jbonez89

So i looked in the manual and asked a service advisor. Toyota used WORLD STANDARD tranny fluid but says it is good for the life of the car. Please give me your input on if you changed fluid or not and why. On my 1991 corvette is has heavy duty gear oil (manual trans) and the manual says it never has to be changed. But the LS430 is automatic so not quite sure on when i should change it. I have 126k miles. I changed my engine and cabin air filter, spark plugs, diff fluid, and hood struts that were failing

2KHarrier

Here's everything you need to know, located in one easy-to-read thread.

This is at the top of the 3rd gen page.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...iy-thread.html


Feel free to search the site and you no doubt will find what you need.

jbonez89

im new to the forum. Thank you but i was wonderimg when owners change their trans fluid bc the manual says iys good for life.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Their reference to "lifetime", is about 100K miles. Users of the WS fluids across other Toyota forums find good results at 80K to head off transmission issues. When in doubt, a fluid analysis to determine the additive package will yield appropriate results for that particular car. hey each vary so knowing how well the additive package is at X miles will determine what maintenance is appropriate. Just like oil, some oils can go longer while others shorter.

jbonez89

I should def change it than. Thanks guys. I called Lexus they want $350 for a full flush. Im going to do it myself with these instructions and hope i drain out most of the fluid by repeating the process

Bocatrip

Don't go for any flush. If you decide it's necessary to change, just go for a drain and fill. You may repeat a few times to get most of the fluid exchanged. My feeling is leave the fluid alone unless you are having transmission issues.

Gunnin4Em

I had an 01 LS. I think my tranny was about to fall apart because when I did a tranny flush about 2 years ago, the mechanic said the fluid was burnt. When I brought my car back to the mechanic a few months to get it serviced because it was running sloppy, the mechanic said the fluid was burned yet again. I probably only put about 40K miles on the car between those tranny flushes. He used that Toyota WS fluid.

Tom57

The '01 calls for Toyota IV trans fluid, not WS.

tallcaguy

Agree. My mechanic says the same thing.

tallcaguy

04-06 is WS correct?

Tom57

Yes, WS is correct for '04 - '06.

Scootymad

I need to change mine I guess, I'm at 134,000 miles at the moment, did a stonking great burnout and the engine temperature got seriously hot (hasn't done any damage though). I will be upgrading the transmission cooler (if you could call a pissant piece of alloy pipe a trans cooler) while I am at it as well

jbonez89

It seems everyone has a diff opinion, is there any members with 300k miles that never changed the trans fluid? I have 125k bur idk if trans fluid was ever changed

jbonez89

My car runs and shifts great, i did a stand still burnout earlier with no engine warmness/coolant, i just think drain n fill with new fluid cant hurt. If there are members who can testify they got 300k on stock trans fluid id love to kno but i wanna drive my LS til it dies

Tom57

I've been doing drain and fills on my '01 every 25K miles or so (about once a year) since about 125K on the clock. Now at 275K+ and the transmission still feels like the day I bought it 14 years ago. Drain and fill is the only way to go. Some here have reported a complete flush caused issues when no problems existed before the flush. Plus, it's a very east DIY on the '01 - '03 models. The suggestion that the trans fluid is "lifetime" was meant for the original owner's expected lifetime of owning the car - which was less than 100K miles.