How Often Do You Change Your Transmission Oil

[ArmyofOne]

I believe the Jagua was 2003

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nope, it has to be changed. the way those transmissions are designed is similar to lexus in that they are very soft shifting. the process of shifting soft generates alot of heat. it has to have a dipstick, its probably just hidden under a cover or something knowing jaguar.

[bicol-ini]

i do mine at 50000, and do it again a couple of times to flush out the old fluid in the TC and then your good to go for another 50k

[Lexusfreak]

No fluid, I don't care what automaker put's it in their cars will last forever.....it will have to be changed at some point or another. I go by the 'severe service' recommendations in my Lexus maintenance manual......& be switching to Amsoil synthetic oil & ATF to boot! :D B)

They trump Mobil 1 & Toyota Type IV tranny fluid. ;)

[99lsguy]

No fluid, I don't care what automaker put's it in their cars will last forever.....it will have to be changed at some point or another.

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This is very true......

Case in point: the veritlble LS PS posts about leaking and such.....

Any car with 10+ year old fluid in it is highly suseptable to failure...

[blake918]

Soon to be in the 300K Club..........and beyond 

I have gotten a little lazy Blake----------every other oil change is good for me.  But that's only after I changed it 4 time the first 2 months I had the LS ; to get the tranny color pretty n' pink :D /...................... B)

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Hehe...300k in the next few years! I can't wait! A maintinance guru like you saying he's getting lazy with maintinance is what a normal person can achieve at their best. lol

[99lsguy]

Soon to be in the 300K Club..........and beyond 

I have gotten a little lazy Blake----------every other oil change is good for me.  But that's only after I changed it 4 time the first 2 months I had the LS ; to get the tranny color pretty n' pink :D /...................... B)

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Hehe...300k in the next few years! I can't wait! A maintinance guru like you saying he's getting lazy with maintinance is what a normal person can achieve at their best. lol

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And also to you my friend..........

I am going to flush the PS (for 2nd time in 12 months) once we get out of the refrigerator this winter B)

It's like anything else I put my logic to; $10 for 3-4 quarts of Dex III + an hour of fun under the hood........--what's the big deal

[Lexusfreak]

No fluid, I don't care what automaker put's it in their cars will last forever.....it will have to be changed at some point or another.

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This is very true......

Case in point: the veritlble LS PS posts about leaking and such.....

Any car with 10+ year old fluid in it is highly suseptable to failure...

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Exactly 99 :D

[danxnguyen]

I called 2 wks ago and made an appt. to have my 15K miles service and they said that I need a transmission fluid change along with my oil change, tire rotation, inspection... Well I made the appointment. 2 wks later (which is yesterday) I took my car in for the 15K mile service. I sat down with my service consultant to go over the service. I asked him what transmission oil do they use (wanted to make sure it is the ATF WS per owner manual). He didn't know so he called the tech people and they said that it is ATF WS but don't need it till 1000K miles. He was surprised and looked it up and it said only need to change it at 100K. I guess that is new to the 2004 LS.

On the way home I was thinking that perhaps I can do the drain and refill myself after having read the excellent how to's from you guys.

I got home and open up my hood and could not find a dip stick for the transmission!!! Could I missed it?? I'm not a car expert but have done oil/transmission (drain and refill) changes for my ES330 and Camry in the past so I do know what the transmission dip stick looks like. There is an engine cover but I didn't take it out. Are we on to something with the new 2004 LS??? Are the new transmission now only required to be change at 100K??

[99lsguy]

d,

stick should be on driver's side of engine.......toward the firewall and the Master Brake cylinder. It has a "T" handle on it......the oil stick is similar, just a foot closer to the front of the car.

You need to have the car warmed up, level, and idling in Park to check ATF & color..

Check your owner's manual about the procedure, and check the specs in the back on the ATF change capacity....should be in there.

That ATF is probably $8 a quart at LExus, you'll need 3 qts... how much were they going to charge for the drain / refill??

[danxnguyen]

99lsguy,

Thanks for the info. I will look for it again. They were going to charge me $60 for the drain and refill.

[99lsguy]

99lsguy,

Thanks for the info.  I will look for it again.  They were going to charge me $60 for the drain and refill.

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Hey,

That's not outrageousl - not cheap - but not totally out of bounds.....

Once you get to 20 posts I can PM you with my email....I'll be glad to send you a MS word file (with photos) on the tranny drain...

[danxnguyen]

99lsguy,

Thank You....that would be nice to be able to see a picture. 20 posts? PM? I'm not sure I understand the 20 posts and PM? What is "PM"?

Dan

[99lsguy]

99lsguy,

Thank You....that would be nice to be able to see a picture.  20 posts?  PM?  I'm not sure I understand the 20 posts and PM?  What is "PM"? 

Dan

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PM = personal message; a nice feature to send notes and info to fellow members privately.

Posts - look under your screenname, you see "posts:" you have 14 or so currently. once you get to 20 posts (replies).....you will be able to send and recieve the PM's............our club wants each one to be active and help each other out...

If your not concerned (it really isn't a big deal anyway), just post your email address next response so I can see it and I'll send you the instructions....

[danxnguyen]

Now I know more on how this forum works. Thanks.

My email is danxnguyendds1-1@yahoo.com

[daffy]

I have 2004 LS430 and my lexus dealer wants to have the transmission oil change at 15,000 mile.  Is this too soon?  My manual said to change at 60,000 . 

How often do you change your transmission oil?

