drift2002

Hello everyone! New to the forum but longtime proud owner of a 2002 Lexus IS300 since its birth...

But I am looking for anyone who has had experience changing their own fluids for THIS particular model and generation. I've looked around the site and all I found were for automatics or other models.

Right now, I am considering which fluids to use besides the Toyota brand and ones I can just buy from Autozone... I love my IS, but on a tight budget. Just a woman asking guy stuff...

Any ideas, suggestions, or advice is greatly appeciated.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

If we are talking transmission fluid, genuine Toyota fluid is actually the cheapest fluid that works and is readily available...

There are two methods to change transmission fluid - incremental exchange in which you dump about 3 quarts at a time and refill... you never get it all out, for sure, but you can do it at home... you could also disconnect a trans cooler line and dump in new fluid as the trans pumps out old... the other method is a true flush, in which you hook a machine inline with the trans cooler and it pumps back in whatever the transmission pumps out... probably won't be doing that at home...

drift2002

So only Toyota genuine...got it. Yes I will have to do this at home. Got the tools, jacks, everything. And I know for a fact that the car needs to be level when refilling. Anything else I should know about before I begin? How do I refill it? I cant seem to find a transmission dipstick so that means I would have to do some pumping or pouring fluid thru a funnel... Is there like a write up or step by step for d.i.y.'ers like me?

Maybe I should do a video on this...

jkeifer3

I am also wondering if there is some sort of screen or filter that can be changed if you drop the transmission pan? How many miles on your car?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

No offense, but it sounds like you are a little bit of a novice, so the drain and refill method is probably the easiest / least amount of work...

the trans dipstick is on the driver side of the engine along the intake manifold (its bolted to the intake manifold) - between the strut tower and engine... usually a red handle, iirc...

get the car in the air and locate the transmission pan - its relatively large and rectangular with a drain plug close to the back... 17mm iirc... just like you were changing engine oil, pull the drain plug, and let whatever (hopefully red) trans fluid comes out - usually 2-4 quarts. while draining, it is best to have only the front of the car jacked up, as this will let more fluid come out generally... Clean the drain plug of an debris or metal shavings, and when its done draining replace it... if you are only going to drain and fill one time, simply lower the car back to level and refill the trans. I would start with 2 quarts, start the car, run through the gears slowly (p, n, r, d) back to park, and check the fluid level... add as necessary...


jkeifer - there is a screen, but it would be next to impossible for it to be restricted - its only a little finer than the engine oil pickup screen and unless you were there doing something else, such as changing on modifying the valve body, no real good reason to ever change it...

drift2002

jkeifer: almost 200k... I know, I drive a lot. I love to drive

mitsuguy: no offense at all. This is my first time doing this so I thought Im a bit of a beginner, but its not my first rodeo. I did my oil change last month...

Weird, but I dont see a red dipstick (bolted on or not) near the intake manifold. Is mine something special? Mine is a 5 speed manual after all...

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

just saw yours is a manual transmission... whole different story...

there is no dipstick on manual transmissions...

jack up car, find drain plug and fill plug on transmission, pull drain plug and allow to drain, couple quarts, 3-4 tops...

replace drain plug

add new fluid through fill plug until it starts pouring back out the fill plug... replace fill plug, good to go...

DKNY0331

LOL I figured it was a stick shift she was driving. gotta love them 5spd i might as well drain and fill mine and the diff.

DKNY0331

btw i wouldnt mind seeing a woman doing a video changing her oils

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

YAh, big brain fart... I forget that people still refer to most manual transmissions as 5 or 6 speeds... the reality is almost every car has 5 or more forward gears, auto trans IS's included (a650e is a 5 speed auto)

DKNY0331

Oh i know i spent a month through all sorts of advertisments when i was looking to buy my IS300 people were saying 5spds every where and then i saw the interior picture and was like dam stupid push button 5spd . SO rare to find it in a stick shift

gbphoto

I have an 03 IS300 with 130,000 miles on it i'm getting a very hard shift when I step on it, like if I wanna pass someone on the freeway from 4th to 5th gear. Any Ideas what would cause this.
Also in that gearing area when its cycling through the gears from 4th to 5th gear it shifts around 4,000-5,000 RPM when im not stepping on it 1st through 3rd shifts just fine, any ideas?

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

Though not necessarily related to the original thread, I'll try an answer...

First off, 4000-5000 rpm in 4th gear is 80-100 mph... I promise the car will hold 4th gear to redline, but you have to be completely flooring it... This is around 120 mph... What kind of hard shift???

gbphoto

its not smooth like the other gears its the only time you can really feel it shift like 1,2,3 gears are almost seemliest 4 to 5 is the one that giving me a hard shift like a jolting shift kinda hard to describe on the internet
either it will be a rough shift or ill switch it to manual and shift it my self

neosxe808

another easy way to refill a mt trans is to pull the shifter off and fill from the shifter hole. may not have enough space from the side if its not on a lift.....can do it on the ground easily and quickly. four 10mm bolts holding the shifter.