ozone

Our 2001 LS430 is at 233K miles and I figured it might be time to change the tranny fluid. Not wanting to do a flush and fill at the local AAMCO, I decided to drain, drop the pan, replace the filter, and refill followed by a couple more drains and refills. Problem is, the owner’s manual indicates a 1.9 qt capacity for a drain and refill and when I initially drained it, I got 3.5 quarts out of it. If it helps, I did let it drain for over an hour. Now, this model year still has the dipstick, and even though I consider that dipstick design one of the few annoying things about this car, making it extremely difficult to get a good reading, I swear up and down that the level was correct (in park and running) before I drained it. Can anyone out there personally verify that the 1.9 qt capacity is either correct or incorrect? I normally would not question an owner’s manual (especially Lexus), but when we bought the car and I did my first oil change, I found I had to put more than the 4.8 qt the manual indicated in order to bring it up to the full mark on the dipstick, so I know there is a problem with that value. Also, does anyone know how sensitive the level is to the temperature of the fluid?

Have you tried resetting the computer that generates the message? Even if you replace the filter, the message will continue to show up. Here's how you do it: When starting the car, push and hold the A/C "OFF" button for 3 seconds. That should do it. If the message comes back, then there may actually something restricting flow. No suggestions for that. Russ ('01 LS430, 235K miles and still going strong!)

Thanks for the suggestions. As it turns out, the next morning everything was fine and hasn't acted up since. Sort of rules out any fuses. I'm thinking a suspect connection somewhere. I guess I'll wait until it acts up next time before I look into it further. By the way, is there a way for me to see what kind of codes this is throwing if I don't have an OBD II?

We have an 01 LS430 with 161K miles. Very few issues ever. Just yesterday, the car started acting up. It still runs and drives, but a whole laundry list of accessories suddenly stopped working. Here is what stopped working: (1) when you turn the key on, the dash doesn't go through it's usual self check routine, (2) air bag light on dash stays lit, (3) brake light on dash stays lit, (4) No display of an outside temperature, (5) No climate control functions work (either heat, A/C, or rear defog), (6) driver position preset buttons do not function, (7) wipers only work on high, (8) ABS light stays lit on dash. There may be other things not working, but I haven't noticed them yet. This happened all at once. I started to check fuses, but haven't got very far. I am doubting I will find anything. Maybe a bad connector or one of the many computers on board? Someone suggested disconnecting the battery to reset the computers, but I haven't tried that yet. I'd like to fix this myself if I can. Thanks a lot for any suggestions.