Saif

Hey everyone, this is my first post on CL as Im a new owner of an IS300. I purchased the car around a month ago with 114000 miles (184000 Kilometers) and the car clearly has not been maintained very well, but i could not pass up the deal because its a 5 Speed-MT and those are impossible to find where I live. So far I have replaced the timing belt, water pump, serpentine belt, idler bracket, oil and oil filter. This being my first experience with a lexus, my question is at this mileage, what maintenance should i do? what are common parts that fail on this model? Any advise on bringing me IS back to flawless condition would be greatly appreciated.

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

The timing belt is the main thing, it's good you did that first. Check upper and lower control arms, tie rods, ball joints, endlinks, bushings, shocks, motor mounts, etc... pretty much any wear item, any rubber bushing item, use the Lexus maintenance book as a guide and check everything up until your current mileage. Change the power steering fluid, brake fluid (check the lines as well) and the differential fluid. Check your gear oil. Check the cabin filter. Spark plugs, wires, while you're in there clean the throttle body and MAF as well. Give it a good detail inside and out, make sure you have good tires and they're balanced and aired up correctly, enjoy.

sway162

iTrader: (5)

That pretty much sums it up!^

To add, I would check the tranny fluid. If you have records of this car having previous tranny fluid flushes then I would do that but if not maybe just a drain and refill.

Nissanfan

It says on the dipstick, that it's no necessary under normal driving condition?

sway162

iTrader: (5)

?

And so you're just going to go by what the dipstick says.

Take a look at any tranny fluid after 30-40k or so and see how dirty it is. My experience is that when this type of service is kept up regularly (every 30k) it will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars in the long run, and give your transmission trouble free miles well into the 200,000/300,000 miles. A good investment indeed. If you plan to keep your car long term then why not treat it with fresh tranny fluid....if only plan to keep for 2/3 years then yeah, don't bother. It will though affect the vehicle in due time.

I, personally treat my vehicle with fresh tranny fluid every other oil change since 20k. Overkill? Maybe.....but it's beneficial to me and my car long term.

I would only say not to perform a flush if your tranny is filthy dirty cause most times it will damage the transmission. These are the cars that have never done a transmission flush after 90-100k. But to each their own and this is just my 2 cents.

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

Let me just say this about "lifetime" fluids. I firmly believe they are a marketing ploy for the benefit of the manufacturer playing to the car buying public who want to treat their vehicles like appliances and do the least amount of upkeep possible.

The IS300 by some accounts is said to have "lifetime" power steering fluid. If you don't flush and replace the fluid you will have your rack or your pump, if not both, fail.

Toyota's newer automatics use Toyota WS transmission fluid, they will tell you it's lifetime, they may even try to dissuade you when you go to the parts counter to buy some, but changing the fluid will restore the drivability/shifting behaviour and prolong the transmission life.

There are plenty of otherwise fine BMWs in the junkyards because of dead automatic transmissions due to their stretched or lifetime fluid change intervals.

Lifetime fluid = lifetime of car = outside of warranty/just about time where they want you to buy a new car from them.

RX808

That sounded kinda wrong...lol

edgy

durrrty tranny....


durrty bad little tranny......




whos yer daddy!?!?

Nissanfan

Well I was just wondering. My is has 150k miles on the clock, and doubt it went through flush. I've heard, that if it was never done in such a long time, sometimes car's better off without doing flush than with. Is that true?

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

There are people on both sides.

A true flush where fluid is forced through until it runs clear is probably bad as the pressure is believed to push debris where it shouldn't be causing issues.

A bunch of drain and refills back to back will be the best bet.

Dirty fluid is bad. I believe that if you are having decreased transmission performance due to nasty old fluid and missed maintenance, you are on borrowed time anyway.
Replacing the fluid and the transmission takes a crap, who can say it wouldn't have taken a crap in the same amount of time had you left the old fluid in there.

I would change it out via multiple drain and refills, drop the pan, replace the filter and clean the magnets.

But in the end it's up to you to decide.

touring

I did have my (back yard) mechanic perform a transmission service on a Mercedes 190E Sportline, less than a month later my transmission started slipping (yes the fluid drained was filthy). Talked to a ex manager of a transmission shop he said when they come across this situation they simply "return" the (drained) "filthy" fluid back on the transmission at no charge & would not get involved.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

I used to believe this too, at least until I learned how a proper transmission flush machine operates. A proper trans flush machine goes inline between the transmission cooler and the transmission itself. The transmission fluid pump pumps fluid through the cooler and then it drains back into the pan - when the flush machine is placed in line with this, it does absolutely nothing to harm the transmission.

The two problems that potentially come up when flushing a transmission are a) new trans fluid has more detergents and breaks up some deposits inside the valve body (very small passages with tight corners) and these deposits can plug things up inside there. b) the other problem is that clutch material becomes entrained in the existing fluid and makes it thicker to an extent...

I've actually witnessed a transmission flush in which we changed the fluid with dealer supplied (confirmed correct) fluid (dodge minivan). After the flush, confirmed fluid level, car wouldn't back out of the bay - it tried, but wouldn't... Check this out though - flushed the fluid that came out of it back into the transmission, and its driven fine since... Weird, for sure... explanation - not completely sure, only that the worn clutch materials were entrained in the fluid making it thicker???

DonCorleone

iTrader: (6)

Yeah, automatic transmissions are held together with some voodoo magic that I do not profess to know the intricacies of. Proper flushes, safe? You're probably right. But the number of people with horror stories across the interwebs and potential for shops not setting them up or using them correctly coupled with the catastrophic consequences make me shy away from them.

Of course, I did not state my original post that as fact. My (limited) personal experience has been good so far, knock on wood, with all the cars I've done fluid changes on. No failures to date and many shifting and driveability issues solved.