recommend? i realize this is mostly opinion. thanks in advance.

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

Im not a big paper filter guy at ALL, I use to race alot of cars. So no paper filters.

Synthetic is alot of HYPE, unless you have a turbo or are racing I think its a joke. Yes I ran just about every synthetic oil you can think of.

Royal purple is suppose to be the **** though, never used it but looking to try it if they have a mineral oil I can use.

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

I would use factory filter its the best way to go for any toyota besides toyota filter aremade to hold oil and most after market filter don't do this. The reason for the toyota filter to hold oil it prevents dry starting at least thats wht they said.

RE: driving with low transmission fluid
 

i have been checking the fluid alot to make sure it is dead on and noticed that it may be about a quart high. when i check it in the morning before work. i start it up, run it through the gears and then check it in park with the truck running. it reads in the middle of cold and hot. after work after driving home. i park it, run it through the gears... and then check it... it is at the top notch on hot. to me it seems as if it may be a little high. i was planning on draining out a little and then running it through the gears and checking it again. any harm in doing this? or do you think i am just becoming obsessive compulsive over the transmission now? the only reason i am still looking at it is bc i noticed if i punch it in traffic... it will rev up to like 5k rpm which seems bad. is that normal? thanks in advance for any imput_

also i plan on droping it off at a transmission shop on tuesday. they said they would drive it check engine codes and drop the pan to diagnose it. i want to know what to be cautious of when i deal with them. the person i spoke to checked for me and said that in the worst case scenario if i need a rebuild it would cost around 2500. does that inclue all new synchros? what should it include? i plan on asking them but i would like an idea of what the standard is. thanks again for the help.