I am sorry to bother you all again but I’m ready to buy a 2025 Rav 5 XLE because the 2026’s are all EV/hybrid and I want an all gas car. As you know, I am overly zealous in changing oil, antifreeze and trans fluid. I see that with the 2019 through 2024 is similar to the 2015 with draining from a bolt (although on the side of the trans vs. on the trans filter pan in the 2015). And the fill plug is on the side of the trans so I should be able to drain, measure and refill. There is a discussion for the 2019 to 2024 having an internal screen like my wife’s 2016 optima but if you go to rock auto, they show a black plastic filter like the one in the 2015. I am to go tomorrow to pay a deposit to get the car next week. I will look at one on the lot but can’t take the cover underneath off and look at the trans. Is appears in pics that there isn’t a pan. Does anyone know if the filter is easy to get to or is it where you have to disassemble the trans at the dealer??? My wife’s optima had a trans cooler (wasn’t sure what that black box was but the XLE 2025 rav has one too (not sure why as my 2015 doesn’t). Anyway, does anyone have a 2025 and know where the filter is??? Why would rock auto show the black filter when others say the 5th gen 2019 to 2024 has a “screen”??? any help would be appreciated. thank you much. Starting to think I keep my 2015 as I know how to do all the fluid changes but the price and trade in value is great (124800 miles on my rav) and if I don’t act before end of 2025, then it’s used or another vehicle like we all talked before.
when on my phone late last night, an AI generated message said that a trans without a pan doesn’t have a serviceable filter. Not sure why I didn’t see this on my computer. Anyway, then why does Rock Auto have a big black filter with a pleated cloth insert? Lists for 2023, 2024 and 2025. So that implies it fits inside the trans??? Like I said, my wife’s 2016 optima doesn’t have a pan but a magnet at the end of the drain plug for the dust. Not sure how the trans cooler works there but I thought the black housing might have had a filter in it but now it seems that it’s just a trans cooler with anti freeze lines/housing. I see 6 views. Guess the only ones who might really know (short of a better search than me), are those with the actual car who do their own work. I’m going to the dealer today to see what they say and pay the deposit. Also wondering why they changed from a pan/filter and dipstick setup to go to the “sealed” transmissions. Thanks again if any rav 4 owner knows the answer.
You sound like you’d be better off with a much older vehicle that needs to be constantly worked on.
I’m pretty sure that anyone with a 2025 has not changed the transmission fluid yet and will not do so for years and years to come.
Pan removal and installation is a source of a potential leak. Transmissions with dipsticks are subject to lube jockeys and DIY’ers misreading them and overfilling, underfilling, or using non-factory fluid, all of which are harmful, right? If the trans is filled with the correct fluid and at the correct level, you’ve got the best shot at a long transmission life.
I understand that you don’t want a hybrid car for whatever reason, but just be aware the e-CVT trans in Toyotas has been around for 25 years and is actually more reliable than most conventional transaxles. When was the last time anyone heard of a Prius with a failed trans?
Here’s my advice . . .
Find out EXACTLY what transaxle this 2025 RAV4 comes with
Not “I think it has such and such”
EXACTLY the model number
And then look up what filter, pan and gasket it gets
If there IS no filter, pan and gasket listed anywhere, maybe it’s got a CVT
Or you go to the Toyota dealer parts counter with the VIN of the vehicle you’re considering buying and asking them to straight out show you on the screen what filter and pan gasket it gets
What difference does it make? When the fluid needs changing just take it to a qualified shop and let them change it.
If you buy the gas only version, pretty sure it comes only with the 8 speed auto. The e-CVTs are on the hybrid versions.
Lots of videos showing how to change the fluid in the 8 speed auto.
The filter/screen is difficult to change and typically unnecessary as it is designed to catch larger debris, not fine particulates.
