I was doing my ATF Change by myself.
1. Jack up the car, Head up can drain more ATF out.
2. Remove the drain plug (14mm bolt)
3. Collect old ATF and measure. There are 3.5 quart come out.
4. Instill the drain plug back with a new washer(15ft-lbf torque) and remove the refill plug (24mm bolt).
5. Pump 3.7 quart ATF in to the refill hole and instill the refill plug (29 ft-lbf torque)
6. Adjust the car to aclinic.
7. Test the temperature of A/T (between 35-42 C)
8. Remove the overflow plug(Allen) and collect ATF from overflow.
9!!!!!! There are 2.5 quart of ATF come out from the Overflow!!!!!!!
I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT IS CORRECT!!!
Can any of you let me know what is wrong? How can I adjust the ATF level correctly?

 

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The procedure you described is correct and most DIYers reported that they drained 3.3-3.8 qts of old transmission fluid with a simple drain-and-fill procedure. There are two possibilities in your case: 1) your transmission fluid was overfilled by the previous owner (less likely since you drained the right amount of old transmission fluid), and 2) the transmission fluid temperature was too high (i.e., the transmission fluid already expanded) when you removed the overflow plug. Do you know if the previous owner(s) replaced the transmission fluid? How did you measure the transmission temperature, with Techstream? What brand/type of transmission fluid did you use, Toyota WS? Which year is your LS460 and how many miles? When you unplugged the overflow plug, was your car parked on a level ground? One key point: when you unplug the overflow plug, your engine must be running (idling) to relieve the right amount of extra transmission fluid! If you turned off the engine before you unplugged the overflow plug, you would relieve more transmission fluid than required.
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All, I have a Lexus shop manual.. the ATF drain, fill, and fill measurement procedure is a little more involved than is being discussed in thread above. Evidently the car has a "smart" ATF temperature testing process when the DLC3 terminal is presented with a continuity ground condition on circuits 13 (TC) and 4 (CG), or inclusive of (OPB) 11, if the vehicle is equipped with Air Suspension. These grounded terminals cause the shifting gear display on the dash to be "off", "flashing" , "on" constantly. See attachment.

Perhaps this temperature "self test" process with the auto's own internal sensors can be skipped, however I believe if the car is equipped with air suspension this feature should be disabled before lifting the vehicle [with wheels off the ground] to prevent air shock damage. Because as previously mentioned the engine must running to test ATF level upon refill and measurement.

 

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The PDF file you attached only applies to a situation where you don't have Techstream to view the transmission fluid temperature and is one of the two options listed by Lexus. Without Techstream, yes, you would have to use a pin (thich Toyota calls a special tool) to short terminals to measure the fluid temperature of the transmission. The second part of the Lexus shop manual describes the use of Techstream to view the transmission fluid temperature. Either method (jumping the DLC3 terminals or Techstream) achieves the same objective - measure and adjust the transmission fluid level at the right temperature (35-42C). However, Techstream gives you a visual reading of the transmission fluid temperature.
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Why are people changing ATF?
My manual has zero service for the tranny.

 

Transmission dipsticks were we removed from cars because some dip%$&s were pouring the wrong fluid in there. You're right in that Lexus states it does not need to be changed and should last the "life" of the vehicle. But who wants the vehicle's end of life to be determined by a catastrophic transmission failure? This has been discussed to death but if you plan to keep your car for a long time, it's better to change it out at regular intervals, unless you have high miles with an unknown service history.

 

Moderator edit: jdanielca exit this thread Knock off the personal commentary and rude insults to entire nations of people. If you can't do that, stop posting.

 

Would be interesting in hearing from those who have 100K-200K miles on their currently owned GS350 and have or have not had a transmission issue.

 

No, that's not why this happened.

It does, but I have solid proof from Blackstone the AA80E can go 150k miles including a half dozen track weekends and the oil is still in good shape. My wife's '06 Scion tC went 224k miles without ever changing the ATF when we sold it.

That said, there is a massive thread in the IS F forum about ATF service life and changing the fluid. First, why did they do this? Not because idiots were mixing up fluids, if that were the case it would have happened with the '93 Turbo Supra because lots of idiots put Dexron in those gearboxes and it didn't go well with their T-IV fluid. What really happened was the EPA ruled any fluid that didn't last at least 100k miles needed to have a waste stream and the manufacturer was responsible for paying for this via what amounts to a tax. So Toyota told Aisin their gearboxes needed to have a "lifetime" fill to avoid this additional cost. This is why the US has lifetime fill on every ATF application they can get away with. Aisin developed their WS fluid, and specified it for all Aisin transmissions globally to meet this Toyota requirement along with developing internals that would not wear fast enough to turn the ATF into polishing compound. Definitely NOT just marketing.

I've done fluid "changes" on both AA80Es in my garage. It's not rocket science, but most dealerships seem to have issues with getting it done right, at least here in Atlanta. Fluid level is critical to performance. If the level is even a little bit (4 ounces) low, the transmission will flare when cold. If it's more than 8 ounces low, it will flare all the time. AMHIK. I have dropped the pan and replaced the filter on my IS F at about 160k miles and needed 6.5 out of 11.2 quarts to refill the gearbox and get the level right. The GS F just got a simple drain and fill at 80k miles, and it only took 4.5 quarts. Dropping the pan makes a big difference.

 

I've noticed a common theme with servicing vehicles in general. Until educated, many don't understand the depth of precision and complexity modern vehicles now have in many systems.

 

Yea, turns out that trans temp indication when changing ATF is crucial for a correct volume.
Generally, car arrives to shop hot, trans is hot too. About 99.9% of mechanics just wait about an hour then do the replacement. Wrong. Tranny is WAY too hot at this point, that obviously leads to underfill.
In practice I use a fan assembly, rather large, mounted so airflow is upwards. I raise the car, move the fan underneath, connect scantool and battery support, then turn fan on and monitor the temp until correct. It takes at least 2 hours from hot even with forced air!
So, please do NOT skip this crucial step.
lobuxracer is absolutely spot on regarding resulting underfill quantities!

 

I'm going to change diff and trans fluids on my 13 awd and have a couple of questions, the car has 50k kilometres or 31k miles but it's 9 years old so I figure this is not premature.

First of all I plan to drop the pan and have read here that people are changing the filter on the valve body, the majority of trans filters I have seen are just a metal part with a metal screen so was wondering if that's the case why not just clean instead of replacing it ? (unless there is a problem with it)

Secondly, I plan to drop the pan cold after it sits overnight so...also thought of adding maybe a half litre more cold than what was drained because I will be doing this on ramps and it's easier to drain some than add after everything is up to temperature. What do you think?

 

AWD? Use LL80 only in transfer case please. LT to front diff, LX to rear diff. Yea, I know. But it's a must.
Search this forum for a procedure to perform trans temp test without scantool. It involves going from D to N and back several times (don't quote me on that but along those lines) - with a blinkback on dash when temp is reached.
Yea, just drop pan, clean, replace strainer assy if you got it (big filter thingie). Then refill _using correct procedure_. If you do replace strainer - don't forget new o-ring!
Calm down, Bubs, your LS will thank you!

Oh, and current edition of FSM instructs to do shifter thingie, not scantool, as it doesn't even tell now what temp it should be. I've contacted toyota about that temp some time ago and I have it written down somewhere. I think it was 54-56C (so, not cold!).