EagleEye99

10mm driver socket that is both thin-walled and shallow. This gives you enough space to get it in there and still clear the subframe after unscrewing. I looked around and these work best!

Nelsons

This is my first post & I rarely post anywhere, but before asking for help I'd like to offer a sincerely big thank-you to the participants here on this forum and elsewhere on the blog, for so much valuable advice and for the time & knowledge they have shared. I hope I may contribute back in some way, as well.

Background on my car (Pearl) & her maintenance: 2008, ES 350; 160,000 km./100k mi.; purchased used in March '17; noticed cold temp. hard shift &/ shifting fade in low gears shortly after purchase; changed and flushed probably the original tranny fluid in July, with Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic ATF; old WS fluid was darkly discoloured, but not burnt smelling; didn't drop the pan, but flushed the Maxlife ATF fluid 2L ata time from the cooler line & added to the tranny; shifting issues seemed to abate, but it was summer.

Winter temperatures have caused this problem to re-emerge with a vengeance and on occasion have nearly stranded me in traffic when the tranny wouldn't drop into gear. It seems to happen shortly after a cold start followed by stopping within a short drive - less than a block, or so. When the tranny is warmed up, it has no problem at all, even after it gave me the problem when cold. When it is cold, it is horrid. I ran these details past the Lexus service manager - got the the obvious solution - change the transmission. When asked about flushing and replacing the ATF with WS fluid, he said there's no way to do it and you couldn't get all the ATF out of the torque converter. They wouldn't do it.

I understand their position, but I don't give up on a problem that easily and it shifts fine when warm. Perhaps the Valvoline Maxlife ATF was not the right choice for this transmission - that's a problem with free advice. ...or perhaps it's something else. My interim strategy/solution is inconvenient, but I warm up the fluid by going through the gears with the brake on before driving.

I have a couple of ideas that I'd like opinions on, or new ideas if you have them:

1) I'm thinking I'll redo the tranny flush with WS fluid, drop the pan & change the filter this time. Then do a standard tranny WS fluid change every motor oil change for the next 3 or 4

2) drop the pan & change the filter and do a standard WS tranny fluid change. Then do a standard WS fluid change for the next 6-8 oil changes.

I'll wait for advice, & some warmer weather before doing anything for now.

...if this is not the right place to post this question, please let me know. Thanks in advance

igzy

I would have used OEM fluid for flush, but since it is too late for that atm, in this cold weather, what I would do now is check the oil level after cold soak (e.g. this weekend if you are in Ontario). It could be on lower side when you refilled it and that will have the same symptoms now, that you are describing, which is independent of type of fluid. If you are low even by 200-300ml, in super cold weather that we had -20C, it would give you the same issue of no-shift when cold...

Nelsons

I haven't checked the fluid level since changing it, but I will, and top up if necessary. I'll post the findings here. Thanks

ESh

Do you have ES350 made for US market or SA market?

Nelsons

I do not know, but I assume with substantial confidence, that it was produced for sale in Canada, i.e. with a metric speedometer & daylight running lights. I do not now know, how to learn the the answer to the question. So, with respect, may I ask, why is it important?

If it's an important differentiator in either the possible causes or the solutions to my problem then I will gladly search further for an answer. Tx

gemigniani

Not sure what you mean by "shifting fade in low gears". Maybe your fluid level is too high or too low. The following video shows an idiotproof way to set the fluid level correctly on the U660E tranny. Also I believe there was a TSB for some 2007-2008's to reflash the computer and it helped fix cold weather shifting "flare"

ESh

The problem is if your car is made for US or Canada no dealer outside US or Canada is allowed to do the tranny reflash.
The only solution is for you to send the ECU in USA or Canada.

Do you have enough oil in the tranny? Can you check the level?

chuyrobles

Nelsons, the Maxlife ATF is not the problem. Remember, the problem existed before you flushed with Maxlife. I have Maxlife in all my Toyota products. Definitely, replace the ATF filter. it uses a felt-type material that traps more particles than the wire mesh type; when I replaced ours at 150K, the filter was dirty black.

Nelsons

Thank-you all once again for sharing your knowledge. I had to wait for warmer weather before rolling around with oil on my hands, but I was able to check the oil level and top it up. It was probably close to 2 litres low. I pumped, so it's only a guess. I'm hoping that no serious damage has been done. Perhaps I did not have the engine running when I checked the level after flushing it. I can't recall. I didn't change out the filter when I flushed the tranny oil, but I will this summer. I haven't called a dealer about doing an ECU update for the 3-4 shifting flare problem, but if the problem is still evident, I'll be looking into it in detail. Thanks for the tip.

I'm hopeful the Valvoline MaxLife ATF is not the problem. In retrospect, I should have used the WS, but It was not readily available for a reasonable price and that may have biased my research to choose the Valvoline. Live & Learn!

I changed out the brake fluid, the power steering fluid and did a cooling system flush and refill at about the same time as the tranny flush. Only the most difficult fluid level to check was low.

I'm looking forward to changing the spark plugs, the headlight bulbs to LED's, and possibly the VVT-i hose in warmer weather. I'll be looking for some best bulb recommendations and some best practices on the VVT-i change-out. ... and I'll need a new set of tires after the winters come off.

The first test drive - everything was fine. If, for some reason, the tranny problem persists on cold startups, I'll update with my observations here. Cheers!, It's Martini Friday

ESh

You must check the level with the engine running and the oil temp must be between 104 and 113F.

Nelsons

Yes, Noted. ... and I thought I did that when I flushed it. I should have followed up with level checks a few days later as I did with flushes of my son's Subaru tranny and another son's Ranger tranny that I did around the same time. Toyota makes it so time consuming and inconvenient to do the right thing that I'm having some concerns about the integrity of the corp. Generally I stop financially supporting these innocent fraudsters when they take this tack, but I'm in it for now. Tx.

cl206

Hi all, this video is for 2012-2017, can someone confirm if the overflow tube can be removed like that on the 2007? I rather just do a drain and fill. Better than nothing. Thanks!

ESh

cl206

Thanks! I think I will try the drain and fill approach first as my car even thought it is 11 years, is only a 62k miles. After this I might just do a drain and fill every couple years or 30 k miles. But we'll see. Everything is so rusted down there!!