For those who say dont change Trans Fluid.
01-13-19, 04:54 PM
#1
For those who say dont change Trans Fluid.
A Friend of mine has a 2013 ES350 like mine 116k miles. He drives his car out of town a lot. A few weeks ago he developed a clacking ticking noise on any speed acceleration or coast in Drive (D) gear.. I drove his car and heard it too. He took it to a Non Lexus shop, they drove it, said it was likely a noise from the transmission.
So he took it to a Non Lexus transmission shop. They put on the lift, had someone stay in the car and put in Neutral, no noise. Put in Drive wheels truing and there the noise. They are certain its coming from a bearing in the Transmission going bad. So next they drain a little fluid. Trans fluid is pitch dark black. Barely any Red color to it. Shop said trans fluid seemed burnt. And would need the Transmission taken out, torn down and rebuilt to repair. The funny thing is the tranny is shifting smoother than my 13 ES350 with 88k on it. No other problems right now other than that loud noise.
He has a extended warranty on it he is going to call them about it. I called a long time Service Director that I know at a Lexus dealer to talk with Him about it. He claims that the service Manuel does not say don't change, but to do inspect. I was certain that it says don't touch inspect or change its lifetime fluid. He also says he would not be surprised because fluid needs to be checked to be sure that it still has serviceability function.
Anyway, I don't know what caused his problem but I never have believed in the don't change school of thought. I've been procrastinating around about changing my Trans fluid. Not Flush machine. I'm getting a case of Toyota ATF, drain and refill till I've used the case up. I drained a little fluid from my trans drain plug and it was very black too. Everyone I know who has drained and filled the Toyota/Lexus don't touch lifetime fluid has said theirs was black too. Not much claiming that the black color is a definite cause but I know I never let my cars Trans fluid get like that.
Will be interesting to see if they determine what my friends exact problem with Trans is, but He says he will just have a Lexus/Toyota remand one put in to replace. So just letting some know what happened.
So he took it to a Non Lexus transmission shop. They put on the lift, had someone stay in the car and put in Neutral, no noise. Put in Drive wheels truing and there the noise. They are certain its coming from a bearing in the Transmission going bad. So next they drain a little fluid. Trans fluid is pitch dark black. Barely any Red color to it. Shop said trans fluid seemed burnt. And would need the Transmission taken out, torn down and rebuilt to repair. The funny thing is the tranny is shifting smoother than my 13 ES350 with 88k on it. No other problems right now other than that loud noise.
He has a extended warranty on it he is going to call them about it. I called a long time Service Director that I know at a Lexus dealer to talk with Him about it. He claims that the service Manuel does not say don't change, but to do inspect. I was certain that it says don't touch inspect or change its lifetime fluid. He also says he would not be surprised because fluid needs to be checked to be sure that it still has serviceability function.
Anyway, I don't know what caused his problem but I never have believed in the don't change school of thought. I've been procrastinating around about changing my Trans fluid. Not Flush machine. I'm getting a case of Toyota ATF, drain and refill till I've used the case up. I drained a little fluid from my trans drain plug and it was very black too. Everyone I know who has drained and filled the Toyota/Lexus don't touch lifetime fluid has said theirs was black too. Not much claiming that the black color is a definite cause but I know I never let my cars Trans fluid get like that.
Will be interesting to see if they determine what my friends exact problem with Trans is, but He says he will just have a Lexus/Toyota remand one put in to replace. So just letting some know what happened.
01-13-19, 07:02 PM
#2
Toyota builds some of the best transmission ever created. It sure doesn’t hurt to replace the fluid every 50k miles when your starting with a new car, many people don’t bother trying to change the fluid until they are at 100k plus miles or start having issues. I would start putting new fluid in regularly around each 50k mile cycle. But If you buy the car with higher miles it’s kinda hard to justify playing with such old antique fluids especially when the consensus is you can do more harm than good changing gearbox fluid for the very first time at 130k miles etc.
01-14-19, 03:57 AM
#3
Pole Position
I certainly don't say do not change your transmission fluid. Who does however is my local Lexus Service manager who has 25 years experience working on Lexus vehicles and has been trained by Lexus. He said it never needs to be changed. He went to Detroit where the transmissions are made for training and asked what is the #1 cause of Lexus transmission failing. Their reply was the wrong level of fluid and the wrong fluid. Both of these are factors in one changing the fluid. The color has nothing to do with the integrity of the fluid. Oil that we keep for 10,000 miles after just a few thousand miles has turned dark. If your friend needs a new transmission it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact he did not change the transmission. That is like saying I got a flat tire and probably should have changed the air. There is no cause and effect. Linked is a guy that has over one million miles on his Toyota and has never changed the fluid. Your choice to believe the so called experts on here insisting on changing it but has ZERO experience on Lexus vehicles.
01-14-19, 05:31 AM
#4
I certainly don't say do not change your transmission fluid. Who does however is my local Lexus Service manager who has 25 years experience working on Lexus vehicles and has been trained by Lexus. He said it never needs to be changed. He went to Detroit where the transmissions are made for training and asked what is the #1 cause of Lexus transmission failing. Their reply was the wrong level of fluid and the wrong fluid. Both of these are factors in one changing the fluid. The color has nothing to do with the integrity of the fluid. Oil that we keep for 10,000 miles after just a few thousand miles has turned dark. If your friend needs a new transmission it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact he did not change the transmission. That is like saying I got a flat tire and probably should have changed the air. There is no cause and effect. Linked is a guy that has over one million miles on his Toyota and has never changed the fluid. Your choice to believe the so called experts on here insisting on changing it but has ZERO experience on Lexus vehicles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8glWcEuxw3U&t=222s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8glWcEuxw3U&t=222s
01-14-19, 06:27 AM
#5
01-14-19, 09:33 AM
#6
Lead Lap
One must also consider that of the thousands and thousands of Toyota transmissions created, not all will be perfect. There will be exceptions to the rule where a tranny goes bad.
Same thing with water pumps, alternators, door actuators, and on and on. But a report of a "noise" in the trans still, IMO, doesn't warrant disregarding the advice of Lexus engineers who are probably a lot smarter regarding transmissions than those of us writing on this blog.
Same thing with water pumps, alternators, door actuators, and on and on. But a report of a "noise" in the trans still, IMO, doesn't warrant disregarding the advice of Lexus engineers who are probably a lot smarter regarding transmissions than those of us writing on this blog.
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01-15-19, 06:22 AM
#10
01-15-19, 06:32 AM
#11
On the other hand, nothing lasts forever. Fluids (synthetic or mineral) tend to lose integrity over time due to heat; molecules degenerate over time. And with this understanding of thermodynamics and strength of material, I do advise drain/fill of the ATF at some mileage...(but I will add "Everyone to his/her opinion"). But better to be safe than sorry.
I have done drain and fill with appropriate tools and correct ATF temperature. Good luck to ALL
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lji (07-19-19)
01-15-19, 06:41 AM
#13
