Bobby K

I am going to change the fluid for the transmission. Does anyone have a good brand to recommend?
Thanks.

wwest

Money burning a hole in your pocket?

Give it to your favorite charity then, they'll put it to much better use.

Any benefit you believe you will get from replacing tranny fluid that hasn't been over-heated or has less than 120K will only be in your mind.

I have been driving roadway vehicles since 57 and only recently have I started to hear of people replacing tranny fluid as a preventative maintainance procedure.

Bobby K

Wwest, spending a few bucks to replace the fluid and the filter does not mean I have money to throw away. I bought the car a couple of weeks ago, it has 114,000+ miles on it, it has never been replaced before and I don't know how the previous owner used to work on it, even though the engine is strong. It is 10 year old vehicle and in a couple of months I am going from Boston to Norfolk Virginia, to Las Vegas, to LA, back to Vegas, to Orlando FL, and finally back to Boston. It is a little tough to have any kind of touble with your car 3,000 miles away from home in the middle of nowhere. Becides, it's much cheaper to prevent rather to replace or fix. This is my short story. Do you have any good brand in mind?

wwest

IMMHO you are much more likely to create troubles for yourself on your long drive by delving into things which would normally not need "maintaining".

And if you go to any Lexus dealer they should be able to tell if the vehicle has been properly maintained or not.

SC400onDubz

Hi,

Dont listen to wwwest.

Change your fluid, just do a drain and refill using only Lexus/Toyota T-type 4 fluid available at the dealer. It cost about $25 bucks for a 1 gallon jug. It is pretty close to the perfect amount to do the job. The filter does not need to be replaced, ever, even the lexus dealership does not replace them, they just clean them. The are made with a metal screen instead of fabric mesh material. Therefore, unless you damage it you dont need to replace it..

BTW, the transmission you have is one of the most reliable in history, so if you tear it up you are doing something terribly wrong...

Good Luck and have a nice trip.

If I was you I would worry more about the alternator or powersteering and the A/C, since they are prone to failing at your mileage if not replaced yet.

Scott

Bobby K

Listen, I don't know if you mis-understood. I will only change the fluid, the filter, and the gasket. I will not play with the tranny itself. I was a mechanic for a brief period of 5 years. My cousin owns his own store and is doing this job for 25 years. I will drain the old fluid, take out the pan and the filter, replace the gasket, add the new filter, put back the pan, and add the new fluid. Why do you say that I may create problems? Unless if there is something special on Lexus transmissions, which I admit, I have never work on before. If this is the case, please let me know. Also, even if I won't replace it now, when I'll come back home it is going to be overworked. We are going to be 4 people with lots of baggage driving many hrs a day at high temperatures. Don't you think this alone is enough at this mileage and age?

Bobby K

SC400onDubz, thank you for the response. You've sent it while I was typing mine. I did not know about the reliability of the filter, thank you for the tip. I've learned many things this one week that I found the club and reading all the old postings. I keep a close eye on the P/S and the alternator. In the worse case senario, I can take an alternator with me and change it (propably in the desert surounded by ruttlers). I don't worry about the P/S. I will check it a week before I leave. Even if it'll start leaking on the way, it will not be a problem for several days as long as I keep up the fluid. One more question, how do they clear the filter, just blow air, or do they use certain material? Thanks again for the info.

additude

While your at it Bobby K,

Use Mobile 1 and a Mobile 1 filter to change your oil. Also, take along a couple of bottles of Techron gas treatment. That will help to clean the engine fuel systen and cylinders out during your long haul.

A dude on eBay is selling BG 44K, that's what you want for gas treatment. This stuff is the best.

Check to make sure your not loosing any power steering fluid, there is a gasket problem that allows the fluid to leak to the inside of the engine, you wont see any wet on the outside of the block. Just make sure you P/S fluid level remains constant.

Replace the Air Filter, driving across that desert will intake a lot of dust and sand.

Check the brake pads to make sure they have enough skin left on them. Only use genuine Lexus replacement pads. They provide the best match to your braking experience. Others just will not do the same on a Lex. Of course that means checking the brake fluid also and that your rotors are in good shape.

If you are carrying 4 passengers and luggage I suggest you compensate the air pressure in the tires for the extra constant load you will be giving them through your trip. I recommend about 10% increase. Of course this also means making sure you have good rubber on the car. You don't need a blowout at 70 MPH or need to make a quick turn to miss something on the road and not having the traction to make it happen with that extra load.

You might want to check to make sure that you have had your timing belt replaced. Your Lexus dealer can tell you if the belt was changed or not. At 114,000 miles on a long trip like that your timing belt could be a major issue.

Which of course means making sure all your other belts are in good shape too!

You might have already thought of these, maybe you haven't, but have a safe trip and stay out of trouble.

BTW, It's OK to change the tranny fluid, filter and gasket if it will give you peace of mind. Your not going to cause any problems. You sound like you know what you are doing.

