crwys

I want to do a drain and refill on my 1999 Lexus ES300, just have some questions.
How many times should I drain and refill?
How many miles should I drive on each refill?
Should I go with the Mobil 1 or T-IV Toyota Transmission fluid?
When I drain my transmission fluid, is there 2 plugs or just 1? (I found the one so far)
Should I turn on my car and go through all my gears to try and get as much transmission fluid out as possible?
Where is the transmission filter located at?
Should I remove the whole pan?

I think thats it lol. Thank you.

Hayk

iTrader: (1)

1. About 3 drain and fills would be ideal
2. Drive it for a week, maybe 100-200 miles.
3. Not sure what type of fluid your 1999 requires. Reference the manual for the right type.
4, There are two plugs, but you only need to open one to drain most of the fluid. The second plug is not worth opening, for the amount of fluid that comes out.
5. Do not turn the car on. It will burn up your transmission, if the fluid is too low. That trick only works if you constantly add fluid while draining it, and it's usually done with the tranmission cooler lines, not the drain plug.
6. The filter is right behind the oil pan
7. It would be beneficial to remove the pan and replace the filter during the last drain cycle.

Hope that helps.

LeX2K

Mobil 1 3309 and T-IV are exactly the same fluid. Exactly. Count the number of bolts on the transmission pan, if you have 17 then use Dexron fluid, if you have 18 then use T-IV.

PFB

MrBooby, I agree with all of your points, with the exception of point no.2

The whole idea of doing multiple drains and refills vs. a complete flush, is to introduce new fluid gradually. New fluid has strong cleaning properties, and can release stuck, previously harmless varnish into the transmission. This now loose varnish can cause possible transmission damage.

A simple Drain and Refill minimizes the release of such varnish. However doing multiple drains and refills every 100, to 200 miles, is way too frequent.

Performing 3 Drain and Refills every 5,000 to 7,000 miles or so is much safer, and even more effective. The time interval in this case is not that relevant.

Phil

speedkar9

Most likely you need Toyota Type IV automatic transmission from the dealership. Check the driver's door pillar to see which transmission your car has, as 1999 was the change-over year. The dipstick will also tell you what fluid you need.

If your filter hasn't been changed recently, its a good idea to replace it, or at least clean it out. Its not hard to do, just a messy job. You need to drop the transmission pan to access the filter, bolted with 3 bolts to the valve body.

Buy a transmission filter kit, it will come with the gasket and filter needed for this job.

Here's how its done:


And DIY write up (this is for A541E transmission, procedure is the same for U140E except there are 18 transmission pan bolts)

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...id-change.html

crwys

Thank you very much everyone!

Sorry I should have been more clear, I already know I need the T-IV fluid, I just wasn't sure if there was a big enough difference or not between the toyota and mobil fluid.