Rx300 Auto Transmission Fluid, When to change?

[mikey00]

lenore:

I did as you said........you know the drain and fill must help.......there can not be a debate on this....first, yes your not pulling out all the old oil.......but your adding good to make a improved ratio. Do this three times at appox 4 quarts times 3 equals 12 quarts........go buy 13 quarts at $5.00/each equals 65 bucks BIG DEAL........do it every 30k and the tranny should last........its when you never touch the tranny for 100k that bites ya. This is where Lexus has let us down.

oh BTW.....becareful about taking the plug off/on.......last time I didn't have it torqued all the way and leaked. How tight do you toque it IF I don't have a torque wrench?

bill

Are you using a new crush washer on the drain plug? If not that is your problem.

[wgwollet]

Interesting, for some reason Lexus is not getting on the bandwagon with these transmission flushes. I did a search for locations with BG flush machines within a 50 mile radius (which includes a lot of Lexus dealers in NJ, NY and PA). There were over 500 locations with a BG machine. Many of these were Toyota dealers. There were no Lexus dealers with a transmission flush machine. A few Lexus dealers did have BG machines but only for coolant and/or fuel.

That's a bargin price.......12 x $5.00 = $60.00 and he is charging only $125........heck yes I would every 15k......but my dealer charges that for a 4 quart drain and fill

[lenore]

Good afternoon everyone, I just want to share some interesting information about the failures with the planetary gears. I stopped by an independent that I knew about 10 years ago and asked what his price was for rebuild and also what exactly fails. Being the very nice man he was he explained and showed an example of the failure. Apparently the original planetary gear had four gears mounted in an aluminum carrier... Who knows, heat, wear whatever the carrier fails and allows the gears to tilt, and then your tranny is toast.. The new replacement planetary gears are mounted in a steel carrier, with 6 gears instead of the original 4....very interesting.... and much stronger....see attached pictures of a failed 4 gear planetary gear....from a 140e tranny... this shows the theory of bad design issue, and what was done to make it stronger...Now the question is was this ever put in production or only on rebuilds...?????

[artbuc]

Good afternoon everyone, I just want to share some interesting information about the failures with the planetary gears. I stopped by an independent that I knew about 10 years ago and asked what his price was for rebuild and also what exactly fails. Being the very nice man he was he explained and showed an example of the failure. Apparently the original planetary gear had four gears mounted in an aluminum carrier... Who knows, heat, wear whatever the carrier fails and allows the gears to tilt, and then your tranny is toast.. The new replacement planetary gears are mounted in a steel carrier, with 6 gears instead of the original 4....very interesting.... and much stronger....see attached pictures of a failed 4 gear planetary gear....from a 140e tranny... this shows the theory of bad design issue, and what was done to make it stronger...Now the question is was this ever put in production or only on rebuilds...?????

So, will frequent ATF changes do anything to prevent planetary gear failures? Also, did your resource say that there were other types of failure? This is the closest thing to a "smoking gun" I have seen.

[lenore]

He wasnt sure about why they fail other than a weak design....I am sure heat, wear, etc all play into this thing. The improved part tells me that somebody knows that the old part was weak, especially moving from aluminum to steel as the carrier for the gears...

[Richen]

Need help! I just had my 2000 RX300 AWD tranny rebuild couple of weeks ago. It seems the transmission shop did not used Toyota ATF. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

[lenore]

You could do a fluid transfer will probably cost around $160, but did the tranny shop say why they didnt use Toyota Type IV or Mobil 3309 equivalent..???? I know alot of them claim they put additives in with the fluid to meet specs. Did they give you a warranty?

[Richen]

The transmission shop gives a one year or 12,000 mile warranty. The technician only told me the ATF they used "Exceed" Toyota specification or requirement. Do I still need to flush the ATF again? The shifting between gears was not smooth for the first three weeks. It seems the ECM will self adjust by itself and the shifting is getting better and better.

The ATF level on the dipstick was way too high for the first two weeks. That is why the shifing was so rough. I went back to the shop to flush out a little bit. IThe ATF is still about an inch higher than "HOT" level when the engine is hot. Does anyone think I should go back to the shop and flush again in order to meet factory standard?

