Do the 04-06 transmissions need to be serviced? My dealer said no and my independent mechanic said no, it;s sealed. Seems like several forum members have had it done.

Can someone put this to bed?

My 04 has 135 trouble free miles on it and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

If you only have 135 miles on it... don't worry about it, you're not even at your first oil change yet...

The transmission is sealed and there is no maintenance intervals as per the manual. The dealer will tell you that it never needs maintaining but there is no warranty to say you will have it forever either. Those who have changed have done a flush and fill or drain and fill... but there is no definitive answer to say do it or don't do it as we have not seen any transmission failures yet... one way or the other. I would say with 135k, do a drain and fill

 

You obviously see many opinions for or against so my comment will put it to "Bed"? I would er on the side of car and drain the pan every 50 k or so. Both my Yota and Lexus dealers agree.

 

This forum loves tranny talk!

Seriously there is quite a bit of debate on this one - I change AT fluid on my other cars every 15-20k miles. I now have 35k on my LS and I'm getting a little nervous. I'm thinking 50k max before I'd get the fluid changed if I keep it that long. Don;t be fooled - "lifetime" AT fluid is a marketing concept plain and simple. Devised by savvy marketing folks competing with other manufactures who want to claim that the car needs almost no maintenance over its "lifetime". It is not connected to preserving and maintaining your car to get max life out of it. If you doubt that just try asking Lexus to answer a simple question - how many miles on average is "lifetime".

 

Thanks everyone. If the dealer and my local guy won't do it, should I go to a place like Aamco?

 

gstern - wow I had not read your OP close enough - you wrote that the local Lexus dealer refused to change the AT fluid at 135k miles. That is interesting. I am assuming you have 135k miles on your car and not 135 as it says in the post. You could try local Toyota service manager and see what they recommend.

If I had 135k miles on my AT and wanted to keep the car I would definitely have the AT drained and filled a few times to renew the AT fluid. I'd likely find a small independent to do the labor and buy the AT fluid myself.

Note that there is a lot of anecdotal postings in various forums about how an AT power flush with high mileage car is likely not a good idea if the AT has not been regularly changed as supposedly a power flush can dislodge gunk and redistribute it in critical passages in the transmission body.

So it may better to do a series of AT drain and fills - maybe 4 (driving a car a few minutes between each cycle). That should used about 12 quarts of new AT.

 

Jabberwock, thanks so much for the recommendation. I'll call a few Toyota dealers to get their opinions on the situation.

I am planning on keeping the car for another 3 years or until I reach 200k or so. I'd hate to screw anything up like you mentioned but at the same time, I'm sure there is some pretty fetid gunk floating around in there.

I'll post back with with I find out.

 

My Lexus service manager recommended trans fluid change at 100K.

 

I changed mine by the drain and refill method. It took about 4 drains and refills and now the fluid is completely red. I did mine at 110k miles when I bought the car and the fluid came out pretty dark initially. I would definitely recommend doing it if you want to keep the car for a while.

 

Will do, thanks for the advice. Did you notice any difference in how the car shifted? Smoother or the same?

 

Just made an appointment for a flush and fill, the shop is going charge $300ish.

I explained why I hand't changed it until now and the mechanic explained that the World fluid is top notch stuff, but at my mileage it's beginning to break down and produce sludge.

He said that if my goal is to keep the car for a long time, a flush and fill is the way to go to maintain optimal transmission fluid pressure and operation.

Sound about right?

 

Got it done yesterday, charged $97 for labor, 29.95 for transmission kit (new plug and a few other odds/ends) and a $189 for the fluid and the flush/fill service.

Drove great last night, but the true test for me will on a cold start. My first to second shifting has always been abrupt like others have mentioned. This is even after getting the shift pattern TSB applied.