silverar

LEXUS RX350 2010 112000 km

Clutchless

Although Toyota/Lexus claim it needs no service for the life of the vehicle, I would not want to buy a new transmission for $4,000 on an aging vehicle with over 100,000 miles.

It is good preventive maintenance to have the dealer flush the transmission at 50,000 miles. My local Lexus dealer charges $300. A local Toyota dealer may be cheaper. The trans has a complicated fluid level check procedure best done by a dealer. It also requires Toyota WS automatic transmission fluid, accept no substitutes. I consider this cheap insurance for a $4,000 part. Check out bobistheoilguy dotcom for more comments about this http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums...it#Post3387179

If you are the skilled backyard mechanic type, look at the Toyota forum for Highlander owners posts advising how they changed their own automatic transmission fluid. The Venza, ES350, RX350, Highlander, etc with the 3.5 V6 engine, all use the same 6 speed automatic transmission.
http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/10...lush-pics.html

silverar

Thanks for reply 👍

ColAngus

OK, NecroBump... Sorry, I'm a terrible person, etc etc...
I have searched reasonably hard and I'm just looking for the simple drain/fill at cold temp procedure. Where the new fluid at same temp as drained fluid so the volumes match and you repeat for a few weeks until fluid is new, aka "bird bath method".
I found multiple posts where the extremely helpful Clutchless mentions using this procedure. I would just like to find a video or a walk-through without some goof trying to measure the temps to correct for volumetric fluid expansion he doesn't understand and all those needless steps.
It seems there is some silly two-part drain plug and I'd just like some more details on that. Is it like our oil filters? I just want to drain the cold fluid and measure it so I can put the same amount back in. The fill looks basic. Remove all that crap behind the LF wheel and use a hose to get it in the sideways hole. Put back in exactly as much as came out. Profit.
Is there a decent video or step-by-step of this?
I'm planning on using Valvoline Max Life as it is cheap, readily available, full synthetic and meets WS. I'm furious that the owner's manual does not specify the ATF requirements... That should be illegal, but that's another matter.