Lexmex

XYZLexus1,

Before I had my fluid flushed out last December, the fluid had turned silvery or pinkish, not clear or red. Is the silvery stuff that clutch material, as I was always told it was.

XYZLexus1

I would say yes, what else could it be? The housing is aluminuim, it is not dissolving, the seals are black HNBR rubber. My past experience has always been when I changed the transmission fluid often (every 30K miles) the transmission would slip and need rebuilt after 80 to 100K miles. The cars I changed transmission fluid only once or every 75K would last until I sold the car or about 150 to 175K.

Remember a transmission is not an internal combustion engine that contaminants the oil with the byproducts of combustion, it is a closed unit for all practical purposes like the differential in your car.

Lexusfreak

I've been doing complete transmission drain & refills now since that flushing machine has been on the market & have never had so much as a transmission slip in any of my vehicles (although this is my first Lexus), & have never paid a dime for any transmission repairs. An engine & transmission (with proper maintenance & not abused) should last the entire life of the car regardless of milage without any significant problems. I have not seen anywhere in the Lexus manual that states to NEVER do a complete fluid drain & refill and over half of the Lexus dealers that I know of in Ontario actually have that complete flushing machine.

XYZLexus1

Look in your owner manual, it states the transmission fluid does not need changed until 100K. Lexus dealers have flushing machines? no kidding, they are in the business to take your money. You change your transmission fluid often and you will be rebuilding. I believe the Toyata Type 4 is synthetic, due to the fact it states excellent cold weather performance, a characteristic of synthetic fluid and do to the price. When your car shifts gears the clutch engages. Friction must exist for the clutches to work. Friction comes from the clutch material which has a finite life due to the limited thickness of the clutch pad and the fluid. New fluid without the expended clutch material has less friction than aged fluid with clutch material. Therefore your shift duration is longer, yet smoother because the clutch is slipping more and wearing itself out. The majority of transmission issues will occur within 3000 miles of changing the transmission fluid.

The only issue with not changing your fluid is the passages in the transmission can become plugged with the expended clutch material. This however would take well over 100K and probably will never occur.

Take my advice whenver any dealer, especially Lexus, BMW etc give advice do the exact opposite and you will be right 99% of the time.

dmd85059

When you change your tranny fluid, it is a good idea to recheck the fluid level a day later. Since you use the dipstick opening to get the fluid in, it's hard to measure accurately at the time of fluid change. So, In the morning of the next day, start your engine and let it run for a minute then recheck the the tranny fluid level. It should fall between the low and high marks on both sides of the stick.

When I changed my fluid at 30k miles, I measured the fluid level right after the fluid change several times and it seemed to be at a correct level. However, my tranny seemed to act weird after that. When I floored my car, the gears changed really fast. It jumped from first to second to third to fourth gear at around 40mph and as a result I didn't have a strong launch. I rechecked the tranny fluid level 10k miles later and found out that the level was way too low. Luckily I've found this out before blowing my tranny.

It is a good idea to check all your fluids levels and have a look at your engine every 2 weeks if not every week. It only takes 5 minutes but may save you thousands of dollars.

saber

Actually, in the USA, Toyota faces heavy marketing pressure to extend tune up and fluid & filter change maintenance intervals because it's American car company competitors do that. So the intervals listed in the USA Toyota owners manual are not optimal for longest component life. In Australia, South Africa, Guatemala, etc., there is little or none of this kind of marketing pressure so the maintenance intervals listed in their Toyota owners manuals are much shorter; e.g: 3,750 - 5,000 miles for engine oil changes, 12,000 -24,000 miles for automatic transmission fluid changes, more frequent spark plug changes, etc.

Frequent draining and refilling of the tranmssion fluid pan (about every 15,000 miles) is optimal for all Toyota / Lexus automatics and costs almost nothing ($7.50 for 2 quarts of Type T-IV fluid http://www.saber.net/~monarch/typet.jpg). 30 years ago, in fact, all Toyota owners manuals recommended this drain and refill service every 18,000 miles.

Same deal with the power steering fluid. No fluid replacement interval is listed in USA Toyota / Lexus owners manual and literally thousands of LS400 power steering pumps / racks / high pressure hoses have needed replacement after 10 years / 100,000 miles because the owners never changed the fluid or cleaned the filter screens located in the solenoid control valve and pump fluid reservoir.

HarrierAWD

You could measure the tranny fluid drained, then put the exact amount back in. That takes out the guesswork and makes your life easier.

Yes, a bi-weekly look over is a good idea. I do it twice a month (on the 1st and the 15th) so I don't forget.

I also check my oil level immediately after every oil change.

Lexmex

Take a look at your fluid when the engine as cold, and again when it is hot and look at the level.

You can get really funny readings just the same with your coolant levels on cold and hot.

HarrierAWD

Sorry to hear about your experience. BTW, the powertrain warranty on my 2002 is 72,000 miles.

Not to sound like a Monday morning quarterback, but perhaps you should take it to Lexus first when the tranny was slipping. It would've been covered under warranty.

Also, Lexus tranny requires Toyota Type IV fluid. Some rough shops put cheap Dexron IIe in every car. They don't bother with Chrysler or Toyota fluid. This might explain why your tranny blew shortly after the service. How the previous owner drove the vehicle is also a factor.