Photo by saebaryo I’m pretty sure those of you who own a Camry must have been quite satisfied with lots of benefits and durability that this car gives.

But in order to keep enjoying those advantages, you must perform a regular maintenance on your ride.

Without a regular maintenance it’s more likely that you’ll spend more money in the future to repair and fix the damages.

One of the regular maintenance procedures is changing the automatic transmission fluid (ATF).

The shortcut to do this is of course by relying on a professional mechanic to handle the job.

But if you decide to extend your knowledge, save money, and gain the satisfaction of doing the replacement by yourself, then let’s get your hand dirty.

You’ll be needing proper tools and the courage to do this, so get ready.

Below are the steps that show you how to change automatic transmission fluid in your Camry:

First you need to drain the old fluid out from the fluid pan. To do this you should first clean the outward of the pan and its surrounding areas. By doing this you’ll prevent the pan from dirt contamination.

Now, remove the dipstick that’s located in the filler tube and replace it with a funnel. Place a drain pan under the fluid pan. This pan is used for catching the draining fluid that will flow out.

Once everything is set into place, you may use a socket wrench to remove the drain plug of the fluid pan. Put the plug on a safe and clean and take time to let the old fluid drain.

Remove the fluid pan from your Camry. In order to do this, the two bolts need to be loosen in a diagonal fashion.

Because there are bolts with different sizes, so you should pay attention the places which every bolt should go.

You should prepare to catch the pan before you completely remove the two remaining bolts. You may catch the pan by holding it.

The pan often still contains some fluid in it, so you should be very careful when detach it from your car to avoid any fluid from spilling.

Put the pan aside on a clean place.

Now it’s time to disassemble other transmission parts. You need to disconnect the wires of the valve body in order to detach it.

You should also take off the retaining bolts of the strainer. Once again you need to pay attention on which each bolt should go.

Now, you need to remove any debris that still remain on the valve body and throw away throw gasket.

You should take an extra caution when doing this step because the valve body usually still contains some amounts of fluid that may drain out.

There’s a magnet that’s located at the bottom of the fluid pan, you may want to clean it.

You should remove all the magnets. There are metal shavings that are attached to the magnets, you need to clean them.

If the fluid pan still contains fluid then it needs to be drained. Wipe off any excess fluid by using a clean rug.

If the gasket is already too old, consider to replace it. In order to clean the transmission better, you need to scrape off more material from it.

Air dry the fluid pan, once the remaining fluid is completely drained out and cleaned.

Now it’s time to reassemble every components that are previously detached.

Photo by rastrus Attach the parts back into its original assembly and replace any parts that need to be replaced like the gasket’s magnets.

When all the assembly is completed, the transmission is now ready to be filled with a new supply of automatic transmission fluid (ATF).

Add the new supply of automatic transmission fluid using the dipstick tube. Observe your Camry’s manual to find out the proper amount and the recommended fluid.

The dipstick usually has a mark that tells the optimum level which the fluid should be filled up to.

Alright, now you have successfully changed the automatic transmission fluid of your beloved Camry. Try to start the engine and let it remains idle for several minutes.

Check your dipstick and make sure the fluid is still within the recommended level. If it’s not, add more fluid.

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The Toyota Camry is a mid-size car, formerly a compact car manufactured by Toyota since 1980. The name “Camry” comes from a phonetic transcription of the Japanese word kanmuri, which means “crown”, a tradition started with the Toyota Crown in the 1950s, and continued with the Corolla and Corona, which are also latin words for “crown”.

For the East and Southeast Asian markets, high specification Camry models are seen as executive cars. Since the sixth generation SXV30 model, the Camrys sold in these markets have sported revised front- and rear-end treatment. For the seventh generation SXV40 series, the same was done, although the Australian-designed Toyota Aurion which is based on the seventh generation Camry was the donor model. The Aurion features revised front- and rear-end treatment and changes to the interior, but is fitted with the same powertrains. An up-branded luxury version of the Camry was sold in Japan as the Toyota Windom until 2006; the related Lexus ES shares major chassis and drivetrain components with the Camry.

In the United States, the Camry has been the best selling car for nine of the last ten years starting in 1997, with the only exception being 2001. The Camry also sells very well in Australia, Canada, and a number of Asian markets—in particular Cambodia where the vast majority of cars are Camrys. Despite its success, it has often been criticized for its bland design and lack of sportiness compared to its rivals. It has not sold as well in Europe and its homemarket Japan; as its design is ill-suited for European and Japanese tastes.

The seventh-generation Toyota Camry is the first generation in which the Camry has been available as a gasoline/electric hybrid. The Camry Hybrid utilizes Toyota’s second generation Hybrid Synergy Drive and contains a 4-cylinder engine with 147 hp (110 kW) in conjunction with a 40 hp (30 kW) electric motor for a combined output of 187 hp (139 kW). The Camry is currently the third Toyota model to be offered as a hybrid, the others being the Toyota Prius and the Toyota Highlander.

Camry Hybrids were initially built solely in Japan, though the majority of production has since shifted to Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky plant, which is projected to produce 45,000 of the vehicles per year. In June 2008, Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that the Camry Hybrid will also be built in a Thailand plant in 2009 and in Melbourne in 2010 with an annual production capacity of 9,000 and 10,000 respectively.

EPA fuel economy estimates for the 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid are 40 mpg (US) (5.9 L/100 km/48 mpg imp) (City) and 38 mpg (US) (6.2 L/100 km/46 mpg imp) (Highway).[21] EPA’s revised method of estimating fuel economy for 2008 and subsequent model years, which now considers the effects of air conditioning, rapid acceleration and cold temperatures, estimates 33 mpg (US) (7.1 L/100 km/40 mpg imp) (City) and 34 mpg (US) (6.9 L/100 km/41 mpg imp) (Highway).