I didn't want to hijack the previous thread as this is a more general question. I have my transmission flushed every 30,000 miles and recently asked the independent who does this if they drop the pan and clean/replace the screen. He said "no, the fluids they use before flushing the tranny cleans out all that gunk". I looked at the receipt and there was no listing of anything other than transmission fluid, although the listing didn't appear to be particularly rigorous. Anybody ever heard of this?

 

Yeah,its called they don`t like to do the extra work. change the filter yourself,and then let the shop flush the fluid. I did that with my last vehicle,saved some money because of no mark up on the parts.Also,if you are going to do the filter yourself,buy a paint strainer,and re use the old fluid.that way when you get your flush,you didn`t waste any more money on fluid.Just some food for thought.

 

What's involved with removing and cleaning the strainer?

 

If it makes you sleep easier, all the power to you. There are a few posts where the problem happened right after a fluid change. I am not recommending to skip routine maintenance ... simply saying, more frequent change offers no guarantee.

Salim

 

Please enlighten me. I just went through my 2000 owners manual and there is no reccomendation for any transmission fluid change other than special operating conditions. Yes I know, every place that does this type of service says that is wrong. Yet I would have to think that the Lexus engineers know better. Changing it may make you feel better since this is the way it used to be done years ago. I still hear change your oil every 3000 miles,but independent tests have shown that to be a throwback to years gone by and promoted by people that change oil. I'm going to stick with the Lexus owners manual. I have an ES 300 and an RX 300 both 2000. The ES has 120,000 miles and the RX 100,000 and neither has ever had the transmission fluid changed. I sleep very well. And I do have a background in repair. I put my self through college working in a garage and have rebuilt both transmissions and engines. This was in the early 70s so I do admit I have not had any experience with the computer controlled cars.

 

This has been discussed many times in the past. You are correct that the owner's manual says not to change the transmission fluid unless the color changes (and to check the color every 30K-Miles, as I recall). I think they later found that this wasn't adequate and put the word out to the Lexus Service Departments. I don't know of any TSB, or other written notice though. I think the consensus on ClubLexus is a drain and refill of the transmission fluid every 15-30K-mi.

 

Either listen to bob2200 in his post above or do a search on RX 300 transmission problems to see how things have changed since the printing of your 2000 owners manual. Also, as salimshah said above, frequent changes offer no guarantee.
I purchased my 2001 new and initally followed my owners manual recommendation of lifetime fluid. Once the transmission problems started to surface on the older higher mileage RXs, I switched to a drain and fill every 15K and used nothing but Toyota Type T-IV fluid. Even had a flush done. I believe my maintenance schedule helped me get 133K out of a transmission with a design flaw but it still did fail. I suspect the flush may have had something to do with the failure as problems began to surface not to long after the flush.
If you still want to follow your owners manual, notice that it does indicate you should inspect the fluid every 30K. It does say "inspect" not just check fluid level. At 100K without a change, I can guarantee it will be very dirty and smell burnt. The condition determined by the inspection should indicate it needs to be changed. All this by just following your existing owners manual. This may give Lexus the "out" they need for these failing transmissions.
On the flip side, you do have 100K on your trans. Others have failed with less mileage both with and without fluid changes. Lets say you go another 30K and then it fails. You are now at the same failure point as me but without maintenance. Just maybe, clean fluid has nothing to do with the failure of these transmissions. I realize that conculsion was a bit of a stretch. I am just providing some food for thought.

 

I don't want to start a war here so please keep the flames to a minimum. I just called Flow Lexus in NC (closest to me here in SWVA) and there is no memo out to Lexus dealers to drain and fill transmissions every 15 to 30K miles. This may be a club of fanatics about maintenance, (no offense intended) but I don't think it is appropriate to say that Lexus backs this type of schedule. The service adviser I just spoke with says 15-30K is way over the top and is just not needed unless you are pulling a trailer of some other service similar to that.

 

A drain and refill replaces such a small percentage of total transmission fluid that a drain and refill every 30,000 miles would be the minimum rate necessary to have reasonably fresh fluid at 100,000 miles. I don't recall the percentages, but a search or calculation will turn them up.

 

Respectfully disagree. This may be an honest shop that does not wish to make money on unnecessary service. Simple drain-n-fill will do.

Whilst some rouge shops would do anything to make a buck.

 

Interesting; my dealer (Johnson Lexus in Raleigh, NC) recommended (and did) change the transmission fluid in my 99 RX300 every 30k. I don't think they ever dropped the pan or flushed it. Now the the car is older, I don't take it there for anything routine because they charge 3-4 times the local independent for oil changes, transmissionn service, brake fluid flush, coolant flush, etc. I really don't know how they justify their prices.

 

I think I may not have stated that correctly,Some shops are lazy(dont want to go the extra mile,I have personally ran into this in the past.),and others like you mentioned may believe it is not necessary.

 

I don't think you found a "club of fanatics about maintenance". Your post does not sound that different than many of ours a few years back. Back then I was willing to accept the lifetime fluid claim. Since then it has become common knowledge about the RX 300 transmission failure rate. At this point most of us are just trying to stretch the life of a transmission with a design problem as far as possible. Most dealers have a few transmissions in stock due to the large turnover. Your dealer is either in denial or out of touch. But don't believe me or anyone else in this "club of maintenance fnatics" (no offense taken). Just google a few things like "RX300 transmission failure" and "U140F failure" and you should find more than enough to convince yourself. Here is one to get you started, there are many more:

http://www.toyotechs.com/autologic-n...ssion-failure/

 

There's no flames to be started or thrown here, but it is true that from dealer to dealer (and doesn't just go for Lexus on things like ATF and oil changes) that the mileage claims can vary. I have accepted a 15K change using Type IV fluid, and longer using the Amsoil ATF. I plan to give it a go with the Amsoil and evaluate the fluid, especially since I am now at sea level in Miami.

 

My trans crapped out last night. 2000 AWD w/89k mi. and in beautiful condition (I've certainly paid enough to keep it that way). Is it worth $4700 to put a factory refurbished trans in this car? The service manager told me Lexus won't cut me any slack even though it's only 9 months out of the Lexus Certified Pre-Owned warranty, and it has always had dealer service since day one. Does anybody think I could get some relief if I knew where to escalate this to?

The worst part is, I had a weird surge last week and took it into the dealer to check it out - told him I thought maybe the parking brake was stuck as it cleared up after I pumped it on & off a few times, but specified to please check the drivetrain too. Asked him afterwards if they checked the drivetrain & he said it was OK. Five days ago. Of course the receipt just says "ck brakes". grr.

I researched likely problems with the car when I bought it in '05 and found out about the engine sludging, but since it had 100% dealer service and a Lexus Certified Preowned warranty, I figured I'd be OK. Apparently the transmission problems developed since then, I guess I should have been paying more attention. Sigh. What else am I missing?

The ToyoTechs article says the filter screen gets sludged up, my service mgr said there is no filter. Anybody know for sure?

Thanks!
Owen