I believe the factory recommendation is to never change the fluid.

And what does "give'r bud" mean?

You just sort of made my point! You did the above-and-beyond maintenance and it failed anyway.

155,500 miles on our RX330. Transmission fluid exchange at 60K and every 30K since.

You do know that the Rx300 was notorious for transmission problems right?

2001 RX300 - 29,000 miles....still running strong

My 2001 RX just turned 205k with no tranny problems whatsoever. I've owned it since it was new with 76 miles on the odometer. From years of experience, I've always had a practice of changing AT fluid regularly at 30k miles. The pan has been dropped & cleaned and filter elements replaced at 100k intervals. Folks who swear by not changing out the ATF at all are lucky if they don't have issues, but likely won't keep one long enough to find out. I had a 93 Ford Taurus with an AXOD transmission which was notorious for transmisstion issues. I finally gave the car away to a relative to stop paying insurance on it. ($50/mo) It had 235k miles on it and I never had a problem with it. I dropped the pan and changed the filter on it every 30-40k for over 10 years. I just put some $$ into replacing knock sensors and harness, along with a valve job. Only 5 of the valves required shims. Went into the engine because I got a knock sensor code and a faulty timing belt tensioner pulley (bearing). Got new tires & brakes recently and MAN! this baby rides like it's new again.

Kinda pointless to say that... its barely broken in at that mileage... I'd chance the fluid regardless of miles though... its over a decade old at this point and suggests it was barely driven, or sporadically [snowbirds]

Two posts above (by RX01White) causes me to wonder about what a transmission service really and what really needs to be done when doing one. Is it just draining the fluid that comes out with gravity? Is it some sort of "power flush" that I see advertized? Is it something more involved that requires dropping the pan and changing and cleaning some sort of screen or filter?

I am obviously not a car techie so some guidance is appreciated.

1. Gravity
2. Drop pan, replace gasket
3. Re-install, fill fluid

The flushes are the debated actions... a lot of controversy on the topic over on www.bobistheoilguy.com, much like fuel debates...

No filter change required [even in the RX300's it was a <20$ part at most], since the RX330 and up uses a different permanent design, so you only have to replace fluid and gasket.

On my RX, I've done the full flush at 30k intevals for many years without any issues. After having it done, it has always shifted much smoother. Recently at 200k, I dropped the pan, cleaned the magnets/pan, and replaced the filter element since I was in there anyway. It's not that expensive of a filter and only three screws to take it out. Plus, some more fluid drains out. A pan / gasket change only changes out a few quarts at a time. Thus, after replacing the pan, gasket and filter, I ran the RX about 1k miles and did another drain and refill (NOT dropping the pan). Note that the pan has a drain plug, like the oil pan. The whole flush vs drain/refill issue is another thread. I've never had a problem with a transmission flush on several vehicles. The only thing I do when I have a flush done is to make sure the shop doesn't OVERFILL the trans. Also, some quicky oil change shops will want you to sign a release not holding them responsible afterward if you've got alot of miles on the vehicle and can't show them you've had it done at regular intervals. That protect them from liability if someone comes in with a tranny in bad shape and tries to blame it on them. Just make sure THEY don't OVERFILL it when replacing the trans fluid.

Yesterday I checked the transmission fluid and paid attention to the sticker on the dipstick. It said "Do not change ATF if drive in normal conditions" - something like that. I have RX330, 2005.
I have 152000km, no trans. fluid change.
How about this sticker and owners manual contradictions?

[QUOTE=01LEXPL;6924112]1. Gravity
2. Drop pan, replace gasket
3. Re-install, fill fluid

The flushes are the debated actions... a lot of controversy on the topic over on www.bobistheoilguy.com, much like fuel debates...

No filter change required [even in the RX300's it was a <20$ part at most], since the RX330 and up uses a different permanent design, so you only have to replace fluid and gasket.[[/COLOR]/QUOTE]


just curious, what do you mean by this? (permanent design)

While I am not stating that the transmission filter should be changed, I am curious as to if it is really a "permanent design." NAPA does sell a transmission kit with a new gasket, o-ring and filter assembly for the RX330 as seen below:

I bought my 1999 RX300 used about a year and a half ago. So far, I've had no transmission problems. The vehicle has 220K miles on it. I don't know what problems (if any) it had before I got it. I do know of a friend who got their 2000 RX300 just before I got mine. Theirs had 209K when then got it and the transmission went out about 6 months after they got it. They put a rebuilt transmission in it, and it's been running fine since. Since they had that transmission problem, I've been changing the transmission fluid in mine at every other oil change.