Lexus es350 transmission
10-04-17, 11:34 AM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Lexus es350 transmission
This morning at 8:00AM I was about to take my wife to the doctor. When I started the car (2008 Lexus ES350) and put it in reverse. It barely moved. I then put it in drive and again in barely moved. We then got into the truck and I took my wife to the doctor.
At about 12PM we returned from the doctor. I looked in the manual on how to check the transmission fluid and I found out that there is no way to do it. In desperation I again started the car, put it in reverse and I responded just fine. I put it in drive and went around the the block and it again it responded normally.
Some car info. It has 160k miles and I changed the transmission fluid and filter for the 1st time last year at 140K.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
At about 12PM we returned from the doctor. I looked in the manual on how to check the transmission fluid and I found out that there is no way to do it. In desperation I again started the car, put it in reverse and I responded just fine. I put it in drive and went around the the block and it again it responded normally.
Some car info. It has 160k miles and I changed the transmission fluid and filter for the 1st time last year at 140K.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
10-05-17, 04:50 AM
#3
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I have made an appointment with my local mechanic and he plans to look at the system to see if it tells him if anything is wrong. If it does not then I guess I will have to take it to a Lexus dealer (last resort due to cost). It seems strange to me that it now appears to be working OK.
10-05-17, 11:47 AM
#4
Who changed your transmission oil last year? if it was you then you must already know there is no trans dip stick to check its level, it must be done with special tool and at specific temp. there is a guide on this forum on how to do that.. If someone else did it, then you should have it check out again to see if they did it correctly. if i am you, i will ask toyota or lexus for how much it costs to do complete transmission flushed and fill? For $200 or less i will let them do it for a peace of mind because the oil itself already run you near $100
10-05-17, 02:36 PM
#6
it is not required but as most people who did replace it like myself will tell you, the oil in there are dark black , i am sure it will still work but i feel a lot better knowing i just replaced it with new clean transmission oil at 94K miles.
10-06-17, 04:41 AM
#7
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I had my local mechanic check out the system. He did a scan and found nothing. He feels that it is electronic since it now appears to be running OK with no indication of slipping. Since I am planning a trip from NJ to FL I think I will take the advice of bucfan22 and take it to my lexus dealer and have them again check the electronics and change the transmission fluid so that I know it was done correctly.
Sunuk you are correct in that the transmission is sealed. However, from all I have read and last year at 140K, it thought it would be wise to have the fluid changed. Perhaps I was wrong. In any case, if it was done correctly, that should not have caused any problems.
Sunuk you are correct in that the transmission is sealed. However, from all I have read and last year at 140K, it thought it would be wise to have the fluid changed. Perhaps I was wrong. In any case, if it was done correctly, that should not have caused any problems.
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SUNUK (10-06-17)
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10-06-17, 08:28 AM
#8
i don't belive in lifetime when you think about lifetime who decides what lifetime is?
the lifetime of your transmission might be 100k might be 500k might be nothing at all how do you decide what lifetime is I think this is bogus I
stick with the normal routs I take in every car I own and have ever owned.
80k trans fluid in every car I own. Never flush it that's the worst thing you could ever do.
The Lexus Dealer doesn't even do Flushs most of them don't have those machines for the simple fact that Lexus doesn't recommend Flushing
they take other measures to remove and add trans fluid
the lifetime of your transmission might be 100k might be 500k might be nothing at all how do you decide what lifetime is I think this is bogus I
stick with the normal routs I take in every car I own and have ever owned.
80k trans fluid in every car I own. Never flush it that's the worst thing you could ever do.
