genjix

Hi all,

year 2000 GS 300
I would like to change my transmission fluid tomorrow, I'm the 2nd owner of the car and I dont know if the original owner ever changed it. From what I read, a drain and fill may be the way to go?

I plan to take it to a local mechanic to change the fluid because the lexus and toyota dealers here in nyc all have terrible reviews.

I plan to get the fluid from dealer, which will i need toyota type IV? How many quarts?

burny

12 quarts. Why not just take 3 or 4 at a time out of the cooler line attached to radiator. Very easy with 2 people. This way you can replace all 12. Buy 13 because a partial will run through until you see it coming out cherry red instead of do-do brown

JJaySilver

What do you mean by taking 3 or 4 at a time out of the cooler line attached to radiator?

burny

Bottom of radiator has an incoming tranny line and a return line. Driver side is incoming line I believe and this is the one you lift off and lay in a bucket. Start car for long enough to shift through the gears, put in park and cutoff. Like 5 seconds in all. measure fluid that came out. I usually use a 5 gallon old oil container. Take dipstick out, it is the orange one, and add the exact amount of new T-IV fluid that you measured.Pour old oil into the quart bottles. Do the start, shift through gears and cutoff again. Measure and refill. Do this until you get the 12th quart in and the fluid should come out cherry red. I usually get about 3 quarts out per cycle. Hook hose back to radiator, start car and let it warm to operating temperature as you shi\ft through the gears. Shift through them slowly. Leave car running and pull dipstick out to see how much you need to top it off. Then you are done. You will need a skinny tipped funnel to get it in the dipstick hole. Really simply procedure. I always get my wife or a friend to start the car while I inspect fluid coming out in bucket.

JJaySilver

Before doing this, no need to drain from the tranny drain plug? We can drain all fluid from that cooler line. I'll try this on my next oil change.

Lukas99GS

I got mine flushed after about 90-95k at lexus and haven't experienced any problems. But it is easy enough to do yourself draining and filling

burny

no need to take tranny drain bolt off.The method I am endorsing pulls old fluid from bottom of pan and the new fluid you add stays on top. Perfect cycle of old out and new in. You will see the new fluid come out at the end of the old dark fluid. Pretty slick

JJaySilver

Thanks, I'm definitely going to try this. Along with the power steering.

josey88

Why to go to all that trouble on draining 3 or 4 quarters and starting the car , etc when you can just drain the whole thing by the draining transmission plug ?
It would be a lot faster , if I may say so . Then when it is done , you just screw the plug back in , fill in the 12 quarters and you are done . I would also unscrew that radiator line to drain out the fluid on that line to make sure the radiator and line are empty of the fluid .

burny

You will not drain 12 out by undoing the bolt. You will get 3 to 4 max. The cooler line is the easiest way to get a complete exchange without mixing old and new. The power steering flush can be done pretty easy on this car.

josey88

So, if I take it to the dealer or a shop , since they usually use the drain plug , they will only drain it 3 or 4 quarters ? or they would do the radiator procedure that you mention ...?
Anybody can share light on this ?

JJaySilver

I think its cause 3 or 4 quarts of oil sits on the bottom of pan, while the rest is somewhere in the tranny, and cooler lines. I know there might be some in the radiator where it cools the fluid.

burny

Trust me on this. Been doing for years. Torque converter holds alot. Cooler line is the best approach for a complete oil exchange.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

with so little miles on your GS jose i think the dealer flush would be ok IMO... Its the GS's with the higher mileage that metal shavings can cause a problem when mixing old to new fluid (so i've read).. The tranny pan only holds 2qts. thats why many members do a drain and refill at the oil change interval because after 5 to 6 drain and refills you have have almost 100% new tranny fluid..

josey88

It was just curiosity , I recently checked my fluid and it is ok ( I only have 27, 000 miles on the car ) but I wanted to know . I was intrigued when I read about the line option and the suggestion to avoid using the tranny plug . Now I understand that the radiator line is the one procedure to do when the time arrives ... makes absolute sense . The club always ready to help with the best advice , Thanks , guys .