wayman28

I called two different Toyota dealerships in my area and gave them the new part number. Neither one of them had the part number in their system. They said there are some Lexus part numbers they don't have access to. So my options are online sellers and the Lexus dealership.

Has anyone had experience bringing in your own parts to the dealership to service your car? Not sure if they would balk at that.

roadfrog

If it were me, I'd do the work myself with the fluid bought at the link I provided. Failing that, I'd get an independent shop to do this simple job...again, with my supplied fluid.

wayman28

I thought the same thing. Between reading the TSB and talking to my dealership tech about how they do it, this appears to be more complicated than it needs to be. The fluid needs to be filled to 0.5mm of the inside lip of the fill hole. The fill tolerance is very specific. Too much or too little fluid and performance suffers. The challenge is there's no dipstick and the way the fill hole is oriented there is no way to eyeball the level. But of course Lexus techs have a special tool that enables them to fill it perfectly. Also, the car must be level during the fluid change so that eliminates me doing it myself since I'd use rhino ramps and don't have a lift. I'm not sure I'd trust myself or an independent mechanic to get it right.

roadfrog

Do you have jack stands? That's the way to do it. Get it level and fill the transaxle. .5mm as you know, is basically nothing. If you fill until the fluid starts to ooze ot of the fill hole, I would think that's close enough...

What kind of labour charges did they quote you?

wayman28

They quoted nr 60-90 mins of labor at $130/hr.

satiger

iTrader: (1)

Wayman, looks like you are in NJ. Give a call to Prestige Toyota in Ramsey and mention to them about shuddering issue and a TSB to resolve that issue by changing transfer (magic) oil. Make sure they don't quote for regular transfer oil drain and fill.

That is where I heard two service advisors were discussing about this 'magic' oil to fix either Land Cruiser or 4Runner issue. I took my GX to have them replace transfer and other gear oils. I carried my own oil - full synthetic. They even mentioned this magic oil is full synthetic.

I can't remember their names. When entering into their service center, their desks are on left side. Hope this helps. Keep us posted. Good luck.

roadfrog

Well, for that price, they can have it. IMHO, 130 dollars or so is worth it to me. Give them the oil you purchased at the reduced price online and hand it to them, for a grand sum of about 600 taxes in? Yeah, I'd do that. But personally....I would take it to my local Toyota dealer to do and save a bit on labor. Plus they are close to me, as opposed to Lexus which requires a lengthy drive.

wayman28

roadfrog, I agree. I'm going on vacation for a couple weeks so I'll have it done by the dealership when I get back. I'll report back after I get the procedure done and let you all know how it turns out.

wayman28

I'm bringing this thread back to life with new information and a general question. I brought my car into a Lexus dealership (who I trust) to have the TSB procedure done to eliminate the low-speed shuddering by replacing the transfer case fluid 3 times and driving it 1 mile in between flushes. The cost is significant as each liter of fluid costs about $150 which means the whole procedure would cost about $600.

Here's where it got interesting, the dealer tech was familiar with the TSB and said he could definitely do it but that he didn't think it was worth it because it wasn't a permanent fix. He said the shuddering would likely return in about a year or so because it's just the way the transfer case works. This seems odd to me because I thought Lexus reformulated the fluid (with a new part number) to eliminate the issue altogether. Why issue a new fluid (under a new part number) and an official TSB when the fix isn't permanent?

For those who have had this TSB procedure done, how long ago did you do it and did the shuddering ever return?

Thanks.

Doublebase

Crazy thought...why don't you just buy three quarts of 75w90 synthetic for about $60.00 and give it a try? What's the worst that could happen? It shudders? I bet you'll be surprised. Paying $600.00 for three liters of gear oil is beyond ridiculous. And to think there are some people that would rather die than take their cars to anywhere but the dealer.

hfahmy

had it done Apr 2014, and still ok.

wayman28

Yes, the dealer prices can be ridiculous. I this case it is the parts priced by Lexus that are astronomical. The procedure for doing this change is a little complex and the fluid has been reformulated specifically to fix this issue so I'm not inclined to try this myself with an aftermarket fluid. I'd rather not risk making things worse.

So far I have not come across anyone who has had this done more than a year ago who can confirm or deny that the TSB fix is permanent.

Doublebase

Ok, I thought it might just be a matter of ...fluid is old...it's lack of friction qualities are causing it to shudder and the fluid just needs to be replaced...put new fluid in, do 8-10 figure 8's in the parking lot to get the fluid into the clutches. Done. But it makes sense that Lexus would have a "special" fluid that has to be used, because anything less would mean it wouldn't be expensive.

JiffyPop

Here is the info from the owners manual.

So basically any other equivalent oil can be used, not just the toyota stuff. I have the shudder problem with my LS600hL and will be doing the service myself once the temp warms up a bit. I will be doing it with the Amsoil Severe Gear 75w90 which meets GL-5 standards. It seems toyota thinned out the oil to 75w85 to try and eek out a little more MPG at the cost of a more robust fluid. 75w90 will work just fine. Also with the amsoil, if the fluid still makes the transfer case chatter, they make a Slip Lock Friction Modifier additive to remedy it. When I do the service Ill be sure to post the results. $150 a bottle is just ludicrous!

wayman28

Thanks JiffyPop. I'd be very interested in the results of your fluid change. From what I hear the procedure is a little trickier than one would expect because there's no dipstick and the only fill hole is vertical (as opposed to on the bottom or top of the transfer case) so you'll have to get creative with how to "pump" the fluid in. I'd be curious about the procedure you end up using.

Besides the crazy cost of the Toyota fluid, the main issues are:

1) Since Lexus seems to have reformulated the fluid to solve this shudder, will an "equivalent" aftermarket fluid solve the issue at all?

2) Will the fluid change procedure fix the shudder permanently or just temporarily? My Lexus tech said the underlying issue is the way the transfer case was built. The reformulated fluid definitely fixes the issue in the short-term but the shudder returns after about a year so it's not really worth the expense to do the procedure.

I guess if we discover a fluid change with a cheaper equivalent fluid makes the shudder go away even temporarily then it's much more feasible to do that annually versus paying $150/liter with Lexus.

Looking forward to see how things go with your fluid change when it gets warmer out.