ccc70

What a great forum and the thread on how to do a pan drop and fill is great.

My question is this though. I have a '99 RX AWD with 116,000 miles and had it since 64,000 miles. In the past I did inquire about servicing the ATF but was lead to believe that I should leave it alone and there were no recommendations by the manual to change it.

I have not done a fluid drain and honestly don't know if one was ever done, but am interested in doing so. I have no problems with the car now that I can tell. Car shifts through all gears and reverse without problems. The fluid (by dipstick) is certainly darker than the cherry red. I am worried by changing the fluid (likely would only do the 4.3 quart drain and not full fluid change) it will only give me problems that I don't have now.

I also ran into this article at http://www.trustmymechanic.com/transslip.html

Should I just leave it alone? I am hoping to get just 2 more years out of the car. I would not consider a flush but wondering what people's thoughts are about a drain and dropping the pan and cleaning that out in a high mileage vehicle.

Anyone have advice or a similar experience?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club, there is a nice sticky thread done by TunedRX300 at the top of this thread.

I highly recommend you do a drain and fill of the ATF. It is definitely not a lifetime fluid. What I do is 3 drain and fills over the course of 3 weeks and that gets a good majority of the fluid out.

ccc70

Lexmex - Thanks for the response. I did go through most of the 7 page thread but I guess I am still concerned about causing my trans to slip with new fluid (see link above). That is why I would be hesitant to do a complete flush but was hoping some drain and fills would be safer and not circulate debris (for lack of a better description) in the trans.

I guess what I was hoping for is someone else who faced a similar situation and did drain and fills at a high mileage in a self-admittedly poorly maintained transmission. All other maintenance has been good (oil, filters etc...).

The car drives perfectly fine, just looking to see if I can thwart off any problems without creating any.

Lexmex

Well, doing the drain and fill is better than the flush in this occasion. My uncle and I had done in Mexico drain and fills on other vehicles that we knew had been neglected, but followed the 3 drain and fills over 3 weeks strategy and vehicles have been fine to drive. However, on some occassions we did find fine bits in those pans. I highly recommend removing the pan as well and replacing the filter to see what you uncover, but if you haven't noticed any hesitations, or things like the vehicle suddenly turning off for no apparent reason, then you should be fine with your tranny up to now, but still should do the drain and fills.

salimshah

I am also for drain and fill.

You can do once and run for a while ... 3months + and then do the next.

This way you are essentially making the change gradually.


There are risks both ways .....
failure due to neglect.
shock.


Lexus unlike other vehicles is based on use-by-owner and full service by dealer model. To facilitate this they have the loaner program. The strive for minimum wait time ... Make appointment over phone. Drive in. Authorize work. Drive out in a loaner. Drive back in, pay the service charge and drive out.

Salim

Nad1370

Prior to owning the RX.
I had a RAV-4 awd that has 150k. Drain/fill all through it's life every 15k.
I'm on my 2nd drain/fill on my RX after 2K miles of driving.
I'm trying to get the color bright red. Maybe 1 more and I'm there.

Lexmex

I am actually going to let my ATF go a bit before I change it to Amsoil. I want to see how it reacts down here with sea level, i.e., basically to get a better idea of how it shifts with Type IV given the higher power level down here over Mexico City, and then will change it out. Still, I did change out my ATF just before I left Mexico.

ccc70

I was hoping to try one drain and fill and then cross my fingers and hope nothing bad happens and then proceed from there. Do you feel it would be safe to drop the pan and clean that as well or could that 'stir' things up too much or clean things too much.

As I said before the car drives fine. I do feel the shifts of the car but it is certainly not jerky by any stretch of the imagination (smoother than by '06 Explorer in fact)

Thanks

Lexmex

Go ahead and do the drain and fill, but clean out the pan as well on the first drain and fill along with cleaning out the filter. I wouldn't just do the drain and fill by itself.

trhs75

I had the dealer drain, flush, and fill the tranny on my daughter's newly-acquired '99RX300 last fall at about 116,000 miles. They recommended a flush rather than just a drain and fill, although I like Lexmex's idea. I have had no problems whatsoever, but to be honest I don't know for sure how regularly this had been performed over the vehicle's life.

Lexmex

Again, it depends on the quality of the fluid being changed out and what is sensed while driving. However, you were right to change it out as you never know what was done before.

Francis-99

I had a tranny fluid change on 90k miles from dealer. I am not sure that they just drain and fill or they dropped, cleaned the pan and replaced the filter. Anyway, I had a tranny fluid change on 120k mile by myself two months ago(Big thanks to TunedRX300 thread). I bought the fluid, filter and the gasket from the dealer. I think drop and clean the pan and replace the filter is standard and should be included for tranny fluid change and I did that. I had only changed 4.5 quarts and did not drain and fill repeatly(too lazy). The car drive fine before and after the change, so mixed fluid is ok in my case. The tranny fluid is not for lifetime and you should change it. GL

Lexmex

Just did 1st drain and fill today for my RX with Amsoil ATF. Already noticing differences, smoother/slightly quicker turnovers on shifts and also no occasional hesitation between shifts.

My0gr81

Anyone read the link provided by OP? Here is an excerp:
You would think that if the fluid was that bad, and the clutches were so worn as to require friction from the residues in the fluid, that regardless of changing the fluid, that transmission was just in a stranded car waiting for a place to happen. There is nothing normal about wear and tear due to lack of maintenance.

code58

I'm not a trans. mech. but I do know a little about vehicle maintenance. (and a few other things) If it were my car I would always pull the pan and clean ( if screen) or replace if fiber. When I did my DIL's Rx I pulled the line from the trans. to rad. and pumped the old fluid out as I filled the trans. until the fluid came out nice and pretty red. (it does it pretty abruptly when all of the old fluid is out). That way I have changed ALL the fluid at one time and am not going back 2 or 3 times to change the fluid . And though I admit if you change it enough times (pan) it will pretty much do the job- you will NEVER get all of the old fluid out that way and at $4.50- $7. a quart you will use more fluid in the process of not changing ALL of the fluid. Just the way I prefer to do it. Ya pays your money, your entitled to do it any way you want to- BUT BY ALL MEANS DO IT! Don't do the flush and don't listen to the guys that say not to change it above 80k if it hasn't ever been done. That's nonsense. I would hate to think that the dirt inside the transmission was the only thing holding it together. Oh, and did I mention- don't do the flush!