rfam

Doublebase, currently at 86,000. Changed my tranny and diff. at 65,000-seems to be a good mileage for me-using Toyota WS for tranny and whatever dealer has in bulk for diff-I think Kendall. Will most likely stick with this same interval in the future. Have a hard time spending the money on spark plug replacement at 60k but that's another discussion.

roadfrog

Well...if you use Lexus Canada as a guide, you're diff needs changes at 64k kms (40k miles) and trans every 96k kms (60k miles). That's obviously what I'm following.

texas008

based on dealer's comment, lifetime means the lifetime of the transmission, i.e., no need to service the transmission, and it is definitely less than half million miles.

Kennyr44

The lifetime of a car can be estimated at say 300,000 miles. They bench test the trannys and figure out the fluid lasts that long. So boom it's a true statement. I believe it but I like my fluids clean. I just feel better that way. Most people don't change the fluid and you don't hear about any trans failures.

roadfrog

So my question is, why is fluid change required in all other markets but not the US? Same transmission, same climates, same driving conditions. Some say it's due to marketing and that many publications use operating costs to make comparisons in vehicle's when rating them and place a heavy emphasis on these costs. I'll add that many/most owners stated that these transmissions shifted better and smoother after a fluid change. After 100k miles, trans fluids begin to break down, That said...you are correct that these transmissions appear to be bullet proof. Google a search on "lifetime transmission fluid". You'll find that there are few if any "experts" that agree with the term "lifetime". Lexus Canada certainly doesn't.

Kennyr44

With 72,000 miles I would not waste my money on a dump and fill of 2 to 3 qts. Flush it and forget about it for another 72k.

roadfrog

That's an option...depending on the method they use.

altoreid

I decided to do a drain and refill at 75k on my ls460l after reading all the great information on this forum and talking to numerous independent service shops. They all recommended drain and refills. Quote " Gradually clean the transmission over multiples drains and refills"
The previous owner's Lexus service records showed a recommendation of changing the fluid at 60k because the fluid was dark brown. No mention of owner complaining of transmission problems. Owner refused that service recommendation.
The transmission was shifting fine when I bought the car. The shifts seem a little soft and hesitant on downshifts in higher revs, but, as a new ls460l owner I thought luxury over performance.

I bought a case of WS fluid, crush washers, and a long 24mm wrench for the fill plug removal.
I drove the car up on front ramps only. Makes for a tight work space.
Only to realize the "WS" fill plug is a pain to remove. I had to heat and bend a dog leg in the wrench to remove the pkug.
I drained out a little over 3 quarts of dirty looking atf fluid. Very deep reddish brown color.
With the front of the car up in the air, fluid poured out of the check plug hole and the drain plug.
I used a modified garden sprayer to pump back in the exact amount of fluid drained out.
No temp check on this drain and fill.
Re-installing the WS fill plug requires long fingers to get it started.
What a difference the fluid change made. No hesitation up or downshifting at any rpm.
Drove the car for a week.

Performed another drain and refill.
Purchased a slender Pittsburgh pro 14" combo 1/4" and 3/8" flex head ratchet wrench from a large import tool chain store.
and a Performance Tool 24mm low profile oil/fuel filter socket 3/8 drive from a local part house chain.
These tools make removing the WS fill plug a snap. Starting at the bell housing, slide the ratchet with the socket pointed to the back of the car and rotate the socket over the the Plug. Remember to set the direction paw on the ratcher before using it. Space is too tight to change direction paw when ratchet is in place.
I WAS SHOCKED WHEN ONLY 2.5 quarts drained out.
I drained out and filled the transmission on the first drain and fill with over 3 quarts of fluid.
Where did the 3/4 quart of atf go ? What the @%&@&%/ I am getting too old for this. Ugh.
I put back in 2.5 quarts of fluid and used techstream to monitor trans temp.
Less than a cup drained out until a nice little stream formed before I put the plug in.
The car shifts the same after the first drain and fill.

All that is different from the 1st and 2nd drain and fill;
First drain I backed the car out of the garage and backed the car into the garage and placed the front on ramps. Car had been sitting for 24 hrs.
Second drain I backed the car out of the garage and parked it on the street while I serviced my other vehicle.
It set parked for approx. 60 mins. and backed the car into the garage and placed the front on ramps.Car had been sitting 24 hrs prior to this.

It will be interesting when I do the third drain and refill.
I will follow my first drain and fill sequence and not shifting the transmission through
multiple gears before changing it.

Any ideas about why the difference in the amount of fluid drained out between drain and refills ?

Doublebase

Altoreid, perhaps transmission temperature at the time of the drain effected the amount? But the good news is you checked it with tech stream and got it right. I have done many transmission services over my lifetime and the one thing I'll say is fluid expansion with tranny fluid always tends to be a little finicky. I believe there is some wiggle room with most trannies regarding fluid level. There seems to be so many things that can throw it off just a tick.

It is a bit of a pain to get to that WS fill plug, I'll have to try your method. One thing I can tell you is that the o-ring on that plug can become tangled when installing that plug and lead to fluid leaks. It's happened to me before. Ive also overfilled my transmission once on once and rice around like that for 10,000 miles - the only reason I even found out is because I noticed the fluid leaking past the pan gasket...I immediately new there was too much fluid in there....pulled the plug at the correct temp and sure enough it was overfilled by about a quart...maybe more.

​​​​​​​At 72,000 miles I did my first change and decided to do a full service...dropped the pain, changed the filter and gasket. Ever since then I do yearly drain and fills (I drive a lot). So far so good, even though I screwed it up once.

altoreid

Thankle you for the quick response
I am thinking the car sat longer with the front end up on the ramps before I drained the atf on the first drain and fill.
This allowed more atf to drain out of the torque convertor or somewhere. I had to take time to heat and bend the dog leg in the wrench.
On my third drain and fill I will let the car sit for 1 hour with the front end up on the ramps before I pull the drain plug.
Stay tuned.

A few weeks ago I replaced the rear differential oil with Amsoil 75-90w severe duty synthetic. First Amsoil product I have used.
No fanfare in changing the gear oil, except Lexus over torqued the fill plug at the factory in my opinion.The diff doesn't whine with the little heavier gear oil.

Are you a techstream user ? Who is the techstream guru in this forum ? I want to run baseline techstream screen prints at intervals (not sure of length of interval) and decode Lexus techstream codes. For an example;
ABS VCR - CT1314
A/C - B1421 B1424
AFS - B2412 B2413 B2417 B2418
Electronic Power Control - B22A1

Any help is greatly appreciated.