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I'd do this in two~three steps (that's what I'm going to do to mine).
Step one, just a drain and re-fill. That will dilute the fluid in there by 50%+.
Step two, drain, drop pan, clean magnets, filter, and re-fill. That will dilute the old fluid down to 75%+ new fluid.
Step three'ish, one more drain and fill as you approach fall (w/o the filter change) and you'll be over 80% new fluid.
You can't get all the old fluid out unless you tear down the tranny and rebuild. But you want to get it as much as possible. Should be good to go for another 50K at least
Lately when the car is cold here in Atlanta, it takes a few more rpm for my transmission to shift to 2nd to 3rd gear, i think it's time i do fluid change.
Scotty Kilmer did a video here on a 2002 RX300 (which is what I got):
2003, AWD, no power to drivetrain after adding Lucas Fix
I was meaning to do a drain and fill if not a flush, new filter, etc. but ended up adding a small amount of Lucas Transmission Fix Fluid to see what would happen. Tranny was solid besides minor slipping, fluid levels and eye-check of dipstick was clean looking.
15-20 mins after adding the Lucas additive, suddenly and no power to "drivetrain" (?). Parting my ignorance, but essentially:
There was power to the drivetrain(?). ItAIt was like being in Neutral or disengage and wouldn't move in R, D, 1, 2 at all. The engine still revs
The car rolls without any impedance when in Neutral
I have a hard believing that the tranny would have died so abruptly and out-of-nowhere had i not screwed around and added this Lucas compound. Could
Is there any chance i could be dealing with a repair short a 2000-3000 transmission replacement? Something that would justify me bothering to drop the pan and flush and check for things short of major labor? Or is that just a waste of time and money.
Perhaps something related to a filter, solenoid, or some form of clogging or distribution where the fluid isnt circulating properly or reaching parts of the tranny or drivetrain?
Car is undriveable and must be towed to any service garage. I just wonder if theres a potential reason why this Lucas Fix could have "caused" some thing to breakdown or break to explain no power to drivetrain.
After my recent drain, filter change, and fill, mine (2001 with 219,000 miles and rebult trans around 150k) won't go forward ... drives great in reverse, but no forward gears (and lights on shifter don't light either ... other's do, but not D and 2). Is this a common solenoid issue? I watched the Youtube video where a guy worked on his grandmother's RX and said his issue was a stuck solenoid that released whatever was binding it when he rev'd it up to 6k rpm or so ... that didn't work for me. I notice there seem to be several transmission solenoids, but I have no idea which ONE to start with. Anyone with an idea(s)?
After my recent drain, filter change, and fill, mine (2001 with 219,000 miles and rebult trans around 150k) won't go forward ... drives great in reverse, but no forward gears (and lights on shifter don't light either ... other's do, but not D and 2). Is this a common solenoid issue? I watched the Youtube video where a guy worked on his grandmother's RX and said his issue was a stuck solenoid that released whatever was binding it when he rev'd it up to 6k rpm or so ... that didn't work for me. I notice there seem to be several transmission solenoids, but I have no idea which ONE to start with. Anyone with an idea(s)?
Can you clarify, was it working before the drain and fill? If so, did you get the fluid level right on the fill?
I can't think of any reason why this maintenance would lead to a failure. I don't think you could put the filter in wrong or something.
Did you disconnect anything while you were in there?
Pretty sure the gearshift only has one light bulb. The dash has separate bulbs for each gear position, and D is the most likely to fail of course.
Hello I just bought a Lexus RX300 2003 AWD with 90,000 miles. I don’t know about the transmission fluid history. I checked and it has a dark purple (see attached picture). Usually when the car has high mileage they suggest not to touch it.
What should I do? Off course I will not do a flush. What about just drop the old and put some new one? Also, what do you think about the color it has now? It may looks more purple in real life than the picture
I would like to keep this car for a long time.
You would think I'd respond more quickly, but my life is hectic like your's likely is, too. The transmission has been slipping for sometime (my daughter had it at college about 2-1/2 hours away). Anyway, I got her an Xterra I rebuilt following a wreck and she returned the Lexus for me to rehab before selling. It's been a great car that 3 of my 4 kids used, but now I have too many cars and need to get this running so it'll sell better. I really don't know what they did to service the transmission, but I think they first added the wrong fluid. Somewhere I read that the transmission solenoids can go bad, but there seem to be several in the pan and I don't know which, if any, I should replace (there's a rebuilt kit of them on eBay so I was thinking of doing all). I also wonder if one could just be clogged and maybe just taking them out and washing them with transmission fluid would clear up the issue. Do you have any thoughts?
The solenoids are in the valve assembly which can be dropped without taking out the whole tranny.
If you just want to test the solenoids, should be straightforward. Drop the pan, remove the filter and the assembly is there. not all the bolts you’ll see need to be removed to remove the valve assembly, would have to remind myself which ones are whoch so let me know if you want to know.
But - if you just want to test solenoids - after removal do NOT separate the upper from the lower assembly. There is a paper gasket in between that tears easily and was not easy to find a replacement.
Also, when you remove the assembly there are small metal ***** that serve as one-way flow check valves. They can drop out easily if held at the wrong angle. Take a picture when removed to have a record of location. On reassembly, there is also a spring tensioner that has to be depressed while remounting. Keeping that spring depressed while remounting was the key issue in that step.
Here is a picture of the bolts specific to removing the valve assembly.
Also - I remembered wrong. It wasn’t a spring tensioner but the anti-drain check valve with a spring underneath that had to be depressed on reassembly. I used a paint stir stick to keep it depressed while I raised the assembly back into place.
Last edited by bordenj66; Jul 30, 2021 at 02:52 PM.
Here is some information if you want to repaint your factory Lexus radio faceplate, as they can get worn due to many button presses on the surrounding plastic.
The dealer has always insisted that the only way to remove all the old ATF was to do flush with their special machine. Our vehicles are 2000 and 2001 around 200K and both have been "flushed" at least once but quite a while ago?
The dealer has always insisted that the only way to remove all the old ATF was to do flush with their special machine. Our vehicles are 2000 and 2001 around 200K and both have been "flushed" at least once but quite a while ago?
thx
bob
So, Is the dealer flush good, bad, or unnecessary ??
