drifto

duttymon

When sending a sample of ATF fluid, would it be wise to refill the amount removed? I don't plant to drop my pan, just looking to grab a few ounces from the overflow. Knowing that our transmissions are very sensitive to fluid levels tells me yes, but I want to confirm with someone who has previously done the procedure.

Greatest

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Yes, you would be wise to at least replace the 2 ounce sample. IMHO, I would put in 4 ounces, but that's from experience. These gearboxes seem to like to drop fluid level in service. Not sure if it is WS's volatility or clutch material wear, but topping off regularly really seems to make a difference.

iH8RICERZ

iTrader: (3)

For those of you that have taken your F to the dealer to have a transmission service done, what are they charging for this service?

One of the performance shops I trust quoted me $500 for transmission filter, pan gasket, tranny fluid, and 3-4 hours of labor (probably to get it to the right temp). Debating if I should go with the shop or the dealer.

xdejablu3x

Bot to thread Jack the guy above me because I would like to k ow about his situation as well. For me, i plan on buying a very good condition 2010 ISF in USB but it has a little over 150K. The car drove great when I took for a spin but with that age and many miles, I'm not even sure if a shop or dealership would even open up the transmission or even swap out the fluid. I plan on keeping this car but I would hate for the tranny to take a dump just from a fluid change at such high miles.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I replaced my pan gasket (probably didn't need to) and filter at about 150k miles. It took about 5.5 quarts of fluid to get the level back to normal. It made no difference in performance what so ever. The only thing I have done to make a performance difference was to correct a low level (about 4 ounces low from what I can tell), and that made a huge difference.

I plan to do a more extensive fluid swap mostly because Valvoline Max Life ATF is a WS qualified fluid, and many Toyota owners have used it with success in their Aisin transmissions to replace Toyota WS. It is more thermally stable than WS and should provide better service over its lifetime.

If you go to the Tundra and Tacoma forums, there's quite a bit of information about how WS came about and why Toyota/Lexus wants to declare their ATF a "lifetime" fill. It's not because they engineered a superior fluid (if you look at other markets globally, you will find there are recommended change intervals where none exist in the US), but because the EPA has a waste stream tax for fluids requiring replacement at regular intervals. Apparently the EPA deems any fluid lasting 100k miles or more to be "lifetime" which would explain SLLC and WS both being over 100k mile service life.

Still, Blackstone gave me a decent report at 120k miles when I really expected them to say the fluid was burned out. WS can't be as bad as some of the Internet pundits would want you to believe.

The plot thickens.

duttymon

My dealer charged me for fluids since I was taking my f in for it's 105,000km maintenance. Like lobo said above, I didn't feel a noticeable difference in shifting performance, but it did shift smoother after topping up the fluid and setting the level. I also took a sample of the atf fluid and sent my sample to Blackstone. Will report back soon.

xdejablu3x

Well that's good to know. I'm about to pick up the car hopefully soon at 150K and was worried about the tranny fluid. To be honest, from what I keep reading is that it's hit or miss. I just cant decide if it's worth draining/filling, top off or to change out the pan gasket and filter like you did? I plan on keeping this car for at least another 10+ years. I guess I'm just excited and worried at the same time finally becoming an ISF owner.

TheCap

Would having too much ATF cause a flair in shifts. I set my level last week, but the temps crept up above 104 so I added a little extra back but now I feel like the flair I had is a bit worse.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I usually overfill by about 4 ounces. It has not caused any issues. If you added more than this, maybe it is the root cause, but I can say with certainty if the level is low, flare will happen without exception.

duttymon

Here are my results:

JETMIKE007

So what's the best fluid temperature to do the level check with the pan check plug? Can this be accomplished with an OBD 2 reader instead of doing the gear shifting method?

I basically want to.....

-Jack up the car, make sure it's level
-drain and over fill the fluid by half later from what came out
-connect the OBD 2 reader for temp
-level check at the correct trans temp with the pan check plug

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that's the correct method?

BlckGhst

The way I've done it on my previous IS350 and current ISF:

- 3 drain and fills. Putting in the exact amount that came out. With some miles in between each one. Overfill slightly on the last drain and fill

- Let car sit overnight

- Connect scanner to car that will read ATF temperature (on ISF its 95*-108* for checking level)

- Start car. Watch ATF temperature. Around 100*, I remove the level check plug. When it gets close to 108*, it starts to trickle. I install the plug and am done.

MileHIFcar

I just did an entire fluid flush/swap at the dealership yesterday with 105k on the oem fluid I felt it was time. I was getting flares every now and then and figured it was a tad bit low. I had them do the trans flush and swap out the gear oil. Total price OTD was $323...........I brought in my own fluid as well so that was just labor. Transmission seems to be shifting pretty silky

I can sleep better now knowing that the fluid is new and good for another 100k+