white93

Does anyone in the San Francisco bay area know a place that does Type IV flushes? No one seems to have a machine filled with type IV because of the price.

Carpe Diem

I found the same problem here. I struck a deal with the local Jiffy Lube. I provide the type IV (suggested as 14 quarts for my SC400 by the JL manager for a "good flush") and they do it for 49.95. I get to watch every step.

If I do this, I'll drop the lower shrouding and leave it home. Then (in theory) it's as simple as a pull onto the pit, disconnect the cooling lines, fill and connect the flusher, flush, reconnect the lines, warm up, correct the fluid level and go home. The JL manager says 15 minutes.

After everything I've read here about JL, I wonder but it sure sounds a lot less painful than the DIY process and a lot cheaper than the dealer process.

white93

Hey, thanks for the reply,

I forgot about all that damm shrouding under our cars. Just can't believe the Lexus dealers don't have a machine that can do it in the bay area. May have to end up doing it myself, and I don't look forward to that!!
I think the last place that changed the fluid but dextron II in because it does say type II on the dip stick.

I had lexus do a drain and refill and I can't believe how much smoother it shifts. I just wish it wasn't so noisy. The lexus master tech told me the gears were worn hence the noise. He also said it would get louder with more miles untill failure. He did tell me our transmission easly do 250,000 miles before a possible rebuild.

Hope your SC is giving you as much pleasure as mine is. (even with a noisy transmission) :-)

Lee

Carpe Diem

Yes, I really love it.

I checked my ATF on the way to work this morning after I noticed a harsh shift between 1st & 2nd. I've never done this before as the car has always been serviced by Lexus and Toyota dealers. It's an SC400 and the dipstick says type T-II. That's T as in Toyota not D as in Dextron. I've read elsewhere that Dextron is not the right stuff so it's good you had it changed. My book also says the SC300 uses Dextron II

My owner's manual is totally silent on how to check the ATF. I tried it hot at idle in neutral and hot with engine off. In both cases I got a high reading. High by about the same amount as the spacing between the two notches on the dip stick. I have the repair manual at home so I'll check that tonight for the proper procedures but I don't like the sound of this.

This suggests that I will use the Toyota moonlighters I know of instead of JL to do the flush.