The Lexus Dealer doesn't even do Flushs most of them don't have those machines for the simple fact that Lexus doesn't recommend Flushing
they take other measures to remove and add trans fluid
10-06-17, 12:00 PM
#10
because they know that hooking up a power flush machine to a car is a bad idea
basicaly what you get at a lexus dealership is going to be a drain and refill it gets as much fluid as they can out of the trans and then dilute what is still in there with new fluid its better than not doing it at all.
but they don't flush at lexus dealerships unless they are doing it without lexus being aware of it or against the recommendation.
the only time i would ever flush my transmission out is if it was bad something was wrong and it was a last resort to hoping it fixes what ever issue is wrong if they told me it needed to be rebuild
then id flush it first and see if it got better but only has a left of life resort for the transmission would i ever flush it
basicaly what you get at a lexus dealership is going to be a drain and refill it gets as much fluid as they can out of the trans and then dilute what is still in there with new fluid its better than not doing it at all.
but they don't flush at lexus dealerships unless they are doing it without lexus being aware of it or against the recommendation.
the only time i would ever flush my transmission out is if it was bad something was wrong and it was a last resort to hoping it fixes what ever issue is wrong if they told me it needed to be rebuild
then id flush it first and see if it got better but only has a left of life resort for the transmission would i ever flush it
10-06-17, 01:18 PM
#11
Intermediate
^^^ Agreed ^^^
Actually flushing the transmission on any car is a terrible idea. If you want to do a more thorough job on replacing the fluid, do multiple drain and fill cycles. 3 cycles should do it, putting about 1k miles in between each. It's expensive but so is a transmission.
.
Actually flushing the transmission on any car is a terrible idea. If you want to do a more thorough job on replacing the fluid, do multiple drain and fill cycles. 3 cycles should do it, putting about 1k miles in between each. It's expensive but so is a transmission.
.
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Paul3637 (10-20-17)
10-06-17, 04:48 PM
#12
It’s always a debate on here whether or not to change the atf. I remember reading somewhere (can’t for the life of me remember) that Toyota/Lexus saved a ton in fees or taxes because they produced a car that doesn’t require atf changes.
I flush at a toyota dealer every 50k miles. I think most agree that a flush is bad after not doing it for extended periods of time because it loosens up sludge. I’ve also read plenty of accounts of burnt smelling and very dark fluid by owners who have gone long periods of time without changing and finally did.
In the end after years and years of following the forum I don’t often read about transmissions going out either way. It happens but is few and far between. I change mine because I have been doing so forever and haven’t had a tranny fail for over 600k miles on a variety of vehicles.
I flush at a toyota dealer every 50k miles. I think most agree that a flush is bad after not doing it for extended periods of time because it loosens up sludge. I’ve also read plenty of accounts of burnt smelling and very dark fluid by owners who have gone long periods of time without changing and finally did.
In the end after years and years of following the forum I don’t often read about transmissions going out either way. It happens but is few and far between. I change mine because I have been doing so forever and haven’t had a tranny fail for over 600k miles on a variety of vehicles.
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Paul3637 (10-20-17)
10-09-17, 03:11 PM
#13
The transmission is not "sealed." It simply has no dipstick. It has in intake plug for new fluid and an overflow plug. Toyota has a special tool for doing a fluid exchange by pumping it in the intake plug until it pours out the overflow plug.
On my 09V6 Camry (same tranny as lexus ES350), my dealer did a "partial fluid exchange" using 4 quarts of WS transmission fluid at 66,000 miles at a cost of $100. As it turns out, the transmission was low from the factory. My experience can be found here:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...anny-jerk.html
My dealer said they recommend 60K service interval because when people wait until 100,000 miles, the fluid comes out coal black. Mine was dark red at 66K and did not smell burned.
There is no Lexus dealer in my area and many people bring their ES350's there for service.
On my 09V6 Camry (same tranny as lexus ES350), my dealer did a "partial fluid exchange" using 4 quarts of WS transmission fluid at 66,000 miles at a cost of $100. As it turns out, the transmission was low from the factory. My experience can be found here:
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...anny-jerk.html
My dealer said they recommend 60K service interval because when people wait until 100,000 miles, the fluid comes out coal black. Mine was dark red at 66K and did not smell burned.
There is no Lexus dealer in my area and many people bring their ES350's there for service.
10-09-17, 07:26 PM
#14
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Who at Lexus recommends not flushing the transmission? The service people at my Lexus dealership said that since my fluid was changed by a local mechanic that they may have used the wrong transmission fluid and recommend that I flush the transmission to remove all of the bad fluid.
Last edited by jerseyman; 10-09-17 at 07:31 PM.
