chris07ls

I have some concerns about not changing trans fluid for a 100K miles as suggested by my Lexus service rep. My 2007 LS almost has 60K and I'm getting ready to do the 60 service myself and was wondering what people thought about the longevity of the WS ATF in their vehicles. The owners manual seems to suggest that under normal driving conditions you don't have to change the fluid.



My kids Camry had the same recomendation for trans fluid changes and I found the fluid very dirty when I changed at 60K.

JFNash

Wondering the same thing. Also wondering if the differential gear fluid should be changed as well.

I guess there will be no consensus as what Lexus suggests is against the norm and common knowledge.

CJITTY

i thought i read somewhere that trans fluid on our cars is sealed? I wasnt sure that was accurate, but it would be nice to know

chris07ls

I changed my differential at 45K and it was clean - I felt foolish for changing it. The only reason I changed it was that I changed it in our Infiniti M35 at 32K miles and it was very dirty.

MikeE12345

The maintenance schedule for the 2011 LS460 AWD requires an inspection for leaks of the differentials every 15K and transfer case/transmission every 30K. There is no requirement to change the fluids and both are sealed units.

JFNash

As far as I remember, AWD requires transmission & differential gear fluid change towards 60K or 80K miles or so. I can't remember exactly at what mark the change should be made.

RWD is not required to have both fluids changed as per the maintenance schedule. Inspection only.

chris07ls

I don't know about the 2011, but the 2007 has a fill and drain plug for the differential. Not sure the trans has plugs, but I thought I saw some when I was changing the oil - I will verify when I do the next oil change. Maybe somone on this forum knows if the transmission has a fill and drain plug.

cmasten

Trans is the same from 07 to 11

http://img218.imageshack.us/i/lstrans.jpg/

This is from the service manual, drain plug is on the bottom of the fluid pan in the corner

chris07ls

Thanks for taking the time to copy a page from the service manual. It looks like you have to drop the pan to remove the old ATF - the bottom plug looks like it's an overflow drain plug.

Does the service manual say anything about service intervals for the ATF?

cmasten

sure thing, The trans section is about 500 pages, the LS volume set is 6 complete volumes... its a complicated car.

On the pan there is an overflow and in one corner there is a drain bolt if you look underneath. you dont have to drop the pan. Since it is a sealed system they only recommend draining the fluid if you need maintenance on the trans, which is also why they dont have a dip stick. The only time you would add fluid would be for service, there is no mention of changing it or an interval.

The quantity is down at the bottom, just over 3 quarts if you drain it from the pan. There must be a reason why they dont give out interval information for changing it, but I have no idea what that would be there is a drain and a filler bolt on the trans.