transmission fluid
Driver
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 192
Likes: 0
From: MA
They're making it up. Nowhere in the manual does it make any mention of 100k miles being the life of the transmission fluid. It specifically states only that it is maintenance free and require no regular service. There is no interval specified.
Driver
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 195
Likes: 0
From: CA
So any experiences with manual IS owners changing their tranny fluid yet yet
I'm coming up on 30k miles and plan to do it then. I destroyed the transmission on my Honda Prelude after driving 90k miles and never changing the tranny oil, so I made sure to do it every 30k on my Subaru WRX. Switching to Redline synthetic also made a noticeable difference.
I'm coming up on 30k miles and plan to do it then. I destroyed the transmission on my Honda Prelude after driving 90k miles and never changing the tranny oil, so I made sure to do it every 30k on my Subaru WRX. Switching to Redline synthetic also made a noticeable difference.
Rookie
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: GA
I'm about that time, 45K miles and Would like to do the ATF change.
Anyone with tips? I'm not familiar with Toyota/Lexus. But fairly technical oriented since I've been doing all the maintenance jobs on my other cars (Honda & Nissan)
Anyone with tips? I'm not familiar with Toyota/Lexus. But fairly technical oriented since I've been doing all the maintenance jobs on my other cars (Honda & Nissan)
You didn't read the thread, did you? The transmission fluid can't be changed.
Rookie
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: GA
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In what way does post 44 describe how to change the fluid? It looks to me like it only shows how to add fluid if it's low, not how to drain it. Dropping the oil pan only allows you to remove a small percentage. Unless you are going to change the small amount, drive it, change it again, drive it, change it again, repeat, repeat ... repeat 20+ times, what's the point?
Once again, there is no such thing as a "sealed transmission". Lexus just says that because they dont want people messing with it.
There HAS to be a way to fill/refill a transmission.
I think its a good idea to change the auto tranny fluid way before 100k miles.
Last edited by gsrthomas; Mar 19, 2008 at 06:02 PM.
To people who actually own the car (not ppl that lease) is just extra insurance for the tranny to run healthy for a long time. Thats all.
Look what happend with e46 BMW's "lifetime" auto transmissions. They were failing left and right even before hitting 100k miles. Once their warranty was up of course then the owner of the car gets a big fat repair bill to fix the tranny.
Driver
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 160
Likes: 0
From: TX
Remember, the only "lifetime" that an OEM is concerned about is the initial warrranty period when repairs are on their dime. After that, it is all on the owner's dime.
Most OEM consider the life of a car as 100K, when in fact a well maintained one will exceed this by two or three times.
Drain and refill is merely a dilution of the contaminated ATF. A true mechanical exchange will replace 98% of the fluid.
www.bgprod.com or www.bgfindashop.com
SnapOn also makes a ATF exchange machine under the Sun brand.
So what do owner's here do about the PS fluid? Hmmmm....I wonder.
Last edited by maxnix; Apr 28, 2008 at 08:27 AM.
Did you not read post 44? The transmission pan can easily be replaced, and the fluid can easily be refilled. What CAN'T be done is a full fluid replacement.
If you believe that old BMW rant, I have some sea shore property in Nebraska I cold sell you cheap.
Remember, the only "lifetime" that an OEM is concerned about is the initial warrranty period when repairs are on their dime. After that, it is all on the owner's dime.
Most OEM consider the life of a car as 100K, when in fact a well maintained one will exceed this by two or three times.
Drain and refill is merely a dilution of the contaminated ATF. A true mechanical exchange will replace 98% of the fluid.
www.bgprod.com or www.bgfindashop.com
SnapOn also makes a ATF exchange machine under the Sun brand.
So what do owner's here do about the PS fluid? Hmmmm....I wonder.
Remember, the only "lifetime" that an OEM is concerned about is the initial warrranty period when repairs are on their dime. After that, it is all on the owner's dime.
Most OEM consider the life of a car as 100K, when in fact a well maintained one will exceed this by two or three times.
Drain and refill is merely a dilution of the contaminated ATF. A true mechanical exchange will replace 98% of the fluid.
www.bgprod.com or www.bgfindashop.com
SnapOn also makes a ATF exchange machine under the Sun brand.
So what do owner's here do about the PS fluid? Hmmmm....I wonder.
Well, let's see here, since there are NO external connections to the transmission where the fluid can exit besides the pan drain, your nifty machine won't be able to do anything with this gearbox. Maybe you missed the comment - it has a water/oil cooler mounted on the side of the thing. COOLANT lines run to the heat exchanger, so there is NO ACCESS to the fluid without removing the cooler completely.
Also, if you could do us all a huge favor, please remove the engine covers and locate the power steering reservoir. We'd all like to know where it is, since the power steering is electronically controlled, not hydraulically controlled.
It's really sad to say, I'm the old guy here and it seems I'm more current on the technology that the new pups. Pretty sad.
Last edited by lobuxracer; Mar 19, 2008 at 10:35 PM.