I do my own work. and if there is a filter, it has to be purchased. Plus, there are a few ways to change the fluid (drain/refill’; do the temperature to do overflow; or put on machine in the dealer to flush it but most don’t deal with that).
online and at the dealer, they don’t show a pan. It doesn’t have one. Haven’t narrowed down the trans model to get the exact washers yet. It’s got an 8 speed trans. Also, if you own a toyota, you know what the SOP is for transmissions for their cars.
yes, I figured that out. I have 3 or 4 years before changing the trans filter. I have time to find out if it has a filter. The fluid change on the 2019 through the 2025 is like my 2015 so I know how to do that. What amazes me is that the 2019 to 2025 are 5th gens. You can’t find one (or I can’t) video changing a filter. So that makes me believe it doesn’t have one. If you look at the schematic (I did at home and at the dealer parts dept), it shows the trans body and a black box on the side (might hold a filter). There isn’t a filter in between in the schematic nor is there one on the 2015 schematic that has a pan and a filter. The internet says is no pan, no filter but I have a doubt on that. I intend to drop the skirt/cover underneat and see the trans. The number/model is on the net (forgot it now) but I still need the washers for the drain plug and fill plug. I looked at a 2025 schematic and they list a few numbers but not the trans model number so I don’t know which to order yet. the car has an 8 speed trans whereas the hybrid has some ECTV or some 4 letter meaning it’s electronically controlled and not an 8 speed. I think all of the 2025 camry’s are CVT’s. They went away from dip stick and pans to make it “long life” vs. serviceable. As for CVT’s, I want gears as I’ve mentioned before. Anyway, I’ll figure this out. I can change the fluid till 50/60K and then figure if it has a serviceable filter. If not, then no harm, no foul. thanks.
my 2015 has 125K miles. It has 5 to 7 years more to go but if toyota stays at Ev’s and hybrids, I won’t be able to get a new gas only Rav. Hence the purchase. I will work on the 2025 when it needs fluid changes. thanks for the reply
The parts counter at your dealership should be able to provide the correct parts. Then save those part numbers so you can order online in the future.
The “pan” on a modern Toyota transmission is located on the front of the transmission, because that is where the valve body is located. There is no need for a valve body cover on the bottom of the transmission since there is nothing to be installed in that location.
The filter can be seen with the front cover off, but it is inaccessible. There is no need to replace the filter on a modern transmission, they last the life of the transmission. If the filter becomes clogged with clutch material, replacing the filter is not going to help.
If you are going to buy a new vehicle every ten years, you don’t need to perform any transmission maintenance.
A 2019 (2.5l) through at least a 2022 Rav4 8 speed transaxle is a AWF8F35 trans, if the 2025 is the same, then so is the name of it…
Some manufactures burry the filters deep within the transmissions, those are basically complete tear downs to change them, so basically they are a non serviceable filter…
And transmission have basically all been electronically controlled for decades now, so you can throw out that crap… The 42RH (Hydraulic) went to a 42RE (Electronic) way back in 1993, the RH has a 3 pin OD connector and the RE has the round 8 pin connector, that was 31-32 years ago… lol
Here is over a thousand transmission parts for the 2025 Rav4, you can look for the filter… lol
7:36 am cst
Traditional transmissions had the pan on the bottom from the earliest until I retired 20 years ago and when the pan was removed and cleaned there was a thick layer black sludge that required a significant amount of effort to remove. It seemed that the sludge was the cause for transmission failures since when tearing down transmissions the many pistons and valves were visibly sticking in black sludge in their bores.
Just wondering, and I would never do it, could you splice in a filter in the transmission cooling lines? Use a spin on oil filter.
Of course do this after the vehicle is out of warranty !
Here is one for ya’ll, new lawn mower, can only change the oil by changing the filter assembly. Filter is prefilled with oil. Only changes about 1/3 of the oil volume.
Yes of course you can, I have done it many times when installing a rebuilt transmission… IIRC some of the reman transmissions came with inline filters that we had to install for the warranty…
2:51 pm
I’ve run into many of those filters that were installed afterwards, at some point
And I’ve found that in nearly 100% of the cases, the steel lines were NOT cut and flared correctly where the new bulk hoses then connected to the added filter . . . which absolutely guaranteed that those hoses would one day blow off, which I did experience many times. Some guys even made a straight cut into the steel lines and doubled up on the hose clamps, patting themselves on the back and proclaiming “that will never loosen and come off” . . . yet it did
So, in many cases, the guys adding those filters created problems where none previously existed, and also ruined a perfectly good trans cooler line
I have seen the same, but I always flared both lines AND double clamped both ends of the hose… If done correctly, it does help…
But I learned how to do it right from repairing holes in lines, cut out the bad section, flare both ends and double clamp the ends of the hose, never had a failure doing it that way…
8:51 am
I wondered about that. Seems to me the filter’s a bandaid, the thing to do is change the fluid.