gr8fulRed

I'm determined to replace the OEM tranny fluid on my newly acquired 09' GS 350 with 75k miles. The DIY tutorial on this forum is excellent and had decided to do it myself (waiting for weather to warm up a bit here) but decided to call my local Toyota store just for a quote. Local Toyota dealer said they DO work on and service Lexus and for my 09' would use a "flush machine". Would run 12-14 quarts through the cars system and replace with the correct Toyota WTS tranny fluid....for a cost of $239.

Hell, the fluid alone (for 13 qts or so) would run anywhere from $135-155 so....that would leave about $85 to $104 for the labor charge by the dealership. For that small a difference....I am tempted to just have Toyota do the flush and save me the effort.

Then...I decide to call Eskridge Lexus of Oklahoma City (they are about 25 miles away) to see what they recommend/and charge. Well...the guy says that "they don't normally change out the fluids on the later mile Lexus because they are lifetime fluids". I ask "does that mean you will not do it?" and he says, "no, we will do it..but i don't have a set charge for that. we don't use a machine to flush, rather a drain and fill while at the correct fluid temp". I told him I would want multiple (3 or 4) d&f's to get the old fluid out. He said he'll have to work up some numbers and call me back.

So...as I wait....I'm wondering what the group consensus is on "flushing" vs "drain and fills" for these GS's. Anyone have issues after a flush?? I KNOW the Lexus store is going to call me with a retarded cost, i'm guessing $400 at least....so that $239 is looking very tempting...especially since that process removes nearly ALL the old fluid as compared to d&f's. Thoughts on one method vs the other???

Gotcha350

I have never done a flush in any of my cars...just a drain and fill...id drop the pan before I would do a flush...I have two Infiniti's that also have lifetime fluid...and they only do drain and refills. I think that as long as you are proactive and not reactive that drain and fill is more than sufficient.

gr8fulRed

so...in regards to you GS...do you or have you done anything other than D&F's to maintain your tranny?? Have you dropped the pan and cleaned filter, etc? I'm not even sure if these have a filter or what, lol

Gotcha350

I did a just drain and fill at 60k which was in 2012...I don't drive the car much now and I'm just at 63k...I will have the pan dropped and the filter screen replaced or cleaned in December of this year...as long as I have the car going forward I will have the fluid changed every 3 yrs going forward...

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

From what I hear,flushes aren't bad if done at low mileage at say 60K and under.
Just had one done two weeks ago in my beater Elantra at 50K miles.
I had the dealer do it because of the 10/100 Hyundai warranty.

Steve2424

From what I've read and come to understand about flushes is that they push sediments/ dirt/ shavings, etc into pockets and corners of the casings which are then mixed within the new fluid once it's changed. I read a write-up on a user here who did a drain and fill and performed it by doing it 3 or 4 quarts at a time, taking some time in between drains to let the old fluid mix with the new fluid (like driving around for 30 mins or something to get the temperature of the fluid hot enough) -- further diluting the older fluid with the new one when drained for 3-4 quarts and filled with the new fluid.

burny

Do the Toyota flush for $239. Can't beat that. They have a dedicated BG machne just for the WS fluid and do not mix T-IV and WS. Make sure they have the proper size crush washers for your drain, fill and overflow tube.

Steve2424

Burny, so doing this at a Toyota dealer via the flush method is ok for the GS?

gr8fulRed

yeah..what you've heard about flushes is what has me concerned. I don't want to create issues due to my method. The Lexus store never got back with me to give me a price...but I believe they charge $90-100 PER drain and fill. So..I'm guessing about $270-$400.

Burny...didn't I see where you did the drain and fill method in the DIY thread? You don't think the flush adds a risk??

burny

What I did is the same as what the BG machine does. I removed all 12 quarts by doing 3 at a time. Basically getting 3 out, then filling 3 new in it. starting car 2 seconds and getting 3 more out and putting 3 more in until I did all 12 quarts. The machine is just recycling 12 old quarts out and 12 new in. The top off procedure is the critical step and this is where you need to get it right.

sam12345

iTrader: (1)

Drain and flush without adding a cleaning fluid will do nothing more than change your fluid. New fluid can loosen debris due to it's cleaning agent but the machine uses the cars transmission oil pump to circulate the fluid. Now if they add a flush agent, that can release more debris and plug up things. If you have been changing fluid regularly there should not be any issues. DraiNing and filling 4 times consecutively is essentialy the same as a flush without cleaning agents. If you want to change all your fluid at once do a flush WITHOUT CLEANING AGENTS/FLUSH FLUIDS added. if you are afraid your tranny is very dirty then drain and fill. Drive a month drain and fill again drive a month drain and fill again. This way you release some debris but not all at once. On my cars I added an in line filter in the cooling line to continually filter all the fluid. The internal screen only about 10% of the fluid goes through it at a time the in line filter filters 100% every few minutes and have a finer filter as well as a magnet. When I buy a car I always flush the tranny before 15k miles because new gears have burrs and they release in the first few thousand miles and I figure I rather not have that steel circulating in my tranny after that I flush without cleaning agents every 50 to 60k and drop pan and change filter every 100k. But that's me, I got 206k miles on my 2nd Gen gs400 and it shift as smooth as a a babies butt.


Better
http://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-...le/D13090.html


Easier

http://www.trnw.net/store/products.php?products_id=523

STAY AWAY FROM PLASTIC FILTERS