mike5.9

Hey guys,
I finally got around to this, here is how it went.

1. Drive around for 15 minutes
2. Set ebrake and lift front
3a. Drain tranny pan (T-55 torx) and Diff (10mm hex)
- A note on removing the differential hex bolt if you have a 10mm hex extension instead of a full hex wrench; Place the closed end of a 10mm wrench on the the hex extension prior to placing it in the differential bolt, then create the leverage you need with another wrench connected to the smaller one. Anyone who has tried to do this will know the hassle, hopefully this helps.
3b. While the fluid is draining remove the front plastic cover to access the bottom of the radiator.

4a. Remove pan and replace filter (new gasket and filter $16 at Napa) Be sure to keep track of which pan bolts go where.
4b. On the bottom drivers side of the radiator you'll see a hose entering the radiator that originates from the tranny. With a pliers, disconnect the hose and be prepared to have some fluid begin to drip out by directing the hose down into a 2 gallon bucket.
5. Clean pan, magnets, and lower surface of tranny as well as possible.
6. Reinstall pan, Tighten both drain bolts.
-Make sure you don't over torque the pan bolts. The toyota service center told me to use a 1/4 inch ratchet with one hand... Pretty technical.
7. Fill pan with (4 quarts) (Up to "hot" mark)

Now the fun part.

8. Check the fluid level to assure yourself that it is to the hot mark. The fluid quantity difference between the hot mark and the cold mark is 1 quart.
9. Verify Ebrake is set and hold the brakes.
10. Start it up and shift down to drive and back up and shut it off. (4 to 5 seconds max)
11. You'll see about a quart of old fluid in the bucket each time.
12. Check the fluid level. (on mine, each 4 second start up drained 1 quart from the pan) Assure that you refill to the hot full mark.
13. Check the color of the old fluid going into the bucket.

14. Repeat steps 10 through 13 until the fluid going into the bucket is clean. (Mine was on the 9th quart)

15. Reconnect hose to radiator
16. Drop car and check the fluid level. Because of the initial amount that drained out of the tranny cooler, expect that you will need another quart or so when you start it (and run it through the gears) again.
17. Start it and check it in neutral, adjust fluid level to cold mark.


Their was quite a bit of speculation about if this procedure would end up leaving part of the tranny dry. My conclusion is that it is fine and does not leave anything dry. My reasoning is that thoughout the procedure you will continue to see that the fluid in the pan remains perfectly clear and conversely the fluid going into the bucket is completely dirty.

So, no fluid goes though any portion of the tranny between the tranny oil cooler and the pan. If it did, I don't think there would have been such an obvious difference in the colors of fluids on each end. Also, after finishing, the fluid remained perfectly clear, indicating that there was no additional area that was missed.

Good Luck!

LexFather

What a write-up! I think I will try mine as well. Thanks.

BananaGS

I would skip this step, the transmission filter is just a screen, it won't go bad or get too dirty. No need for replacement (maybe I would do this if I have 100K miles on my car)
I wrote this instruction on my homepage a while back.

mike5.9

BananaGS,
Do you mean you would skip the step of dropping the pan?

My only concern would be the possibility that I ran into, which was the fact that my es300 was previously owned, and sure enough, there was already an aftermarket filter in there. It was definitely dirty.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

hey mike5.9

got any pics of the pan? where's that located?

Pete

mike5.9

No pictures..

Just look under the front. You'll see the oil pan under the engine on the passenger side. The pan under the tranny is nearer to the drivers side.

njes300

seems like alot of work . I would just spend the 120 and get it done @ lexus/toyota . Your only saving 60 bucks or so by doing yourself anyway .

PHML

iTrader: (33)

mike5.9:

What about the old tranny fluid that's in the radiator? I'm referring to the process when you disconnect the hose from the tranny to the cooler/radiator and emptying it to a 2 gallon bucket.

Logically, there is some old tranny fluid sitting in the cooler, right? Is that forced out when you start the ignition?

Pete

mike5.9

On the es300, and on my jeep, the point where you are able to disconnect the cooler line from the tranny cooler is at the very bottom of the tranny cooler. (at the bottom of the radiator). So, when I disconnected the line fluid began to drain out of the tranny oil cooler. So I think the only fluid that may not drain by gravity is possibly a small portion in the line between the cooler and pan. (can't be much)

PERRYinLA

i'm confused as to why the engine has to be stopped occasionally and the new ATF added incrementally. Take a look at the bottom part of the following web page (one of the best ATF flush discussions I have ever found) :

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~singletn/web/pages/at1.html

Notice that Greg J. mentions that if you place all the fresh ATF in a large bucket and route the transmission intake hose into it, the ATF will get sucked up at about the same rate the old ATF is coming out in the other bucket, allowing a complete ATF exchange in one continuous flush!

That seems like a much smoother way to go, but that web page pertains to the Ford Explorer and maybe we can't do it on our cars. I'm about to do this on my SC400 and am wondering if anyone has any opinions on whether this method would work or not.

mike5.9

I tried exactly what you described when I changed my Grand Cherokee fluid. I figured it would suck it right out of the bucket, but there was absolutely no suction.

Please be sure to post when you try it, as it would certainly make my next fluid change in the lex go a lot easier.

A word of caution. Make sure you shut the car down quick if it doesn't suck it from the bucket.

PERRYinLA

Thanks, Mike. I knew that some cars don't suck (so to speak), I'd just love to know if my SC is one of them before I start this procedure.

That is the reason why those ATF flushing machines have a pump to force the fresh ATF in. Other flushing machines have the old fluid compress a bladder full of fresh ATF, which forces in the new ATF at the proper rate- a neat solution.

I also am wondering if the SC transmission should be put in "Park", "Neutral" or "Drive" in order to pump
the fluid from the transmission. This also varies from car to car.

lcc014

Mike,

Where is the Differential nut/bolt? I only found the 10mm hex bolt under the tranny pan, and I couldn't find the differetial nut/bolt in my 98 ES300. I only drained the pan by unscrew the 10mm hex and refilled about 3 quarts of Toyota ATF.

Thanks,

Ching-Ho Cheng

PERRYinLA

Well, I finally got around to flushing my 92 SC400 today. I might post the full procedure some day, but for now I'll just say it is one messy job and your second flush will no doubt go more smoothly than your first.

On my SC, the upper hose is the one that contains ATF going out of the radiator and into the trans, so that's the one I tapped into. With the trans in Park, the ATF did not come out at the rate of 1 qt every 4 seconds, as Mike says it did on his ES, but more like 1 quart every 20-35 seconds. It also came out at times in spurts, which sends the drain hose flying- yick! SECURE THAT HOSE IN THE DRAIN BUCKET SECURELY! Below is a pic of the bucket I used, with graduations to show how much old ATF was pumped out.

But it sure is great to get that old dirty fluid outta there. It was pretty darn dark.

Side note to MIke- as we suspected, there's no suction on the intake. So I rigged up a funnel and long hose to the intake and attached it to the top of a 10-foot step ladder, where my helper poured the fresh ATF. That extra height produced pressure to almost match the rate of the old ATF coming out.