Salil022

iTrader: (1)

My Dealer said not to touch the Trans fluid on my 05 LS , There is a chance that it might cause issues due to new Fluids.

LScowboyLS

this has some truth in it, the trick is, if it has over ~80K with it's original fluid, you can't just change the fluid and especially not flush it, as this will shock the system and often cause transmission failure, you have to slowly introduce the new fluid, so at first, just drain out a single quart and replace it with new, then in another 10K or so, drain out two qts and replace, and so on.

Only after you are up to 4 qts drain & fill or so should you consider a pan drop, and only after several complete drain & fills should you completely flush the transmission. (which, guess what, you have already done your flush via multiple drains & fills! )

my best friend Paul works for Aisin

Gene01

Just to add one thought to what LScowboy has stated -
I have been advised multiple times to avoid a "power flush". "Fluid exchange" is OK.

irishbrahm

Today I had the tranny fluid in my '05 changed at the dealership (109K miles on the car). I asked the SA if the tech made any comments. The answer to that question was no. The SA went on to say that the dealership's SOP is to "flush" the old fluid out of the system with the engine running and in drive, etc., to make sure that the fluid around the torque converter is changed, etc and to remove debris. I'm not sure if they use the procedure described above by Teamplayer or another one. The invoice shows that 10 quarts of Toyota WS fluid were used. In any event, the car is driving great!

warminwisc

My dealer alludes to warming fluids to a certain temp to perform the change. What dealer was that that you allude to to get 10 quarts out of the system. My old LS with 200k shifted great the new one is superb at 64k I want to keep it that way.

irishbrahm

The tech did not drain 10 qts.; rather, he *used* 10 qts in the "flushing" procedure (the labor line on the invoice says "6600 TRANS FLUSH").

warminwisc

Thank you very much

doodoo

iTrader: (8)

I had called my local lexus and Toyota dealer. my lexus dealer said they were not going to service it. my Toyota dealer said it would cost 113+ tax for the service. The service is........ wait for it..... only a drain and refill of 3 quarts. Wow I can do this myself but want to change all the fluid in my car. I guess I'm out of luck and will just resort to a drain and refill every 1-2 weeks until I use all of my atf. I have 12 quarts of the Toyota ws so hopefully at least half of the fluid is new by the time I use all 12 quarts.

deagle

fwiw, I've owned a couple of cars with 'lifetime' fluid. All they do is try to minimize costs while they are required to service your car for free.

toyo

Just to help clarify for a couple of people that have asked but I have not seen any answers.

What is a sealed transmission? Very simply if you do NOT have a dipstick then it is a "sealed" unit. It is NOT sealed as to where you can't drain it and put fluid in it.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

You know, I honestly think "sealed" is really the wrong word to be using. Something tells me it is almost like a slang name for the 04 - 06 transmission. There is nothing sealed about it. It just lacks a dipstick. Correct me if I am wrong, but starting in 2004 with the upgrade to the AISIN 6 speed is when they removed the dipstick. They also use World Standard ATF and not Toyota type IV fluid which is used in the LS400 and 01 - 03 LS430.

I think World Standard would be a better way of describing our 6 speeds. I can guarantee AISIN did not design the transmission to be left with its original fluid for the life of the unit. This makes no logical sense as WS fluid breaks down just like type IV fluid. Plus the procedure is well documented on how to either flush or drain and refill the WS 6 speed transmission at the Lexus dealer. Most dealers don't flush for the reasons mentioned and apparently the machine needed is incredibly expensive. At least one dealer told me this.

I did my first drain and refill at 105k right after I purchased the car. Although, the transmission had only about 93k as it was replaced under the 04 recall. Anyway, I plan on doing it again in another 30k miles. My local dealer charges only $99 for the service.

toyo

I agree with you totally. I remember my 2004 4Runner had the "sealed" transmission and telling myself how crazy this is. The one thing I really dislike about this design is how hard it is just to check the condition and level of the fluid from a dipstick. My 06 LS is just about to hit 100K and I can't decide what I am going to do as servicing it yet.

ls430lover

this thread is endless, its really a simple formula, if the care is approaching 9 years old and 100k change the fluid in the 04-06 and then do it every 40k,
in the 01-03 i got my car with 89 k and i change it every 30k, the second one i did after 15 k because i didnt do a flush and i was getting rid of the excess bad fluid
just think about fluid as the bad c disease we haven't been able to get rid of in the country if the fluid is bad it will contaminate so stay up on your fluid changes with brake, tranny, power steering, the rear diff can last 100k and be changed every 60 k thereafter.

Lavrishevo

iTrader: (1)

This thread is very informative too. I think the lab results posted speaks for itself.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...id-thread.html

karasdad

My 2004 LS430 has been pretty reliable and I am not adverse to listening to my mechanic. He did a complete flush and replace with non Toyota ATF product called BG full synthetic ATF at 90K. they have all the equipment to do this kind of stuff and the price is $8.73/qt, about half the price of the Toyota WTF which I had used earlier in a drain and top off. 16 qts was $140 and labor was $116 so it was cheaper. Seems to run fine, been on it for 5K miles and can't sense any difference.