Bobby K

Additude, you are the ultimate guide!!. Thanks for the entire serious ot tips and cautions. I did not know that the P/S is leaking inside the engine. I'll have to keep a closer eye on the fluid level. Luckily, when I bought the vehicle a couple of weeks ago, the dealer did the most. They replaced the oil, but I will do an oil change before I leave and use a cleaner for the inside of the engine. I always used Mobil or Castrol synthetic oil, I already have in stock an M1-102 oil filter. For gas treatment I just put in there the Slick-50 bottle. It is the best I have tried (from many brands). I don't like Techron as much, and I don't know BG 44K. If you think is better, I can definitely give a shot. The dealer have put 5 brand new tires (including the reserve), they replaced the timing belts, A/C and Air filters, Rear brake pads. The front pads have about 70-80% left, and the rotors are in very good condition. In regards of the tires, I don't think I sould add extra since they will create very high temperatures adding more pressure. Becides this, I have a little machine to inflate tires using the cigarette lighter, which is terrific. I will definitely replace the cerpentine belt cause it's not in great shape. I haven't check the pulleys, the hoses, the radiator/antifreeze, etc. yet. I have driven cross-country twice already in the past, so I have a little knowledge of preparing the vehicle. Thanks again for everything.

additude

Cool,

I highly recommend the BG 44K. It's a commercial grade techron cleaner that is not available to the general public. I recommend two cans/2 tanks fillups, especially for your car seeing as it has so many miles on it. You'll see it will make a difference.

As for the tire pressure, low tire pressure causes the tires to overheat, not higher pressures. If you do not inflate the tires a little more with the extra weight it will act as if the tires didn't have enough pressure in them...or were underinflated. My recommendation of 10% is basically saying that if you run at 32 lbs cold, you should put in 35-36 lbs instead. It's only a couple of lbs. and will give your tires the extra support they will need with the extra weight.

Sounds like your ready to roll.....

Bobby K

Thanks a lot Addi, I'll take your advice.

wwest

I hope you don't mean in the oil sump. With that many miles it is quite possible that you have a layer of sludge on many of the inside surfaces of the engine, which will basically do no harm unless it all tends to come loose simultaneously.

I wouldn't put any additives in the oil sump at all.

Assumptions, mine.

You asked what type of tranny fluid. IMMHO a person experienced in this type of DIY would first look at the owners manual for fluid types, remember that is the type, hopefully, that has been in the car from the beginning. Personally I would play it very safe, only use the fluid recommended in your manual.

In the older trannies you could be sure you have drained almost all of the fluid. Now I have not done this to ANY Lexus but in reading the threads I have the impression that the fluid in the torque converter cannot be drained, and that will likely be over half of the total capacity. So you will be mixing old and new fluids, new type or no.

Unless you truly do have experince in this area I think it would be safer to do nothing with regards the tranny fluid.

Bobby K

I've done this many times. I take out 1 quart of oil from the engine and I put 1 quart of this "cleanup" fluid. I ran the engine for about 20 minutes driving around. This will clear the engine internally. Then I will do an oil change draining the current dirty oil and replacing it with the new one. I always have kept the inside of my engines almost perfectly clear this way, even with more than 200K miles.

additude

Something else that is a good cleaner between oil changes is to put in one quart of Type F Automatic Transmission Fluid. Transmission fluid is by nature an excellent cleanser (try it to clean your dirty hands if you don't have any GOOP) and will do a very nice job on the inside of your block. Of course, when you put it in only idle the engine and don't go higher than 2,500 RPM for any length of time. Typically your oil pump is most efficient at 2,000 RPM, at a stop in PARK, you can increase the RPM's to 2,000 for a few minutes. This helps bring the oil pressure up to normal and will help in the cleaning. Anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes idle time is sufficient.

Because Automatic Transmission Fluid is a very low viscosity it will lower your overall viscosity of your engine oil. Be sure to drain as much of this ATF/OIL mix after you have finished before adding your new oil. It won't hurt the engine if you have some left over in the pan and block, but it's just a good practice to make sure as much of it is removed as possible.

I do this between every oil change.....since I bought my first car in 1970.

VQT

SC400onDubz was trying to tell you that the P/S pump on SC/LS400 leak and the fluid will get into the alternator which located directly below the P/S pump and short out the alternator. If you don't see any leaks yet, then you don't have to worry about it. But you need to keep an eye on it.
Since you're a mechanic and talking about taking a alternator with you. I hope you can get a rebuild alternator at a reasonable price and help us Lexus owner out on buying these things.
Alternator replacement is easier than P/S pump. It took me ~4 hrs for the pump and ~$2 hrs for the alternator (I am not a mechanic so I work very slow)

As for trans. fluid, the repair manual recommend 15K mi. for heavy usage and 30K for normal uses. 2 L drain from the drain hole. I had a slight vibration from 35 mph to 45mph when I bought the car last Feb. the vibration getting more and more apparent as time goes on. I finally change the fluid, and the vibration is gone...I guess the last owner never change the fluid. He had the car service by Lexus dealer on everything. I have the service printout from the dealer too. There are thing that you have to take care of it yourself of secifically ask the dealer to perform. 30K/60K/90K mi. service doesn't mean they will change the fluid for you, but they will charge the full price (how would you know that they change the fluid if they know that you bring your car in for every little things?)

OEM alternator ~don't even want to know
Rebuilt alternator NAPA ~$300
Autozone ~$270 - $360

P/S pump for LS400 from Autozone ~$120 + core charge