chadb5646

Recently bought a 1995 ES 300 with 122K miles on it.....and really want to change transmission fluid & filter. I was just told by a local mechanic in business 40+ years NOT TO CHANGE IT! WTH? He told me that after changing the old with new, it may not shift gears........HELP? What SHOULD I do?????

PFB

You are really in a no win situation.

The reason your mechanic said that, and many other experts agree, is that if the transmission oil was never changed on a high milage car, than introducing new transmission oil, will loosen some of the varnish and other contaminates that have become stuck to the internals of the transmission. Those particles will now loosen up and cause havoc within a few thousand miles.

However if you do just a drain and refill, than your chances of causing any damage are greatly minimized, but eliminated. Whatever you do, don't do a transmission flush of any kind, and make sure that you only use transmission fluid sold by Lexus.

The majority of people in your position doing a drain and refill end up OK. There are some however, that wished they had never done it. If however your transmission oil smells burned, or is brown or black in color, or your transmission is not shifting right, than definitely go ahead and do it. Otherwise, who knows?

Phil

chadb5646

GREAT....no win and between a rock and a hard place. I was told to go ahead and do a drain/filter change and use Amsoil Full Synthetic......thoughts?

PFB

Although Amsoil is a great synthetic fluid it, and other synthetics tends to clean the transmission too well. This is not desirable at your stage, as it may loosen contaminants and varnish, allowing them to circulate with your transmission fluid. Possibly causing damage.

You can use Amsoil after you have done several more drain and refills over the next 30k miles or so. In the interim use only the transmission fluid from Lexus.

Please don't look for trouble

BDSL

Did the previous owner change the transmission fluid as per maintenance schedule? If he/she did, there shouldn't be any problem changing transmission fluid.

Lexucan

I agree with PFB when he warns against doing a transmission flush on the high mileage vehicle. However, I have done numerous tranny drain and fills on my '93 ES with 450,000 kilometers and have never had an issue. It's probably been done once or twice a year for the past five years or so.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Drain and refills are generally ok. Flushing via pressure or chemical is what you want to avoid.