Hi Everyone, New member. I have a 2011 ES350 and I love this car. It has 282,000 Kilometers or 176,000miles on it. I have either done it myself or had the dealer change all the fluids since buying it used 6 years ago. It had 88,000 k on it when I got it.
My question is, I have never had the transmission fluid changed. I was watching the Care Car Nut in the states and he recommends changing the fluid every 60,000 miles. Since I have never had the trans. serviced, should I get the dealer to do a drain and fill or flush and change filter and fill?
Thanks in advance.

 

There are numerous threads on this exact topic already. Search the 5th gen ES forum for so many opinions, your head will spin!

In a nut shell, many think changing out the auto trans fluid on a high mileage vehicle is not advisable, as slippage can occur. Some, like myself, think incremental changes are safe (3qts every 30K). Most think a chemical flush/fluid change is extremely risky in high mileage vehicles.

 

I flushed it at 95,000 miles. I used the return line to flush. Now 97,000 miles no issue and going strong. As you never flushed it and you are at 176 K miles so I suggested drain and refill on 3 to 4 times ( 100 miles apart) might be better in your case.

 

I would not do drain and refill, but the proper change.

 

What's a proper change? Toyota/Lexus has no procedure as they don't recommend changing the "lifetime" fluid.

 

Also, like to add. For the first drain and refill, change the filter too. For that, you need to drop the pan. For 2nd, 3rd and 4th you can just open the drain plug, level plastic tube, and fill, check the level at 104 F. Why I am suggesting only drain and refill because your Transmission is at a very high mileage side so change AT with precaution as the first drain and fill will mix with the older fluid and gradually ( every 100 miles with 3 more stage refill) increase the new fluid amount with 3 more drains and refill. I used to have Lexus es 300 it went all the way to 240K without any issue with the transmission, I just did drain and refill every 30 K miles. It was still running strong ( Avitar pic). I still miss it. Now I have 2010 es 350 and planing to keep it till it retires.
I used to have a Mercedes E 320 and rebuilt the transmission. I have many years of experience in taking care of cars. So based on my vast exp I believe drain and refill should work.

 

I agree with you, just drain it and refill. Then repeat a few more times. You also said I should drop the pan and replace the filter.

I wish I had thought about this oil change years ago when it had lower mileage, then no risk to the trans and slippage now that it's got like 176,000 miles on it. The car runs beautifully, I enjoy driving it to and from work everyday and everything works on it.

Thanks for your advice.

 

These cars go forever if you take care of basic maintenance. There is one pan bold which is hard to reach as it sits just behind the frame. You can use the wrench to open it ( see in the image ) and make sure to level the car, the rest of the bolts are easy. I bought a filter kit from NAPA ( personal preference ). I took off the driver side wheel and used the jack to raise one side and when checking the level of ATF I lowered the jack to the marked level tool and keep an eye on the overflow fluid stream. The drain plug can be reached from outside with stretched hand as you have to lower your car to level it. But when you are removing the pan then you do not need to worry about the level. Just raise the driver side to get enough space for you to go underneath ( make sure to have a tripod stand underneath the frame just in case if jack slips or gives up, then the tripod will hold for safety ). Also, make sure you can open the fill plug before you open the drain plug because if the fill plug which is on the side does not open then you will not be able to fill the empty transmission(incase if you have drained it first). There are many videos on this (one of the links is below it is the same transmission but you can search more I checked 3 to 4 videos before starting the project) Hope this helps.

 

It is up to you as to how far you want to go with this, but dropping the pan is not 100% necessary. It's a judgement call. However, unless you are a seasoned DIY'er, I suggest you take it to an indy shop for this. Then, you can follow up with periodic 3 qt-drain and fills, perhaps every 30-50K miles, which most DIY'ers are capable of.

 

Idemitsu TLS-LV is a synthetic ATF designed as an exact replacement for Toyota WS. I am running it in my Lexus and Toyota.
https://www.idemitsulubricants.com/p...tf-type-tls-lv

I agree with Post 6 and think at your high mileage I would do a drain and fill which is only about 2 quarts, then drive a week or so and do another so that the new fluid is gradually introduced and assimilated by the transmission.
I would leave the filter alone. 2 or 3 drain and fills will be enough to refresh the old fluid without disturbing any baked on deposits. You should notice an improvement in shifting afterward.

There are several threads here and in the 3rd generation RX 350 forum on how to do a drain and fill. Both vehicles have the same transmission.

 

I have gone back and forth numerous times about changing the transmission fluid on my ES every since I got it used. My current opinion is that I will not touch my high mileage car unless there is an active problem. Also, I’m not willing to spend thousands of dollars in repairs if it causes problems or worse, be forced to get a new car.

I asked Scotty Kilmer about my concern and he recommended changing it. He mentioned that Toyota parts are not like American cars which shed clutch materials and thus will be fine after a fluid change.

Car Care Nut’s opinion is a bit different as he says to leave it alone once its past the 100k mark. You can see for yourself on recent comments of people asking on his transmission video.

The conflicting info out there doesn’t help either. Some mechanics I asked say that consecutive drain and fills are not a good idea and it should be more spread out over 10-20k miles. I’ve also seen through these forums that even after changes the notorious shift flare does not go away which sucks. So as of now I just leave it alone.

 

I agree, spread out the drain and fills. I do one every 30K or so, and have done so since buying new. I've never felt the need to do a complete fluid change and never would unless I had tranny issues. The flare can only be addressed through software upgrades and/or solenoid replacements if necessary.

 

I'm in the same boat. Getting different opinions from everyone. I bought mine from the 2nd owner last year who bought it as a certified pre-owned from lexus at 30k miles. I bought it from him at 194k miles and have owned it for about a year now- currently at 204k miles. There were very minor issues that needed to be addressed and I had my mechanic friend at the Toyota dealership take care of it all including updating all the maintenance like filters, fluids etc....

All the service by the previous owner was done at the dealer but there is no record of the tranny fluid ever being changed. I to have the tranny flare but have lived with it. There were 2 times when the tranny acted up and felt like it was slipping/accelerating slowly but again, the flare and "slippage" all happened in the morning when the car was cold. No tranny issues after the car warmed up.

I'm going to see my friend at the toyota dealer this week to do a drain and fill and praying to god it doesn't trigger anything. I would hate for such a healthy car to go south after a simple tranny drain and fill.

 

Ah, but they do … flush every 60K if it meets Special Operation Conditions - towing, off-road, commercial-use, etc…. And to inspect the ATF, every 30K or 60K, I forget which. But Toyota/Lexus does not elaborate what it means to “inspect”. To some, fluid level is good enough. To others, it’s important to check the level of contaminants in the ATF. One common method is to go by the ATF color. Pink or brown with mostly pink hue is good. Mostly brown is the time to change it. In this case, I would replace the ATF filter and do a drain/refill.

 

Did the drain and fill yesterday at the Toyota dealership (friend is a mechanic there- lucky me). My fluid was dark

Looks like there was a software update available when he hooked up the scanner. Not sure what the update was but he said I should see an improvement in shifting now. Something about a calibration? He had to hook up cables to the battery so the voltage doesn't drop during the software update.

I'll keep everyone posted. Haven't drove the car after a cold start yet. But driving home last night I did see it shifting quicker and smoother during acceleration

oh yea and nothing like fresh brakes and rotors. I went OEM rotors and brakes. So much better now