[karimjwalker]

I have a 2002 RX300/ navigation with 161,690 miles on it. I purchased this vehicle certified. As far as I know the trasmission fluid was never changed. I recently changed it ( as in yesterday) at a toyota dealership. The drain, flush and fill cost about 250.00. I haven't had any transimssion issues. Just knew it was times since it was never done. I'm seeing mixed issues here, trouble at low mileage, trouble after changing it, etc. My driving conditions are normal day to day. No dirt roads, mud puddles, dune jumping etc. YES it was dirty but the toyota mechanics claim the components are fine. Now I'm wondering will my transmission go out? I doesn't driver any different since the fluids were changed. Granted it's only been a day. Yes it was changed, I pulled the dip stick and checked it myself before and after. The new fluid is pinkish/red/ the old was grey/black/dirty. I will keep everyone posted if my car starts acting a fool.

[Dr Fenders]

Hello, I got tired of reading through this thread, so if this has already been covered, please forgive me.

I was buying new tires for my 02 RX-300 AWD. The tire dude told me that I needed to replace all four tires at the same time. Why I asked.

Apparently, if the tire size from front to rear is more than a few 1/16ths of an inch, it causes excessive wear on the AWD transmission.

I bought the car with 30k on it, and the dealer put on two new tires, with the other two being at about 75%. I drove it that way for about 20k more before replacing the two "old" tires (this is when the tire dude educated me). The two replaced tires were at about 50%.

The tranny is a bit slow to shift when cold, but works fine otherwise.

I changed the Tranny Oil at 90k, and it was pretty brown in color. I intend on changing it at my scheduled engine oil change and re-evaluate.

[lenore]

Yep I experienced the same thing on the tire issue. I have not seen any proof of this. I understand trying to keep the tires the same on one axle, but personally I think it is just a method to sell more tires. The difference of 1/16 of an inch is percentage wise no worse than an under or over inflated tire. But fighting these dealerships and clubs for the tires issue is like barking at the moon.

[nurturer]

I have a 2002 RX300/ navigation with 161,690 miles on it. I purchased this vehicle certified. As far as I know the trasmission fluid was never changed. I recently changed it ( as in yesterday) at a toyota dealership. The drain, flush and fill cost about 250.00. I haven't had any transimssion issues. Just knew it was times since it was never done. I'm seeing mixed issues here, trouble at low mileage, trouble after changing it, etc. My driving conditions are normal day to day. No dirt roads, mud puddles, dune jumping etc. YES it was dirty but the toyota mechanics claim the components are fine. Now I'm wondering will my transmission go out? I doesn't driver any different since the fluids were changed. Granted it's only been a day. Yes it was changed, I pulled the dip stick and checked it myself before and after. The new fluid is pinkish/red/ the old was grey/black/dirty. I will keep everyone posted if my car starts acting a fool.

By changed, do you mean drained or flushed? Did your transmission continue to play nice after having the tranny fuild changed?

[nurturer]

Could any one advsie me on the recommended mileage or period to change the auto trans fluid of my RX300? Bought it new July2002. Manual says no change unless used under heavy duty, so rather confused?

Replacing the fluid prior to 30 K is extreme overkill. I've been working on trannys for years and VERY RARELY do you see and distinct build up within the fluids before 25 or 30 K. DO NOT change the fluid every 15 - 20 K UNLESS you are doing CONSTANT stop and go driving.

Note, unless you have a flush machine, just draining the fluid from the pan will not cycle out the entire amount of fluid.

ANOTHER NOTE: If you have note EVER changed your fluid and you have high milage, you are possibly doing yourself a dis-service by changing the fluid....WHY you ask.....the particles from the clutch plate in the worn transmission and transmission fluid ACTUALLY ADD to the friction needed during shifting. When you add fresh fluid, the worn particles from the plates are drained and the plates begin to slip little by little as the NEW fluid acts more as a lubricator compared to the older fluid with the loose particles in it.......BUT IT IS ALWAYS reccomended to change fluid on a regular interval basis from the begining of ownership.......problems can arise though if this has never been done due to the clutch plates being worn due to particle erosion in the tranny, ironicly this erosion actually aids the clutch plates over time....the trick is to keep the fluid fresh enough to not allow particle build up which will wear down the clutch plates to begin with. A friend just replaced my tranny in his 99 RX shortly after changing the fluid, which he never maintained......I told him it would happen and he didn't believe me (he had over 100K on it).

My 99 RX has 150,000 miles and I'm checking with the previous owner to see if he ever changed the tranny fluid. Supposing he hasn't, you're saying that due to the slippage created by new fluid, could cause the tranmission to fail?

The fluid itself is still a pinkish color.

What is the alternate, in this case? If a tranny hasn't had fluid changed past 100,000, what are the maintenance options, if not at least draining the fluid? Thanks.