sgmstr

Dashboard will be fixed this weekend. $175 will do the job. Will post some pix.

My innocent wife just told me her RX received a transmission oil fluid change two months (has driven less than 1,000 so far after the change) without me knowing when I was away for business. She wasn't sure whether he changed it with OEM fluid or not. This is not our Lexus mechanic, but a mechanic my wife has known for years and trusts him as he's very knowledgeable and has worked as a GM master tech for years.

So I decided to call the mechanic to find out whether he used OEM fluid. He didn't and claims that the oil (some sort of a generic ATF) he replaced with will work fine and Toyota fluid is just a waste of money. He claims that it also works find all other Lexuses and other car he services. Apparently, he only charged her $50 to do fluid change, which makes me think that it could be some cheap generic ATF from Autozone.

Knowing issues with RX transmission, I think I should change it to OEM ATF. What do you think?

What would be a reasonable charge for this, parts and labor included? Parts should cost no more than $50. Not thinking about getting it flushed.

2GSKaizen

iTrader: (1)

If he only charged her $50.00, he probably just did a drain and fill. I'd expect less than 3-4 quarts to be that new fluid he added. I wouldn't be to concerned being that 3-4 quarts is only 15-20% of the total fluid capacity. That generic ATF does have certain amounts of certain additives needed for them to say it covers what the Toyota ATF needs. It does however have all sorts of extra additives that are not in Toyotas ATF formula so it can meet the standards for GM, Ford, and others. So really only the Toyota ATF, has JUST the Toyota ATF additives which is what the car was designed for. I'd just make sure it gets done with Toyota fluid next time.

sgmstr

Thanks. Yes he drained and refilled.

Correct me if i'm wrong. I thought the total # of qtz for RX ATF is somewhere between 3.5 - 4 qtz and anything non OEM ATF can damage transmission components.

mandyfig

I believe it is exactly 3 Quarts for a drain and fill. Best thing to do is get a case of T-IV's and do the drain and fill. and then do it again after 1K miles. And you are good to go. Whatever he put in, it should not hurt as much because it is a drain and fill. How does the tranny fluid look? Pinkish?

sgmstr

thanks. I was told he used type IV which is ok for Lexus, but i am still going to do drain and refill just in case.

sgmstr

I decided to flush the transmission and put OEM Toyota ATF. Better safe then sorry.

Could've drained and refilled myself, but i think i'm going to take it to a Lexus mechanic have pay for the service.

Does $129 sound fair? Anything to ask for or watch out (to tell the mechanic) during the process? I'm seeing members here are recommending against flush. the transmission was never flushed before and the last ATF change was at about 45K miles and now it's at 80K miles.

Always appreciated.

lexsc4

My mechanic whom has worked for Toyota/Lexus for the last 10 years told me that most of the time the service department only do a drain and refill instead of a total flush. He said it is better to mix 4 quarts of new fluid to the transmission every 30K miles instead of waiting to do a total flush at 100K miles.

BTW, he charges $75-80 labor and I bring my own 4 quarts of Toyota OEM fluids.

08 RX350 AWD (wife)
08 Avalon Touring (mine)

RX330inFL

I am in agreement with that. If you are wanting to get into a cycle of transmission flushes you really want to start early in the life of the vehicle before any varnishes and other contaminants begin to form. Would start around 30K miles. If you wait until 90K, for example, you run the risk that the flush will dislodge some build up and gum up the works.

By introducing new fluid in the drain and fill you give the system the chance to allow the cleaning component of the fluid to do its job slowly over time instead of all at once.

lexsc4

Another thing my mechanic told me is don't believe the life time fluild. The transmission fluid contains cleaning agent. He has seen many failed transmission due to this so called life time fluid. Better to spend $120 every 30K miles than paying $5-6K for a rebuilt transmission.

08 RX350 AWD (wife)
08 Avalon Touring (mine)

sgmstr

I looked at the paperwork for the maintenance and just realized the flush was done at a dealership at 50K miles (2.5 years ago).

So I visited an independent Lexus mechanic last weekend. He seems trustworthy as he was a Lexus mechanic for 20 years before he opened his shop. He highly recommends against flushing it even though this was flushed at 50K miles (the car now has 78K miles). A lot of things can go wrong and he actually refused to flush it.

He looked at the ATF that was in the vehicle and told me that was the T4 ATF. I was surprised that he could identify that was T4 fluid just by looking at it because it was pink? Is T4 the only ATF with pink/red color?

He recommended drain/fill every other oil change (10K miles) at least 3 times then switch to every 15K miles.

Looks like this is what I'll be doing going forward.

By the way, are there ways to clean the coolant deposits that still show at the bottom of the engine? These are the residues from when I had the coolant leak, which was fixed a few weeks ago.

edwardh11

He looked at the ATF that was in the vehicle and told me that was the T4 ATF. I was surprised that he could identify that was T4 fluid just by looking at it because it was pink? Is T4 the only ATF with pink/red color?

Interesting ability

coolsaber

The BS force is strong with this one (mechanic). I dont know how you`d tell the difference between T4 and Dex3/4 by looking at it, its not like coolant color.

Honestly if it bugs you really change it out with a drain and refill safest (with a filter/strainer if one exists). If you feel the need, and its possible you can do a DIYer special by letting the transmission pump cycle out the fluid for ya (Dangerous And highly ill advised if you dont know what your doing). T4 fluids been switched out with Valvoline Red bottles on the BITOGs for a while, and they seem to be working fine.

edwardh11

a little off topic but do any chains sell or can order t-IV fluid??

coolsaber

Not that I kniow of, usually its dealer only for proprietary fluids

daddiojigg

i just changed my wife's tranny fluid and used WS fluid from toyota. NOT T-IV but WS. I don't know if there is a difference BUT i do know my mech once told me that they did a Toyota fluid change and used aftermarket fluid because it met all the requirements. He said he didn't know what it was(couldn't put his finger on it exactly) but it drove 'funny'. So they decided to drain that after a week and put in Toyota WS fluid and everything went back to normal.My 400h has a CVT transmission and i will definitely be using WS when i do that one.Could i have used aftermarket fluid on my wife's? Probably but for a couple of bucks extra per bottle(at most) , why take the 'chance'? For the record, i used 4.5 bottles on her tranny and , maybe it's psychological, but it does seem to drive smoother.