sjnmsn

In reviewing the forum, I see a number of high mileage vehicles.

What have you done to preserve the transmission? Typically, do the trans require rebuild to
obtain the 150-200K mile level?

Hve you followed factory recommendations for oil changes in the trans?

Thanks

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

I change my tranny fluid everywhere btw 20-30k miles with the factory toyota tranny fluid.

I have owned Lexus' and toyotas. Sold many of them past the 200k mile mark and never had a auto tranny issue.

But the new trannies I THINK have some kind of life time fluid in them. I DO NOT believe in ANY lifetime fluid. BMW uses lifetime fluid in there trannies and many dont go past the 100k mile mark.

When I get my new IS i'm changing the tranny fluid frequently as i've done in the past. I need to do some more research because some people said the new trannies are "sealed" and you cannot change the fluid. I doubt that is true.

steveski

Same here - change every 15k to 20k miles with Toyota ATF only. There are other fluids like Dexron that supposedly can be used - no way man.....maybe for power steering fluid but never in the tranny.

damon

Shortly after purchasing my 94 LS I began to undertake the task of making sure all fluids were replaced.

I had not yet discovered this forum so on the transmission fluid I went with a flush. Since the place performing the work had a BG flush machine I ordered some BG "Quick Clean" (#106)from a place online. It claims to remove accumulated deposits from the vavle body. filter screen & other components. Put this in Pre-flush at a Toyota dealership that had their flush machine loaded up with T-IV and everything went well.

I am not here to endorse the flush process even though it worked great for me. It is pricey & many believe potentially harmful to the transmission.

From flush forward I do what most here do & keep a case of T-IV handy & just do drain & refills. It is a much easier task to perform than an oil change. 3 Drain & refills when you do your next oil changes should get your fluid in great shape. Then go to a normal maintenance cycle.

Lexmex

3 drain and fills is right. I spread them out for 3 weeks.

I have also done the flush on my RX was felt much better afterwards, but I also did my flush at a Lexus dealer.

The thing about sealed trannies seems like a another way for the manufacturer to get $$$. Reminds me of the awkward positioning of my oil filter and the hard to change rear plugs on my RX.

Another thing I highly recommend is chaning out the tranny filter and cleaing out the tranny pan. You will be amazed at what can accumulate down there, regardless of the vehicle.

PSF fluid can go a pretty long time, but I would highly recommend using Mobil 1 ATF for the PSF.

AussiLS400

Seems a general theme that gets around these forums is to use only T4 trans fluid from toyota. Thats what i use. The lexls.com site has a rundown on how to flush the system of the old fluid. I have heard that T4 is unique to any other trans fluid ond any other fluid should not be used.