Alpinam3

Finally got some time to do this this today. Seems the the preferred method is to jack the car up on all 4 corners so I backed the rear up on some roll up stands and jacked the front up. Used jack stands with the floor jack under the front cross member in front for safety.

Pretty straight forward as everyone says. I got 1 and 3/4 quarts out of the trans of totally black fluid. I'll do this again in month to get out more fluid changed out and get the ratio of new fluid to old higher in the torque converter. Used the Toyota World Standard Synthetic Fluid and did it when the car was stone cold so I would not have to reset temperature controller. My car has 100K on it and looks like it was never done. I would consider myself a hard user but not abuser. I really can't see this being a "lifetime" sealed never change transmission fluid. I can see the lowered factory costs by saying it is a lifetime sealed unit until it breaks and the owner has to deal with it i.e. 2nd or 3rd owner. Which to Lexus is probably good enough and would be out of warranty. Personally I think its a poor choice for Lexus. Can't hurt to change the fluid. When you think about it, the transmission sees the same heat and the same use depending on the driver. To let it run with black fluid is just asking for trouble. A Lexus independent factory train mechanic I know said the dealers now recommend to change the fluid every 60K. I don't know if that true or not. But I guess we'll see.

While it was up I changed out my differential fluid as well. I installed that OS Giken Limited Slip about 4 months ago so this was a good opportunity to put the manufacturer's recommended OS Giken 85/250 weight fluid in use. About 1 and 2/3 quarts went in the diff.

kolyan

Hey I am bringing my car for tranny service to dealership next week. For some reason they gave me a pretty small price of $150 to do the drain and fill. Would they even be able to do it on a hot car? How does the whole procedure work?

Mrfix

For $150 it sounds like they are going to just drain the pan and add 2 quarts. A complete flush should run around $200 + at a place that has the proper machine and knows what to do. Or $350 + at Toyota. I would find a place that can either do a complete flush (just make sure you use Toyota WS ATF) or do it yourself a couple of quarts at a time.


OP did it the right way. Cold and just put back what you took out. Do it every week or two and it will be nice and red after about 8-10 times. The benefit using this method is you slowly refresh all the trans fluid without shocking the system and causing an avalanche of debris to clog passages. It takes more fluid doing it this way but it's safe. Although I'm not against flushing it either if you do it every 60-80k.

kolyan

I read complete flush is not possible on IS even at the dealership, you can only drain and fill the pan.

Taking out and putting exactly the same amount would work if your level was correct, but a lot of times by 100k miles or whatever you might be running short on fluid. There seems to be a procedure to make sure tranny is filled to correct level

HankMoody

I did mine stone cold too, but I just drove the front on ramps and drained at an angle. I got 2-1/2 ish out. Measured by draining into a pan then pouring into a 5 qt oil container.

Solara350

I agree with you , never flush trans fluid when your trans is 100k+

Solara350

2 persons required to change trans fluid in a proper way , a lot of talks on this forum without experienced

bbaugher47

I wonder if I should do this soon. Im at 47,000 miles in my 2007. But I also do drive spiritedly as well. I don't rag on the car but I will get down on her a few times a week.

kolyan

It would be nice if someone once and for all explained the flushing procedure (if possible) and draining.

I called 3 dealerships and asked to drain and fill: 1st dealer refused to do it said it's a very complicated and unnecessary job, 2nd dealer told me it will cost roughly $600 because getting the fluid level right is complected and requires special dealer machine, time, etc., 3rd said they would do it for $150 w/ fluid.

By reading a huge thread on this forum, I came to conclusion that you can only drain 3 quarts at a time and flushing is not possible. All 3 dealerships said it's unnecessary to even touch the tranny and everything that I am reading in forums is just bunch of BS. 2 dealerships that actually gave me a price now, at first refused to do as well when I called several month ago

Htony

They have machine to do that but how about filter? Sounds like they are not going to drop the pan. Inspecting filter is good idea.

kolyan

So if they do have the machine, I am guessing its not $150 and maybe not a good idea at all to flush all the fluid......although my car only has 62k on it. And perhaps maybe its useless to pay $150 to drain 2-3 quarts max? I would prefer for it to last at least 150k miles.....a buddy of mine bought IS250 with 140k and dead tranny recently. Although I have another buddy who hasnt replaced a single fluid in his Lexus except for engine oil, told me its a waste of time and money.....sold his SC300 with 170k miles with all original brake, power steering, diff, and manual tranny fluids

Solara350

You don't flush trans fluid for a high mileage Lexus in fact ALL Transmission fluid has to be change there is no lifetime in this world you don't trust in words from people you trust in the principle of technology, no car or part will last forever, for example Lexus IS waterpump will go out in 120k-160k miles Alternator will be out in around 200k miles and the Trans Fluid is lifetime ? to me i Don't trust those guys in dealership.

i don't know much about car but i have an ability to learn super fast by looking at or listen to, the Performance Shop my buddy in Toronto Canada changed trans fluid for me, here what they did.

1, lifted up the car drain out old fluid, filled in new fluid. Tighten everything back
2, one guy jumped in the car start the Engine, i heard he told the guy in the car to shift the gear from P to D+S slowly
3, the one under the car loosen the over flow screw and filled in the fluid again until its drips out, tighten everything back

Drop the car start the Engine i fell the smoothness of gear changing when i test drive ! i asked him to do a flush, he turned around and said, NO don't do it we won't do it even if you want it. i said why ? he said most of the time people flushed trans fluid they came back with an issue, ok this time i asked to change Trans Filter, he said why i want to waste money hmmmm i'm confused here. this is my 3rd times done the trans fluid, Owner of the shop told me damn man you're fluid is so red already why am i keep changing ? hmmm these guys don't want MONEY or business why they asked such question, hey i bring money to them !

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

I have over 170k on mine and I don't think the trans has had any service of any kind. Im thinking about having the fluid (however much I can) changed and get a sample to be lab tested. 170k on the OEM fluid...trans shifts great, no issues, and I drive very very lightly, lighter than grandma.

Good idea? I heard it only is a bad idea IF the trans is having problems/burning fluid. My trans is perfect.

kolyan

How many mls did you have when purchased ? Could it be 250s mostly due underpowered engines and constant load on trannies (I assume 250s and 350s have the same tranny) ?

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

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