Transmission maintenance & measures possible to help rough shifting, older cars too
01-23-13, 08:59 AM
#1
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Transmission maintenance & measures possible to help rough shifting, older cars too
Salutations fellow ISers.
I’m starting to give a lot more thought to transmission care as my 06’ 350 approaches 130k miles on the ticker. I really enjoy being spirited with the paddles and dropping into 4th or 3rd to anticipate hard acceleration (shift first, accelerate after gear change), and I’ve been noticing these downshifts and even the upshifts after accelerating not being very smooth/consistent. Two particular upshifts on my last drive were quite bad, with a good bit of delay followed by a rough shift into 5th or 6th.
Every thread I’ve read and bit of research performed states the transmission is ‘sealed’ and can’t be flushed, and dropping the pan will only get 10-20% of the fluid out. Some brave souls mention flushing equipment that’s recently been developed and that it is possible. My dealership even said this but my car is getting older and flushes are sometimes recommended against. Another thing I’d like to investigate are the parts that can be changed out with the transmission pan off, I know the filter at the minimum is possible.
So long story/question short, does anyone have any ideas what causes this rough/jerky/inconsistent shifting with age and as general good maintenance, can we clear the air and discuss a good set of transmission procedures? I’ll most likely drop the pan and do the filter/fluid at a minimum, and would like to do a short write-up with pictures to help others in my position, so the more that I can do/show the better.
Thanks in advance and happy motoring
I’m starting to give a lot more thought to transmission care as my 06’ 350 approaches 130k miles on the ticker. I really enjoy being spirited with the paddles and dropping into 4th or 3rd to anticipate hard acceleration (shift first, accelerate after gear change), and I’ve been noticing these downshifts and even the upshifts after accelerating not being very smooth/consistent. Two particular upshifts on my last drive were quite bad, with a good bit of delay followed by a rough shift into 5th or 6th.
Every thread I’ve read and bit of research performed states the transmission is ‘sealed’ and can’t be flushed, and dropping the pan will only get 10-20% of the fluid out. Some brave souls mention flushing equipment that’s recently been developed and that it is possible. My dealership even said this but my car is getting older and flushes are sometimes recommended against. Another thing I’d like to investigate are the parts that can be changed out with the transmission pan off, I know the filter at the minimum is possible.
So long story/question short, does anyone have any ideas what causes this rough/jerky/inconsistent shifting with age and as general good maintenance, can we clear the air and discuss a good set of transmission procedures? I’ll most likely drop the pan and do the filter/fluid at a minimum, and would like to do a short write-up with pictures to help others in my position, so the more that I can do/show the better.
Thanks in advance and happy motoring
01-23-13, 10:47 PM
#2
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The rough shifting you mention is caused by an idiotic design decision that someone thought that "lifetime" transmission fluid was a great idea (to sell more transmissions).
The question is, is the fluid good for the life of the transmission, or the transmission good for the life of the fluid?
Your best bet is to find a dealer who will at least entertain the notion of dropping your pan and draining as much fluid out as possible, and refilling.
Good luck though, because they will most likely tow the party line..."the fluid is good for the life of the transmission...."
What I find absolutely crazy is, the Canadian IS350 maintenance schedule calls for the transmission fluid to be changed after about 90K or 100K. I cannot remember off the top of my head, but it was right around 58 or 62 thousand miles.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
The question is, is the fluid good for the life of the transmission, or the transmission good for the life of the fluid?
Your best bet is to find a dealer who will at least entertain the notion of dropping your pan and draining as much fluid out as possible, and refilling.
Good luck though, because they will most likely tow the party line..."the fluid is good for the life of the transmission...."
What I find absolutely crazy is, the Canadian IS350 maintenance schedule calls for the transmission fluid to be changed after about 90K or 100K. I cannot remember off the top of my head, but it was right around 58 or 62 thousand miles.
Good luck. Keep us posted.
01-24-13, 11:46 AM
#3
You are wasting your time dropping the pan.. you won't get more than 10-15% of the fluid changed that way... (I don't think the filter is intended to be user serviceable either)
You do finally have another option if you insist on changing the fluid though.... if you can find someone with the proper fluid exchange machine AND proper adapter they can do a full fluid change.
They will need to:
1) Disconnect the coolant lines to the heat exchanger on the side of the transmission
2) Remove the heat exchanger
3) Install the adapter where the heat exchanger went
4) Hook adapter up to their machine
5) Swap the transmission fluid out for fresh (use only WS fluid)
6) Disconnect machine
7) Remove adapter
8) Reinstall heat exchanger
9) Hook coolant lines back up
10) Top off coolant and transmission fluid as per manual
You do finally have another option if you insist on changing the fluid though.... if you can find someone with the proper fluid exchange machine AND proper adapter they can do a full fluid change.
They will need to:
1) Disconnect the coolant lines to the heat exchanger on the side of the transmission
2) Remove the heat exchanger
3) Install the adapter where the heat exchanger went
4) Hook adapter up to their machine
5) Swap the transmission fluid out for fresh (use only WS fluid)
6) Disconnect machine
7) Remove adapter
8) Reinstall heat exchanger
9) Hook coolant lines back up
10) Top off coolant and transmission fluid as per manual
01-24-13, 04:46 PM
#4
Where in SC you from?
Anyhow, I've read on CL here that the auto trans "filter" is not like a paper media of any sort. It's meant to withstand the life of the car. But about the fluid, I agree that it should not be in the "lifetime" category. But is there much we can do about it? Not really; only to do what Kurtz said up above.
Anyhow, I've read on CL here that the auto trans "filter" is not like a paper media of any sort. It's meant to withstand the life of the car. But about the fluid, I agree that it should not be in the "lifetime" category. But is there much we can do about it? Not really; only to do what Kurtz said up above.
01-24-13, 05:02 PM
#5
Lexus Test Driver
Being very maintenance minded, I called my local Lexus dealer over the summer, asking about the fluid I should use when changing mine out. The parts person was like "What?". They told me that they have the fluid if I want it, but that they do NOT recommend changing it. They told me that the only time the fluid comes out of an IS tranny in the service department is when the tranny is being replaced or rebuilt. That it is a "lifetime" fluid and doesn't require changing. I let it go, but still don't buy it... I'm at 89k miles now and it still bugs me that the factory fluid is in there!
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