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Hi danxnguyen,

I switched to amsoil oil for the transmission and change it out every 100,000 miles. I have 250,000+ miles now and trans. is still strong. It use to chatter a little in the cold weather (-30 degrees or colder) with the toyota oil (don't get me wrong, toyota oil is very good too) and now the chatter is gone with amsoil. Stands to reason- it flows to lower temperatures. Hope this helps, daffy

[cenwesi]

Can someone kindly tell me or if there is a DIY for the LS430 on how to change this. My Ls430 just hit the 100k mark. I am not scared anymore getting underneath the car and what not. I do my own oil change on both my cars i will REALLY like to flush/change the transmition oil on my lexus. I have looked all over only to stumble onto this thread. So please if you have any info on how to change the:

1) Transmission Fluid (Toyota Type IV ATF, part #00279-000T4) --- i am reading ATF amosil is better???

2) Power Steering Fluid

3) Coolant (use a 50/50 mix of Toyota Long Life Coolant and distilled water)

4) Change Differential Fluid

5) Transmission Filter

6) Spark Plugs and Wires --- know i can do this, just need to get the plugs & wire

7) Distributor Cap & Rotor

8) PVC Valve

Others i might leave to the DEALER---knowing they will RAPE me :(

1) Timing belt

2) Water pump

3) Cooling system thermostat and thermostat gasket

4) Accessory drive belt

[backwoods lex]

Here is a link that I found on the web at yahoo motors and weatherly transmissions. This motivates me to change my fluid frequently (drain and fill approx every 6k). It takes all of 15 minute to do. I know a lot of people will disagree with me on the maintenance, but I know that I will ALWAYS have clean fluid in my car. Plus I don't know who drove my car for the first 50k.

One point that should be made is that if you screw up your own transmission fluid replacement, you will probably end up spending a ton of dough and would have been better off leaving it alone or doing it right. Don't overfill, don't underfill, and use the correct type.

Here is the link: http://www.weatherlytransmission.com/faq.htm.

[oohryry]

Man, you gotta be kidding me. I'm the only one in this forum that doesn't change their transmission fluid. Wow. I'd better have it changed soon then. I've gone about 40,000 miles. I thought it was something you do every 60,000 miles or so.

[cardona6569]

I would use instead of Dex III, Mobil 1 synthetic ATF which is compatible with DexIII, and Mercon Lubricants. It will also last longer, so you wont have to change it as often.

C. PR

Soon to be in the 300K Club..........and beyond 

I have gotten a little lazy Blake----------every other oil change is good for me.  But that's only after I changed it 4 time the first 2 months I had the LS ; to get the tranny color pretty n' pink :D /...................... B)

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Hehe...300k in the next few years! I can't wait! A maintinance guru like you saying he's getting lazy with maintinance is what a normal person can achieve at their best. lol

←

And also to you my friend..........

I am going to flush the PS (for 2nd time in 12 months) once we get out of the refrigerator this winter B)

It's like anything else I put my logic to; $10 for 3-4 quarts of Dex III + an hour of fun under the hood........--what's the big deal

[monarch]

I got home and open up my hood and could not find a dip stick for the transmission!!!

That's because there isn't a underhood dipstick on the LS430 transmissions that use WS fluid. Buy or download a 2004 LS430 factory repair manual to learn how to check the fluid level, change the fluid, etc. The .pdf download site is called toyotatechinfo.com or something like that.

[ko90ls]

yeah if you use OEM parts, stick with OEM intervals. they've extensively researched the car for the best averages on components. that WS fluid sounds like pretty good stuff!?

[Kennyr]

I have a friend who drove a Jeep Cherokee 300k and he drained and filled the auto trans only once. When he donated the car the trans still ran fine. I flush my 91 every 30,000 miles with BG Synthetic Universal ATF. It shifts so much better than with Toyota brand fluid. Here's a tip, if your shifting is hard keep your level at the bottom of the full range. This along with the synthetic fluid will make a big change in hard upshifts.

[RDM]

Isuzu Rodeos are the same way, no dipstick. They force you to go to the dealer just to check the fluid.

But back on topic, I just drained my ATF and changed the filter and I'm certain it was at least the OE filter as the pan had never been removed. The fluid itself was probably original too, black and chunky, so horrid that as soon as I caught wind of it I rolled over and threw up. With the filter dropped I was able to drain about half the fluid, I've since drained the pan twice and filled it with fresh fluid both times and the 'surging' feel I used to get going uphills is gone. It's good to see other owners are getting good mileage from these units though as I'm more comfortable with the car's limits now. I was looking for a spare transmission for awhile there just in case.

[mburnickas]

Isuzu Rodeos are the same way, no dipstick. They force you to go to the dealer just to check the fluid.

But back on topic, I just drained my ATF and changed the filter and I'm certain it was at least the OE filter as the pan had never been removed. The fluid itself was probably original too, black and chunky, so horrid that as soon as I caught wind of it I rolled over and threw up. With the filter dropped I was able to drain about half the fluid, I've since drained the pan twice and filled it with fresh fluid both times and the 'surging' feel I used to get going uphills is gone. It's good to see other owners are getting good mileage from these units though as I'm more comfortable with the car's limits now. I was looking for a spare transmission for awhile there just in case.

Just because the tranny is "sealed" does not mean you have to go to the dealer to drain, re-fill or check fluids. My fathers new ford explorer says the same deal; but with a little insight (aka online), bam, you can do it yourself. Really there is no such thing as a sealed unit.

The filters (stainless steal mesh in toyos) can go lots of miles. I change only am doing mine every 60 to 80K miles (filter) on my ES. The fluid gets done every 2 to3 years or 30 to 50K miles. Goes in smelling sweet and red and somes out the same way.

If you have black and chunky fluid I would look into more dealer. It is smells burnt, you got major issues.