Steve2424

2008 GS350 approaching 60,000 miles by the next oil change. I'm having an independent mechanic maintain my car so should I just apply whatever service interval info is in the owners manual and have him perform just what is stated, or are there are other things I should have him take a look at?

*I check the water pump periodically to make sure it's not leaking/ showing corrosion. He's also taken a look at this, and I'll have him look this over as well -- just wondering if there is anything outside of this that I should take into account.

Thanks

burny

ever change your brake fluid? Flush your coolant? Plugs? I would do Tranny fluid pretty soon as well.

Steve2424

Tranny I was considering to do as well, and rear differential -- drain & fill on both, not flush. Coolant and brake fluid I'll have it serviced as well. Also was intending to do spark plugs at this mileage, and throttle body cleaning as my idle is sometimes rough.

Given this assortment, any ideas on what the damage would look like? lol

Gotcha350

Had all that done at my Lexus dealership and it cost me about 1100...so if you get it lower than that you are good...lol

Diesel350

Wow that's insane. The Lexus dealership where I live quoted $700 for the 60k service.

Here's what I paid for the 60 k service.

Oil Change at Lexus- $50
Brake Fluid change at independent Lexus Mechanic-$60
Air and Cabin filters changed myself- $25
Total- $135. Lol

Steve2424

I think he means including the transmission and rear differential service among the other items I stated. I was estimating in the range of sub $800 since my mechanic is a friend. I know his work is very good from a few people that have used his services.

As far as spark plugs, which are better for this car: platinum or iridium? And is there a particular brand that is recommended? I wanna keep this car running in top shape for a long time.

Thanks!

Gotcha350

Yep...trans, and rear diff.
Spark plugs...too because they are supposed to be changed at 60k.

You basically did a 30k service...

Gotcha350

Factory are Iridium....i like denso

Diesel350

Gotcha but 60k does not call for you to do the trans and rear diff in the owners manual, why did you do it?

Also, I skipped out on the spark plugs and will be doing them at 90k instead because they were fine.

Steve2424

You'd be surprised at how much smoother your car would sound/idle if the spark plugs were in top shape. Normally I try to change spark plugs every 50K.

As far as the rear diff and transmission I've seen it as a constant measure to ensure a longer life for these cars. AWD cars are fickle with rear differentials not being serviced properly or at all and by the time it calls for it, is usually when the labor and cost is much higher than needed and issues ariise -- hard shifting/ power transfer to the driving wheels, etc. (not entirely 100% on this particularly with regards to the differential symptoms). Preventative maintenance more than anything from what I've read of people on here who have done the service on rear diff's and transmission drain & fills with no problems past 100K miles, and then the sometimes awful story of a GS shifting roughly or slipping and when asked if these services were done most usually don't know or haven't done it and their car is ar 80K+ miles. For a couple hundred bucks, I'd rather the peace of mind instead of plunking thousands down for a new transmission lol.


@Gotcha350 -- if facotry are iridium would I be better served going with platinum plugs generally speaking?

Thanks guys!

burny

Differential oil can be changed quicker than motor oil. It loses viscosity around 40-50k miles

Steve2424

https://secure.drivers.lexus.com/lex...ce-schedule.do

^^Found this little gem on a quick google search of the recommended items to address at this mileage interval.

The differential maintenance is in there (albeit says to "check" it).

Question: It also has front differential oil to check, should this also be drained and filled, or am I fine just doing a drain and fill on the rear differential and transmission?

DIesel350 -- there is a thread on here that someone actually had their transmission fluid tested from a lab at around 50-60K miles and the viscosity of the tranny fluid was greatly hampered by this time which would prevent it from shifting smoothly as time went on, and then create problems.

Steve2424

Just saw this post after my last lol. So far my car has been good with it's performance -- I've opened it up and it covers ground rather quickly once getting into 2nd and 3rd gears. While I still will be doing the service items listed plus tranny drain & fill, my mechanic mentioned that the rear differential doesn't need servicing, but that he will get the machine needed if I want to do it (I will be doing it).

Any idea on why he would assume this, or could he be basing this notion on older variations of AWD cars?

burny

RWD cars just hAVE A REAR DIFFERENTIAL. hOLDS ABOUT 1.5 QUARTS OF 75-90 GEAR OIL. you undo the fill bolt. then the drain bolt. wait about 5 minutes and put drain bolt back with a new crush washer and fill it up until spills out the hole. No machine needed for this

Gotcha350

Iridium provides a finer and hotter spark for better combustion...I would stay with the Iridium plugs...I don't use Platnium in any of my cars now...