Changed transmission fluid and filter...and +1 for MaxLife!
06-16-19, 06:49 AM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Changed transmission fluid and filter...and +1 for MaxLife!
Fellow RX owners,
Changed the transmission fluid and filter yesterday on this 08 RX I just picked up with 55,000 miles. Noticed on the dipstick it says something to the effect that the fluid never needs changed. That's quite a claim, and one that runs counter to my old-school ways and everything I was ever taught.
How can this be? The fluid, at 55,000 miles, was black as coffee (thank you, previous owner), and the particle trap magnets and inside of the transmission pan were coated with the typical silver-grey sludge. In other words, it was showing exactly the same wear as any other mid-mileage tranny I have ever serviced. How can Toyota claim this one as never needing serviced? Did I throw away some magical fluid?
Toyota's outlandish claims notwithstanding, I replaced the magical brown factory fluid with Valvoline's cherry red MaxLife full synthetic. I used it on a hard-shifting 1998 Maxima once with 250,000 miles on it, and it responded immediately by shifting buttery smooth and basically acting like a new transmission, and has been that way for 30,000 miles. So I thought I'd give it a whirl in the Lexota. So far, so good. Shifts great with noticeable improvement between 2nd and 3rd.
Only tools needed were a 10mm box-end wrench, a 10mm ratchet, and a LOT of patience. Oh, and a 10mm Allen wrench. Four of the pan bolts are situated such that the left frame rail interferes with access, and when you go to install them you will be in total disbelief and possibly curse a little bit. I've seen their equal, but I don't think I've seen worse. Patience will prevail, though. Putting the fasteners in basically by feel, with your restricted fingertips, from odd angles, and with no reference but guesswork as to when the head of the bolt is coplanar with the rim of the pan can be disorienting, and easily lead to crossthreading the soft aluminum, so be mighty cautious. I saw a couple YouTube videos, one where the guy actually removed mounts and raised the engine to improve access, which I'm sure was it's own PITA, I think the offset box end would have helped, but if you don't have one, I wouldn't run out and buy one just for this job.
Didn't have the torque spec for the tranny pan drain plug, so I just snugged it down. Seems to be oozing a bit. It was tight like a gorilla put it when I removed it, requiring a breaker bar, but I'm a little more conservative than that and in the absence of a specific torque value, I like to slowly creep up on drain plug torques just until they just stop oozing.
Anyhow, hope this narrative inspires someone to DIY their tranny fluid and filter. Cheers from Long Beach, CA
Changed the transmission fluid and filter yesterday on this 08 RX I just picked up with 55,000 miles. Noticed on the dipstick it says something to the effect that the fluid never needs changed. That's quite a claim, and one that runs counter to my old-school ways and everything I was ever taught.
How can this be? The fluid, at 55,000 miles, was black as coffee (thank you, previous owner), and the particle trap magnets and inside of the transmission pan were coated with the typical silver-grey sludge. In other words, it was showing exactly the same wear as any other mid-mileage tranny I have ever serviced. How can Toyota claim this one as never needing serviced? Did I throw away some magical fluid?
Toyota's outlandish claims notwithstanding, I replaced the magical brown factory fluid with Valvoline's cherry red MaxLife full synthetic. I used it on a hard-shifting 1998 Maxima once with 250,000 miles on it, and it responded immediately by shifting buttery smooth and basically acting like a new transmission, and has been that way for 30,000 miles. So I thought I'd give it a whirl in the Lexota. So far, so good. Shifts great with noticeable improvement between 2nd and 3rd.
Only tools needed were a 10mm box-end wrench, a 10mm ratchet, and a LOT of patience. Oh, and a 10mm Allen wrench. Four of the pan bolts are situated such that the left frame rail interferes with access, and when you go to install them you will be in total disbelief and possibly curse a little bit. I've seen their equal, but I don't think I've seen worse. Patience will prevail, though. Putting the fasteners in basically by feel, with your restricted fingertips, from odd angles, and with no reference but guesswork as to when the head of the bolt is coplanar with the rim of the pan can be disorienting, and easily lead to crossthreading the soft aluminum, so be mighty cautious. I saw a couple YouTube videos, one where the guy actually removed mounts and raised the engine to improve access, which I'm sure was it's own PITA, I think the offset box end would have helped, but if you don't have one, I wouldn't run out and buy one just for this job.
Didn't have the torque spec for the tranny pan drain plug, so I just snugged it down. Seems to be oozing a bit. It was tight like a gorilla put it when I removed it, requiring a breaker bar, but I'm a little more conservative than that and in the absence of a specific torque value, I like to slowly creep up on drain plug torques just until they just stop oozing.
Anyhow, hope this narrative inspires someone to DIY their tranny fluid and filter. Cheers from Long Beach, CA
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Mesquite77 (06-16-19)
06-21-19, 08:49 AM
#5
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
Replacement fluid qty and a mistake to learn from
Evident,
I filled what I took out...almost exactly 5 quarts. After that, the fluid on the dipstick still is an ugly purple as opposed to the cherry red I'd like to see. So another drain and fill is in the very near future. And perhaps another one after that.
Oh, and I think I found that the torque spec for the tranny drain plug is 39 ft-lbs. I say I think so because it was a consensus from a few threads on the Highlander forum, which our cars share about 85% of DNA with.
I neglected to replace the soft aluminum washer on the drain plug and reused the existing one, being the lazy sort that I am. While it is not a crush washer in the traditional sense like on a spark plug, it is a washer that is designed to deform and conform under a specific torque value. I should have replaced it, as now it is weeping fluid from the plug.
I filled what I took out...almost exactly 5 quarts. After that, the fluid on the dipstick still is an ugly purple as opposed to the cherry red I'd like to see. So another drain and fill is in the very near future. And perhaps another one after that.
Oh, and I think I found that the torque spec for the tranny drain plug is 39 ft-lbs. I say I think so because it was a consensus from a few threads on the Highlander forum, which our cars share about 85% of DNA with.
I neglected to replace the soft aluminum washer on the drain plug and reused the existing one, being the lazy sort that I am. While it is not a crush washer in the traditional sense like on a spark plug, it is a washer that is designed to deform and conform under a specific torque value. I should have replaced it, as now it is weeping fluid from the plug.
06-21-19, 09:08 AM
#6
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
I can see the value of that
DavidWebb, thats a great idea. I'll try it that way next time. Filter probably wasn't necessary this early in the life of the car, but I just cant keep from tearing into every machine I have in front of me. I'm not sure what the service interval is on a tranny screen anyway, but I was so repulsed by the condition of the fluid that I thought it could only help.
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