jbl-1985

I've looked in this forum and I don't see one for an ES300. Anyone know of one? I know there is one over in the RX300 forum...

speedkar9

Here you go:


Procedure is same if you have the 17 or 18 bolt transmission, just make sure you get the right filter and gasket. The 4ES doesn't have a filter.

LeX2K

Pretty sure it does, the filter looks like this:

jbl-1985

speedkar9 and Lexus2000: Thanks much for the replies. Next time I'll go out to youtube and search had no idea there would be stuff there too. Also from what I have been able to tell, the filter and gasket looks to be the one I need for sure. Was going to wait till I got under there and got the pan off to be sure but am pretty sure I have the 18 bolt pan.

speedkar9 - when you say the 4ES doesn't have a filter...do you mean the 2004 ES?

hypervish

4ES - 4th generation ES300/ES330 : 2002 - 2006

And, it does have a "filter". The question is whether your particular unit has a paper filter or a screen filter.

jbl-1985

Got it...thanks again.

hypervish

You're welcome.

Also, thinking about it some more, I think the 4ES had a paper filter only. I believe 2001 was the last year of screen filters (could be wrong though).

jbl-1985

I'll document my project and post what I find for my 2kES.

LeX2K

The U series transmissions (1999+) use a felt like filter element versus the A series which use a screen. The service manual says to use sealant on the bolt threads.

hypervish

Are you referring to all U series transmission or just those found in the ES300?

Because I know for certain that isn't the case with RX300s, which also have the u140 transmission.

LeX2K

I see a filter listed for both the U140E and the U140F in the RX. How do you know for certain? Here's the service manual for the RX it shows a filter.

hypervish

Many folks on the RX side have dropped the pan. Some have found paper filters other have found screen. There are pictures of both on the RX side of the forum. We came to the conclusion that T/L switched to a paper filter but never had an exact answer as to when that change occurred.

EDIT: It seems you mis-understood me, or rather I wasn't very clear. I was referring to your statement about how the U-series transmissions have felt like element as opposed to the A series which have a screen. I wasn't saying that the RX didn't have a filter.

LeX2K

When the filter gets dirty it looks grey-ish maybe some people mistake that as a paper element? It's orange/yellow-ish when new. If there is a screen type filter for the U140E I'd use that versus the felt element they tend to get gunked up and clog. Terrible design.
Yes I did my bad.

jbl-1985

Well I pulled the pan and the filter to my surprise does not have one "Toyota" marking on it at all. Not sure if this is significant, but it seems to me that someone might have gone in and replaced this filter at some point before I owned the car, thus the surprise...

Also, it is a Microfelt filter, which I believe Lex2000 mentioned were no good in their design...going to get a new filter and gasket set tomorrow...is it worth it to get it at Toyota or are the ones at Autozone or O'Reilly's just as good?

Lastly, my pan was pretty pristine - no chunks or slivers of anything. Just the normal sludge buildup on the magnets. Cleaned the pan and the magnets thoroughly and now just waiting to reassemble everything and top her off with T-IV...

LeX2K

When I replaced the filter in my car the one that came with the kit looked iffy to me I didn't like the quality of the filter element. I used the gasket and ended up buying a filter from Toyota. I think it's worth the extra money considering how vital it is to the operation of the transmission. Some aftermarket ones could be just as good or even better but in my case I was not impressed. Forget what brand it was.

If you want to improve the performance of the transmission use Royal Purple ATF. Expensive yes but the transmission will shift better and you can run it longer between changes. These transmissions darken the fluid faster than the previous A series, have not seen this happen since I made the switch to Royal Purple.