cisconj

Hi everyone,

Recently purchased 01 es 300 with 108,000 and was looking for advice on maintenance. I have gotten alot of great info but cant seem to get a clear answer in terms of the transmission. Alot of people say drain and fill, some say flush and even had one person tell me if it aint broke dont fix it and that the best thing to do is leave it alone. Would like to know how everyone else keeps their tranny going and running smooth. Thanks

satiger

iTrader: (1)

Congrats on the purchase!. 108k is relatively low miles for ES. If you don't know the past service history of this car (if service done at Lexus, can be found the history by registering at http://drivers.lexus.com/lexusdrivers ), I would start with drain and fill including dropping the pan for the fist time to check any metal in pan magnet. If there is any metal, would repeat drain and fill during next service. There after, I would alternate between drain and fill and flush.

I alternate between drain and fill and flush every 30k-40k miles. Purchased new, currently with 296k, absolutely with no transmission issues. BTW, I always use Toyota ATF type-iv. Good luck.

crwys

You are pretty much going to get the same information here compared to your research. But since the thread is already created here's my history.

My 99 had 140k when I bought it. Never changed the transmission fluid, it was brown. It failed at 190k.
I did a full rebuild, I'm at 250k now with no problems. I do drain and fills, use Toyota T-IV fluid. (If you find the Mobil brand it's cheaper and exactly the same. )

There are still debates to this day on whether you should do a flush or drain and fill. Keep in mind they both acheive the same results, the drain and fill just takes a little longer but is safer.

I also added a transmission cooler and in-line filter to hopefully help my transmission last a really long time. So we will see.

BDSL

I had a 1997 ES300. I always drain and fill from day 1.
When it retired at 280k km, the transmission was still strong.

Oro

Fixed that for 'ya! We have some different opinions on flushing vs. leaving a big part of the worn fluid in and the benefits, but I respect you rebuilt your own transmission. Did you change the thrust washer, or what did you find wrong inside yours?

From what I gather, the common single-point failure for this transmission is the forward planetary gear set. From what I can research, and it's not entirely clear, this comes from the failure of the thrust washer the planetary rides on. The gear set is then not properly spaced and "fixed" longitudinally, and then the transverse locating pins deform or shear, which is the catastrophic moment.

Whether the thrust washer was incorrectly hardened, incorrectly spec'd for the application, or ???, I have not been able to find an authoritative opinion or technical source. I searched a fair bit on the ATRA website and back issues of their "Gears" magazine w/o success, and internet searches weren't successful, either. Maybe some Toyota TSBs nail all this down, but I could not find them. I did find a credible reference that recommended shortening the drain/fill interval on these units to 15k miles. That sounds wise.

Given that failure point, the only real way to deal with a known defective part like that inside is to treat it gently, keep it lubed correctly. On the latter point, I would do the following:

a) make sure the filter is OE - some aftermarket filters restrict flow and this could be a killer in this situation.
b) for a transmission of unknown history and higher mileage, drop the pan, clean it, inspect the filter. Replace with caution.
c) refill the pan and flush clean fluid into the system. Use a T-IV compatible fluid of the proper viscosity (LV fluids, like MaxLife, are not).
d) add Lubegard red transmission protectant for added heat dissipation and friction reduction (ester oil benefits like in top-line synthetic motor oils, Auto-RX, etc.)
e) drain/fill on a modest schedule (15k miles) to maintain fresh oil film strength and anti-wear additive levels. Add the LG red proportionally with the new fill (e.g. 1oz/1qt of new fill).

An additional external cooler is a savior to certain transmissions. I installed one on one of our personal vehicles (with a crankly GM 4L30E transmission). I'm not SURE if it's going to do a lot to prevent wear and tear on the gear set in these Aisin transmission because of the inherent design problem, but it would lengthen functional fluid life through reduced oxidative stress on the fluid. And that's valuable.

crwys

Fixed that for you. Because thats what I actually said, don't quote me and change my words, thanks.

The only thing I could see wrong with mine is the torque converter failed. Since the transmission was already out of the car, I did a full rebuild anyways.

Oro

The changes were made in such a way to show full attribution, though maybe not in the APA or MLA style you wanted? It was intended to be humorous. If it wasn't interpreted that way, my only regret is your ego was so brittle you couldn't see that.