jsnlwrnc87

Hey fellow Lexus owners! Been debating having my transmission flushed and just wanted to any pros and cons of having procedure done. Any advice would be great! I have a 2006 Lexus LS

Tom57

How many miles, jsnlwrnc87?

Drain and fill, not a flush is the consensus here on CL.

Johnhav430

I'm in the same boat and plan on doing nothing, until there is some definitive answer. One would assume that a transmission is not so delicate such that it implodes upon being serviced, but stranger things have happened....also this is only the 2nd car I've had with an auto, so I don't really know.

jsnlwrnc87

Not sure off hand of exact mileage but i know its a little over 98k

jsnlwrnc87

I honestly feel the same way deep down inside John. however, i THINK my owners manaul does state to replace fluid in the 60k increment or somewhere close to that mileage

Tom57

100K miles is the perfect time to do the first drain and fill. Owner's Manual states the AT fluid is lifetime, but many of us do drain and fill method to prolong the life of the tranny by freshening the fluid without disrupting or disturbing anything. There are existing threads on the topic.

Mobius1

From what most on this forum mention is that the 04+ tans. shouldn't be messed with if its under 100K miles since the last trans fluid service and it's giving no issues.

The 01~03 trans however needs fluid drain and fill every 30K or 60K (i forget which, but it's in the owner's manual if i recall). When i took my 03 in i asked to drain and fill both the transmission and the differential on my own advice (even though i didn't have any issues with it). Got the car back and they mentioned that the transmission fluid was completely black when it should be a bright pink color. They did not mention if that was a good or bad thing though so I am still uncertain if it was needed or not. Doesn't help that I didn't notice any improvement driving wise. What I DID notice however was that before the service, every time I step out of the car after a drive I would feel immense heat emanating from under the car. I didn't think much of it, plus the dash didnt give out any warnings. However after the service i dont feel any heat at all stepping out after a drive. This is all anecdotal though, dunno if they are related at all but its something i experienced.

Doublebase

Advantage-- You get all the fluid out and replace it with brand new fluid.

Disadvantage-- When replacing all of the fluid on a vehicle with some miles on it, varnish and other contaminants may become dislodge and clog the valve body due to the detergents in the new fluid.

I'd do a simple drain and fill for any car over 80,000 miles. A flush for anything under 50,000

bmore430

For the 04-06 I personally would leave it alone and not touch anything unless you are experiencing an issue with the transmission. I dont think I can recall any threads on this forum of any issues associated with transmission problems on the 05-06 except when people started flushing or draining the stock fluid. If your transmission shifts fine and everything is smooth leave it alone.

I test drove and have seen plenty of these cars at 150k+ miles with the original fluid that shift perfectly fine and never had issue. i posted in another thread on here i had a boss with an LS430 with over 200k miles on the original timing belt, transmission fluid etc and he beats the car and doesnt maintain anything on it and still drives like new except for some suspension noise.

If you are in the mood to mess with the car I'd do differential fluid, power steering or brake flush before touching the tranny for no reason.

JffGRY706

just my 2 cents. look at your power steering fluid. Lexus uses ATF in the power steering. after my 90,000 mile service my power steering fluid looked awful. could not find any hint of previous service. black with foamy swirls. I figured it had never been changed so I began to slowly replace it even though I was not having any issues with it. used Mobil one ATF and to my surprise it cleaned the inside of the jar which I thought was permenantly stained. used a turkey baster with a straw taped to end to slurp out a few ounces every time I got gas until fluid was cherry red. If my PS fluid looked like that I just had to believe the transmission fluid was in a similar state. my first drain and fill was at 95.000 mile service and I did it again 1,500 miles later. I was planning a 3rd, but did not do it. now 25,000 miles later I am going to have a drain and fill on my next service. my transmission seems just fine.

tallcaguy

Excellent advice.

jsnlwrnc87

Thanks you guys for all the comments and advice since im new to Lexus products especially older ones. I decided to get the flush done. I bought the car 3/31/2016 and got the brakes and brake fluid replaced, new tires and some front suspension work done. I figured since im the 3rd owner of the car getting it done would ease my mind. I'd like to report that SO FAR i've had no problems with the flush. I've noticed the car shifts smoother while driving and while moving between gears(D, and R) The difference most noticeable when switching from reverse to drive. Im an LS fan and im pleased with the outcome so far!

XJSFan

I have a 2006 LS and at 77K I did (3) WS ATF drain and fills over 3 weeks on the weekends. My tranny is smooth as silk and I may do another one in Spring. The ATF really did not look very dirty after the first DF and after the 3rd one I could tell the fluid was like new. Your choice, your car. LOL. I have also done (4) power steering fluid changes with Redline PS synthetic fluid by just turkey basting the fluid out of the reservoir over a couple of weeks. A year later the Power steering fluid still looks like new and performs great.

Johnhav430

It sounds like this cannot hurt. Do you remove a black plate on the driver's side of the tranny, to expose plugs, where you are draining and filling?

If anyone has a manual conversion with clutch, I'd be all for it.

Scootymad

Drain and fill is the go. I had a Toyota Corolla FXGT with an A240 auto (yes,Toyota had the greatest idea to put a slush box behind a 4A-GE) and had a flush done on that. My guess is that it ingested some nasty shmoo where it shouldn't have as it wasn't too happy afterwards, shifts were way too slow and would flare up. We have a Mitsubishi Challenger (Mitsi Montero/Pajero Sport) that flares badly from 2nd to 3rd and a little bit from 3rd to 4th and I'm only going to start with a drain and fill on that. If its still doing it then I'm putting in a replacement transmission