lexrally

Started reading about the pitfalls of an over filled transmission.

After I got our RX300 back from the Toyota dealer about 6 months ago for a transmission service ($80), noticed the tranny was overfilled by about 3/4 inch over the top after it was hot. They must not measure how much comes out, or put too much in, I don't know.

I did notice that there was slight slippage when it was running hot.

After looking at the DIY here, I decided to give it a whirl and do the tranny fluid change on my own. I picked up a 10mm allen wrench from Lowes for about $4, a huge disposable baking pan for about $2, a washer for the plug ($2 got it from the same Toyota dealer) and 4 quarts of Toyota Type IV ($20).

I placed some newspaper and the tray underneath, and found (surprisingly) that the plug is very accessible from the front of the vehicle and easy to remove.

After the fluid completely drained, I measured how much came out by pouring the fluid from the baking pan into empty oil bottles. About 4.5 came out. Returned the used fluid to Auto zone later that day.

I wanted to be sure I did not overfill. So I added only 3.25 quarts of fluid, drove the car for about 20 minutes until it was hot, then added and measured until it was just right. Added about 3.6 quarts total. Now it is perfect.

This is such an easy job, really, if I can do this anyone can. This is so easy and inexpensive I will do this every spring before the summer when we use the car the most.