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Hi, I recently had my Toyota Caldina 1997 transmission machine flushed and gasket & filter replaced. The mechanic said they put 8ltrs of new fluid in. However when I checked the dipstick - cold and hot - it was still brown. I have had many machine flushes on family vehicles, and this is the first time I've had fluid still brown. Thoughts?

Hi there,
If the gasket and filter was replaced then a lot of the fluid would have drained out, however the torque converter holds a lot of fluid and this may have mixed with the new and colour might not be as clear as new.
Usually the machine flush would drain out the fluid while the vehicle is running and then refill with new at the same time- which also flushes out the converter. I would be asking how they machine flushed the vehicle when they had the pan and filter off- as you wouldn't really want to do it before or after the filter replacement. Usually you do a machine flush without dissembling the vehicle, and if you are removing the pan- you simply would do a "drain and fill" method.