IS250 Major Service - need advice

[HoodRich]

Hi All,

Its been about 6 months since I have my 2008 IS250 and am still loving the car. Been going great, aside from an annoying rattle on the drivers window when its completely closed. I believe its a common fault though.

Anyway, tomorrow she goes to the Lexus dealership for her first major service....the 90000km service (think its the 60000 mile service for you guys in the UK). My question is, should I change the gearbox oil? I believe its very important to maintain the gearbox oil on an Auto transmission and I dont want to take any chances. The guy at the dealer said they normally change the gearbox oil between 105000km and 120000km. My thinking is because of the age of the car, I should do it now.

However, I have read some stuff online which says the gearbox oil on this car should not be changed.Is there any truth in this?

 

 

[madasahatter]

I think gearbox is sealed for life and can not be changed. You would have a dipstick for it, and we do not. Also iv not seen a drain plug under the

car, When mines been on the pits at work. The rattle on the window iv not had, 60,000 mile service is the spark plug one in the Uk.

[Linas.P]

Great choice of he car, enjoy it. I am on my 3rd IS250 and I am still loving it.

The 60k Miles/90k KM service is indeed one of the major (especially in terms of costs). Not much to say, the procedure is standard they will replace all the items on the list and will advise you on any other faults which you might or might not want to fix.

In terms of Automatic gearbox oil... it is more complex to answer. Officially, it is "lifetime" fill and it is good for at least 120k miles/ or 200k km, on the other hand it can be replaced and topped up at any time (strictly dealership procedure ... unless you some kind of genius or car service owner yourself). On my current IS250 dealership was changing gearbox oil starting from 40k miles and every service thereafter. I am skeptical if that was necessary, I believe this was cashing out from previous owner.

That said if you ask me, the very earliest you should do gearbox top-up (they kind of drain and replace part of the oil) is 60k miles services (that what you are going to do now), but there is no reason why you cannot keep it until 200k km semi-official limit. Auto gearboxes are very reliable on these cars and I personally have never heard of one becoming faulty.

[HoodRich]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the sound advice. Really appreciate the guidance.

If changing the gearbox oil is not necessary, I might as well leave it. Don't want the mechanics messing up something that doesn't need to be touched right now (yes, I'm skeptical of anybody working on my car!)

Car is booked for tomorrow...I hope the service goes well and there are no findings which need immediate attention.

 

 

 

[Shahpor]

Has it been 6 months already?!?   I remember when you got it, and it hard to believe so much time has past.

[HoodRich]

Hey Shahpor. How are you doing. Its been a while since I've visited these forums too. Work has been hectic.

Yup, its been 6 months. Weird how time flies as you get older.

[Shahpor]

Hello there.  I am doing good thanks, how about you?

I know what you mean about time flying by - these last years have been like a blur for me.

Hope all goes well with your service today.

[HoodRich]

Great stuff - good to hear you're doing well.

Picked up my car yesterday afternoon.....Lexus have give it a clean bill of health.  The only advisory is that I should replace my rear brake pads in about 10000kms. (I do about 5000km per year). That aside, it costs too much to do the brakes at Lexus, I'll do it aftermarket like I did on my IS200. 

Cost me a significant amount of cash though - about  £370 if I do the conversion to your currency.

 

 

[Shahpor]

Great the hear that all went well.

Yeah, I too was told that my rear pads need changing at some point, but there is no rush since they wear so slowly.

I know what you mean about dealer brake jobs.  I changed my front discs and pads myself for a fraction of the price they quoted.

That is an expensive service.  Did they change the plugs too?

[HoodRich]

Hi Shahpor,

Apologies for the very late response - yes, they changed the spark plugs too with the major service. My IS250 is due for an oil change again in September. Still have not changed the brake pads, but plan to do it soon.

 

[normski2]

6 hours ago, HoodRich said:

Hi Shahpor,

Apologies for the very late response - yes, they changed the spark plugs too with the major service. My IS250 is due for an oil change again in September. Still have not changed the brake pads, but plan to do it soon.

 

Check the slider pins on the calipers while you are doing the pads.

It's often the lower one that seizes.

[HoodRich]

Thanks for the advice Normski......Will do.

What is the symptom one would experience when the slider pin seizes?

[normski2]

Well ... you may get a wheel that's substantially hotter than the rest after a drive.

You may see excess wear on one pad only of the pair in the caliper.

If its the fronts you may feel a pull to one side on braking.

You may not see any symptom. I was not aware of owt until I took a check on my calipers a couple of months back. The lower pin was seized solid at the rear caliper. The top one came out but the caliper would not rotate at all. Strangely, now it is all fixed.... I have noticed there is much less brake dust on the front wheels than previously. This makes sense as the front brakes would have been working harder to make up for the rears not doing their bit.

So, it is quite likely if you see excessive brake dust starting to appear then that could be a sign also.

The slider pins are dead easy to do once you have the hang of it .... but get the correct grease (that is important). Lexus dealerships don't schedule any caliper servicing. Intervals vary from person to person but if you do them every 12 months you won't go wrong.

Take read through here

There are a couple of links to Noobies very good write-ups regarding servicing the slider pins.

Hope that helps.

[HoodRich]

Hi Normski,

Thanks a mil for the detailed response. Appreciated.

Fortunately, I dont see any of those symptoms on my IS200 or my IS250 (touch wood)

Will keep an eye out though.