Gomer1

OK, so the more I read about RX transmissions crapping out the more I worry about my '01 RX with 70K miles.

From reading on this forum, I cannot come to a final conclussion on what to do to change the transmission fluid. I wanted to drop the pan, put in a new gasket and a new filter. Toyota dealer tells me that the filter is $49 and that it doesn't need to be replaced. He said that the old one can be cleaned and reused, this true? Then I speak to my mechanic and he tells me to forget about dropping the pan, that I should only do that if I actually have a leak. He said to just do a drain and fill.

Then I read here that drain and fill only replaces a very small percentage of the transmission fluid and also read that a full flush is about $1000 and done by specialized shops or the stealership.

So I guess this must be bizarro day since both, mechanic and dealer parts person recommend me to go the cheaper way.

In any event, I really want to treat this transmission as nice as possible. What do you guys suggest I do?

Lexmex

I recommend changing out the filter everytime you do a change, but it can go up to 30K between doing the filter change (I have done that). Do drop the pan and check to see what the magnets have at bottom of pan, either chunks (bad), sediment (normal) or nothing (rare, but nice),

Avoid the flush unless your fluid is a silvery pinkish.

Just do a drain and fill, but ask us in the forum before you do it and we will direct you as to how, but there are have been some good threads with photos, especially that of TunedRX300 on how to do this.

HarrierAWD

Drive in harsh mountain terrain like me. Turn off O/D and go up long 12% grade hill for 2 minutes twice each day. It does my tranny good - 94K miles on 2002 RX300.

I feel bad for those who got bad trannies. Though based on Consumer Reports owner survey, the RX300 has amongst the most reliable transmission in the business.

thomas1

Is your AWD? Also I kind of think it is the commuter traffic that kills these trannies. Your location is also cooler than Sacramento, and I suspect you dont have the stop and go commuting that we have. Good luck, hope you dont become one of the statistics like me.....

Gomer1

Yeah it's AWD. My commute consists of 23miles each way. All flat, no hills. Half is highway the other half is traffic lights, but no traffic.
I just posted on another post that just this morning I was thinking of selling it and going back to a Pathfinder.

bob2200

Based on what I've read over the years on this forum, I'm inclined to side with your mechanic. The percentage fluid change in a drain and fill (is it 20% or 25%?) is such that the fluid is essentially replaced in 3 or 4 drain/fills. If you feel the need, do these 3 or 4 drain/fills with a few hundred or thousand miles in between. Of course, if the fluid is off-color already, then maybe dropping the pan and cleaning or replacing the filter may be indicated.

Gomer1

Thank you! Do you guys know how the transmission filter works. Can it actually be cleaned? How is it built? I understand it's metal, but is it also metal inside? Both Toyota and Lexus do not stock this part, I guess it never gets to be replaced, even when they do transmission service?

TunedRX300

Tranny filter is a screen. Hard to clean because the mesh is enclosed except inlet and outlet holes. Replacement filter media is paper.
Search around this forum, this topic is discussed many times in the past.

Fern

When I got my trani overhauled... The master tech that did the work also was a big believer in cleaning the factory filter rather than paper filter.

Regarding changing the pan for trani fluid replacement.

I would just do a drain and fill every 30,000km (like my owner's manual says to do.)

Lifetime trani fluid (in my opinion) means during the vehicles powertrain warranty period...

If your doing a drain and fill every 30,000km (18,600mi) then you more than account for what the warranty period is for life expectancy of the fluid.

When doing a drain and fill, just make sure your using Toyota approved oil... I'll leave it at that as I don't want to start another thread on trani fluids... Also make sure the fluid is at the proper level... You don't want to overfill.

salimshah

If you switch to paper/felt/what_ever filter then you should drop pan and replace the filter on each trans-fluid change.

If you use the screen mesh, you can potentially just do the drain fill. The screen mesh should perform well for you for the service life of the transmission [150k or 200K or 250K miles ??]

Incidentally, the trasnmission break down have not been traced down to transmission fluid [the engine oil gel has been attributed to infrequent engine oil change]. Since more frequent transfluid change does not hurt, if it lets you sleep better, than why not.

Salim

Fern

In my particular trani failure those that recall my posts, it was attributed to a thrust washer being missaligned and they also found contaminants (sludge) in the fluid...

I suspect the sludge was due to the Toyota Trani fluid not being synthetic and having only been drained and filled once during the 140,000 km (87000 mi) when the tran started acting weird.

If your trani fluid hasn't been drained and filled at least 3 times during 60,000miles (and still has T-IV), I can almost guarantee the transmission is full of sludge.

Something to think about:
if we understand that trani fluid (T-IV type) will eventually breakdown and turn to sludge, this will in fact make the trani pump work harder and ultimately not generate as much pressure to allow things to circulate...

When you do a drain and fill.... before shifting through the gears once the car is started up, PLEASE wait a couple of minutes to allow the fluid to circulate properly...

If not, your shifting the trani while dry.

Gomer1

Thank you for all the good replies guys. I did it this weekend. I bought the type IV fluid, and decided to go with both dealer's advice of not to change the filter.

When I dropped the pan, the filter was metal, but it had a paper or cloth filter inside, so I guess when the PO changed the fluid last, they put some after market filter. I tried to get a filter but it would be a 3 day order :-( so I went ahead, cleaned the element with carburator cleaner and put it back. I will be draining the fluid for the next 4 oil changes (I always do oil changes every 3K miles to all my cars regardless manufacturer recommendations) and I will drop the pan again in 15K miles and replace the filter.

Thank you guys for all your help!

mikey00

Did you also open the drain on the transfer case and get the dirty transmission out of there? You should close to another quart.

Lexmex

This is what mikey00 is talking about, the drain plug to this is on the left and the tranny pan plug is on the right.

edbro

I thought T-IV was the recommended fluid. Drivewire.com lists this as the preferred solution and labels it as synthetic.
http://catalog.drivewire.com/drivewi...cation=1723935

I also see it as the fluid of choice at this Lexus page:
http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/xm...id_change1.htm

Is there something better than the Toyota T-IV?