I found a new way to restore your tranny itwill take time but it's deffinitly worth it.
Since I bought this car about 2 and a half year ago I decided to do a drain and fill every3000 miles (every oil change)of the transmission fluid since the car is t oldt d complete flush.
Well let me tell you after 2 and a half year of doing just that I finally saw some hugedifference.
About 3 days ago I had to make a very long drive so I turned up the music so High I couldn't hear the engine anymore.
So I ws driving and noticed that I don't feel the car shifting at all but when I look at the rpm it's about 2,5 so it must be shifting.
But you don' feel a thing!
Today we all noticed it too you on't feel any shiftsock AT ALL.
You have to turn down the radio to know that the car issifting.
Now I'm gonna start the same thing with the ES to se if it wors after 2 and a half years.
Remember I didn't put ANY ADDITIVES only drain and fills for the past 2 and a half years and now this is the only car with 132k miles on it that hasno siftshocks.
Let me tell you thi is a mayor discovery I think what I'm starting here is something that all mchani shoul know because knowbody believes this not even hardcore carguys I know know about thi or have tried this so I'mstarting somthing new in Carmaintenence right here,.
So starting today do a drain and fill every 3000 miles and your tranny is gonna improve or maybe even last a lot longer.

 

I just don't know about this, unless you actually drive the car hard enough to mandate it.

 

well considering that if you drain and fill...then drive 10 mins and then drain and fill again (so 2 transmission fluid changes within one hour) is almost the same as a tranny flush...your results are not that surprising. But like you said, the more often the better, although more $$$. I try to do mine once a year

 

This is not a bad idea. There's no way its gonna hurt. And I can't see anything but something good like what he experienced comming out of it. Constant fresh, clean, non contaminated Fluid is a great idea.

Good post.

 

Old but useful info posted here:

"For each drain and fill process (drain the ATF, refill with 2 quarts, drive around town for at least 5 min to mix the new and old ATF), here’s how much of the old ATF fluid remains (the GS400’s A/T capacity is 9 quarts)":

Percentage Old AT Fluid Remaining after a ATF Drain and Refill Process, and subsequent Drain and Refills
(1) 77.8%
(2) 60.5%
(3) 47.1%
(4) 36.6%
(5) 28.5%
(6) 22.1%
(7) 17.2%
(8) 13.4%
(9) 10.4%
(10) 8.1%

 

Placebo effect possibly?

 

No, it's noticeable.

I took a similar approach with my RX300 when I lived in Mexico City (and used Toyota Type IV ATF) and used to see a similar effect he is talking about when I changed it out (about every 6 months), though I did try one year going about every 3 to 4 and also saw some improvement. Down there, I was paying about $4.50 USD a quart for the ATF, so it really didn't break my back financially doing it.

I recently changed out to Amsoil ATF when I was living near Tampa and even after the first drain and fill I noticed that there was an effect (there since I drained the front differential and tranny pan (that's about 4 quarts out of total of 9) and you could feel it was much smoother in its shifts. In addition, seemed to take a bit longer for it to warm up than with the Type-IV fluid (vehicle won't let you out of first until ATF has sufficiently warmed up).

 

I do this partial drain about every other oil change. Good reminder, I'm due to drain the tranny this time.

 

good info...this is why I've now decided to drain and fill every oil change

 

Wasting resource? I hope it's not done too often.

 

I use this methodology on my power steering fluid. Usually a pretty red after sucking out the canister about 5 times. I bought one of those things at Walmart that looks like a hypodermic needle and sucks out about 4 oz at a time.

 

Sounds like a long winded way to flush the tranny to me !!
It's far easier and simpler to just remove one tranny hose from the radiator and run it into a bucket , start the engine and let about 1 litre out , stop the engine top up the auto do the same again , this way you are also flushing the torque converter as well and this is where most of the oil is .
Either put two 4 litre packs through or do it until the oil is a nice red colour and if the oil colour was a bit dark when you started it won't smell burnt anymore either .
I do mine every 40,000 k's and I change the filter and pan gasket first .
So far my machine has done 226,000 K's and changes perfectly .
Personally I think doing it every 3000 miles [ 4800 K's ] is a large bit of overkill , most people don't even change their oil that often .

 

this is how I do my tranny fluid as well. Really a pretty site when you pull that dipstick out and see that bright red fluid. I used 14 quarts last time I did this. Damn t-IV runs $5.50 a quart too.

 

I dont bother with drain and refill anymore. I just do one big flush via tranny hose once every so often. New fluid everytime. I find that the effects of draining and refilling doesn't last too long as flushing everything out. Its the equivalent of replacing only 1 quart of your engine oil every 500 miles. I dont like the idea that my fluids are being mixed with old fluid.

The percentages up above are true only if the new fluid you put in does not wear out at all.

 

I actually had the GS's fluid changed and I felt a "slight" improvement on shift-up's and again this might be a placebo effect.