I'm going to have to check that out. I figured w/o a tow package, no auxiliary trans cooler.

 

Apparently the pan filter on these cars does not have magnets, only some sort of paper mesh filter, am I correct? I imagine it is the same situation for the Lexus ES and probably Toyota's? What about the GS, IS, LS, etc?

In that case, I don't see any point in physically replacing the pan. Yes you need to drop it within 60k miles, and the bottom of it is gonna start looking pretty bad after 100K+ miles, but all you really need to do is carefully clean out the metal shaving infused ATF fluid from the bottom of the pan and drop 2 or 3 transmission pan magnets in there (you can buy them on Amazon, I believe)

I would find a reputable transmission shop for this job, or a good mechanic. Make sure you stick around to watch how they clean out your pan. It is imperative that you carefully wipe down the mating surface between the pan and transmission itself and use a gasket paste seal to avoid any possible leaks when putting the pan back on.

 

Thanks for the info guys, I might try to do the job. I came across a video where you can undo the bolts of 2 of the engine mounts(one between radiator and engine and the one behind drivers front tire. From there you can jack the motor a bit to get to thos pita bolts.
i'm a little worried as the bolt heads are a little rusted, afraid they might snap or get rounded off.
Anyone use this approach? Did it work?
thanks
fab

 

I am not sure about other models but on my 2004 RX330 when I removed my pan it had a filter with a mesh like material
and it had a single thin small magnet that set down in the groove inside the bottom of the pan.

I have put approx 2k-3k miles since I done it and I found this filter that I like better- has a proper paper material to catch fine debris
so I will be dropping thepan and putting this one in.

 

Margate, I don't think I have the wire mesh one like you had in there. From what i've seen the 350 engine has the paper-type one like the new one you bought. Either way, at this milage it wouldn't hurt to look in there? Clean it out?
fab

 

Hi Fab you have a newer RX so I don't know I have a 2004 RX330 that takes T-IV fluid.
Absolutely if you can I'm sure a lot of people wonder what's inside their pan I know I wanted to know. lol

I did mine like you described. I'm in Florida so I don't have a lot of rust but the bolts did have some rust on them and were very tight
so I did a PB Blast soak the night before.
For the front motor mount I did that one with a cordless 3/8" impact gun with long extension but I may have broke it loose first with a
breaker bar but I don't remember and it don't think it was as tight as the other one.
For the mount bolt on drivers side I used a 1/2" long breaker bar and leaned into it hard to get it loose- oem original never been off obviously
and I was worried about snapping it off as I was bending my breaker bar but it survived lol and I didn't destroy my mount.

Only thing is I saw some of those videos you mention and it looks like the engine jacks up easily but on my car I felt some resistance after only raising
about an inch or 2 so I only raised it up enough to get the bolts out- your car might be easier.

For the gasket I just used the proper rubber gasket and I put a few very small dabs or very thin smear of black rtv(totally optional) and let is sit for 15 mins
or so because it gently sticks the gasket to the pan so I didn't need 3 hands to manuver the pan in there and line up bolt holes too
and that trick makes it so much easier.
Edit: There are other techniques that work well but I've done 100 or so tranny services years ago and this is my personal technique. Years ago we used the
"orange snot" for the cork gaskets but the black rtv sticks good to the rubber ones.

Pic below-long extension(available at Harbor Freight) to reach bolt on front mount and reversible 10mm ratcheting wrench for
pan bolts hard to reach over the frame(offset is nice to grab over the lip of the pan but can be done without offset feature and a 1/4" swivel socket
is nice for some of the bolts near the frame).

 

Margate... great write-up! Thanks again.
dId any of the pan bolts snap or round out?
was thinking of getting new ones, less problems in the future.
I have a wix filter and gasket for the job.
did you do mulitple drain and fills once filter was changed?
where did you place your jack to lift the car?
thanks
fab

 

Hi Fab,
I did a couple drain and fills if I remember when I first got the car until I got around to dropping the pan recently. lol

The pan bolts came out very easy they weren't tight at all but had thread lock material on them( I don't use any threadlock for reinstall).
If they will clean up I would reuse them if it were me others may have more ideas.

Also, you brought up a great point- for saftey reasons it is very important to have a couple of jack stands under the car
when breaking the mount bolts loose and maybe the emergency brake too.
Back in the day at one of the shops I worked at it was instanty get fired and lose my job for anyone caught working
on a car on a floor jack because it's so dangerous- car lift or jack stands only.

>> I use 2 jack stands if removing one wheel and more if removing both.

The pan and dran plug should be torqued to spec unless you have a good feel for it-
maybe someone has torque specs. The Pan drain bolt should use caution if not installing
a new crush washer cuz it would suck to strip it out by over tightening to keep it from dripping lol

Maybe others have ideas to add.

 

Margate. Thanks for the info. I'm worried of snappinf the pan bolts.
do you remeber where you put the jack to raise the engine?
fab

 

Hi fab I have the week off and not doing anything so I thought it would be easier to slide the floorjack under the car
with a proper block of wood to protect the engine and take a pic of the jack point of the engine for you.
I lowered the jack in the pic a few inches so hopefully you can see the thicker area above the jack at the end on the engine.

I've never snapped a tranny pan bolt usually the rust is surface rust but I am in FL maybe others know.

This should look similar to the videos on you tube if they show it.
Edit: I just remembered you have RX350- this is RX330 can you let everyone know if yours looks like this please?


.

 

Since your there, I'd swap out the filter vs cleaning it. I'm also going to swap out the rear diff/transfer case fluid as well.

 

Thanks for the pic I think it's a little different on mine. By your pic, the block of wood would go towards the passanger side of engine, versus drivers side (at least on the 350 it would be). Almost 1/3 of the pan (and bolts) is covered by the frame rail (on drivers side).
fab

 

Amesome nice work for noticing a difference cuz none of the videos I saw show the jack point well(new thread needed for the Gen 2 RX350 tranny service?)
and I have no idea on other models.
On my RX330 when I step back it looks like the placement of the floorjack lift point is approx centered on the car between the wheels.

 

Interesting. In other cars, such as my BMW and Mazda, its literally just a plastic pan with two magnets in it. Makes more sense to just clean out the bottom and seal it back up. I wonder how the factory pan looks like on these cars.

 

I wish I could do mine on my own but not only do i not have the tools or the jack stands to do it etc the hoa I live in doesnt like people working on their cars outside of their own garages which is understandable i guess.