Maintenance

[paul c]

Just wanted to share my maintenance experiences with my fellow Lexus owners. Today I changed out the engine oil in my GS300. I filled with Amsoil 0w-30. Changed out the transmission oil and filled with Amsoil universal ATF. Changed out the differential fluid and refilled with Amsoil 75-90 synthetic gear oil. The shop had this great suction pump which I used to put the new differential fluid in. It made this operation so easy. As I have stated befoe I'm in the military and we have a large shop available to us with lifts and great tools. This cost me a total of $5 to use the lift for about 3.5 hours. What a deal! Next week I'm going to get my rotors cut at $7 per rotor, right there in the shop. Has anyone tried EBC greenstuff pads on the OEM rotors?

[99lsguy]

Paul,

Excellent work - you'll sleep good knowing your GS has probably the best lubricants you can get :D

I use 5-30 amsoil for oil too, and have the 80-90 gear oil ready to put in this spring - when it warms up. Sticking with the T-IV in tranny for now...I pan drain it every oil change anyway...

You've given me an idea to find a shop that I can "rent" for a few hours too.

[paul c]

Yes Ls, I'm definately stoked on doing the maintenance myself. I take my time and get it right and while I'm underneath the vehicle I usually conduct an inspection while I'm down there. I hope you can find a shop in the civilian community that will give you the oppurtunity to use their lifts. Ofcourse factoring liability concerns, I don't know if that will be feasible. The shop I use on the base, we have 3 lifts for lubricants(built-in drain pans underneath), 8 overhaul stalls, and 10 other stalls with combination lifts and stalls that you have to use jackstands with. There is also a welding shop. This is actually a smallish shop. When I was stationed in San Diego, the shop there had about 50 stalls, being that the weather there was so good, there were several outside. If I'm not mistaken, they even had a spray booth.

[99lsguy]

Paul,

Please stop - your just killing me

I'm glad for you....I'll find a way :D

[BADIS300]

WHAT KIND OF FLUID WOULD YOU USE FOR AN IS300 THE SAME :cries:

[steviej]

BADIS300, Toyota Type-IV tranny fluid.

on a side note: please don't type in ALL CAPS, as many feel that is a form of yelling and this is a civilized web site. ;)

steviej

[mburnickas]

I would use their Series 2000 gear fluid. It is a lot better then their regular gear fluid. Plus it is only like $1.40 more per qt.

[jaypee]

Hey, I was changing the oil in my IS300 today only to find that the filter was really hard to get to. Does anyone have any tips on how they changed the filter and drained the remaining oil without getting it all over their car? Do you have to completely remove the entire bottom covering?

[bartkat]

Hey, I was changing the oil in my IS300 today only to find that the filter was really hard to get to.  Does anyone have any tips on how they changed the filter and drained the remaining oil without getting it all over their car?  Do you have to completely remove the entire bottom covering?

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It's not easy but you can try this.

Take out the transmission dip stick.

Put a plastic bag around the filter to catch the oil, and let the filter drop into the bag when you get it off.

Then work the filter around towards the firewall and you should be able to get it out from above.

Some people even remove the transmission dip stick bracket to make more room.

[Lexusfreak]

Just wanted to share my maintenance experiences with my fellow Lexus owners. Today I changed out the engine oil in my GS300. I filled with Amsoil 0w-30. Changed out the transmission oil and filled with Amsoil universal ATF. Changed out the differential fluid and refilled with Amsoil 75-90 synthetic gear oil. The shop had this great suction pump which I used to put the new differential fluid in. It made this operation so easy. As I have stated befoe I'm in the military and we have a large shop available to us with lifts and great tools. This cost me a total of $5 to use the lift for about 3.5 hours. What a deal! Next week I'm going to get my rotors cut at $7 per rotor, right there in the shop. Has anyone tried EBC greenstuff pads on the OEM rotors?

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I hope you don't have any problems with your tranny down the road using the Amsoil ATF (even though they say it's can be used in cars that require Toyota Type IV fluid).