Gearbox oil change

[x_shaun]

Has anyone changed or have had there gearbox oil changed on there is300h Lexus Bristol say it's silled for life😬. When the owners manual says every 40k 

My car is nearly on 100k it is due it's 600 pound plus service soon I am a mechanic by trade and this information they are giving is putting me of servicing it at the dealers I could change all the oils and filters myself for less than 200 pounds so what do they actually do on a 100k service not a lot by the looks of it plugs extra cost no gearbox oil change?

[rayaans]

51 minutes ago, x_shaun said:

Has anyone changed or have had there gearbox oil changed on there is300h Lexus Bristol say it's silled for life😬. When the owners manual says every 40k 

My car is nearly on 100k it is due it's 600 pound plus service soon I am a mechanic by trade and this information they are giving is putting me of servicing it at the dealers I could change all the oils and filters myself for less than 200 pounds so what do they actually do on a 100k service not a lot by the looks of it plugs extra cost no gearbox oil change?

Yes it's supposed to be lifetime of the vehicle.  

I don't think it says 40k changes anywhere. Re-read it.

Spark plugs are every 60k on an IS300h.

[Texas]

Have a read through of this from IS owners over the pond

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/643544-diy-transmission-fluid-change-question-for-is250.html

Some of their (US owners) cars clock up Starship Enterprise mileage and there is no way any oil can resist deterioration for 'ever'.

'Sealed for Life' you say, well Lexus interpretation of life and yours might be a bit different.

concensus is change it sooner rather than later, 

paul m.

[rayaans]

58 minutes ago, Texas said:

Have a read through of this from IS owners over the pond

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/643544-diy-transmission-fluid-change-question-for-is250.html

Some of their (US owners) cars clock up Starship Enterprise mileage and there is no way any oil can resist deterioration for 'ever'.

'Sealed for Life' you say, well Lexus interpretation of life and yours might be a bit different.

concensus is change it sooner rather than later, 

paul m.

They still live in the 70's though and change their engine oil every 5k miles! 

If its sealed for life, its sealed for the lifetime of that car. Changing the oil will make little difference. Cars with 250k are still on original auto transmission oil. 

With the E-CVT in the IS300h its a different story - don't even know what kind of transmission oil they'd be using for that.

[Malc]

I was just asking Opie Oils about a rare Diff oil for my Honda Legend ( yes I have one too ) and they mention there, on their website, about the dopey " sealed for life " syndrome   

Malc

[Texas]

'Dopey' good word, in my opinion it's a feel good factor on the sales front, it makes the purchaser believe that they can forget about it 'for ever' but we know when the warranty runs out your on you own. Manufacturers version of ' for Life' is not gonna be 15-20 years and 300,000+miles say. Lexus Service Schedule goes upto 150,000 Miles Then I guess it's repeat from start!, so engine is going to last way longer than gearbox I reckon. But an enthusiastic owner may nurse a car for more than this and I for one will not have much faith in a 20 year old oil in my pride and joy. ( oil technologies progress each year for one)

just my thoughts ( other thoughts are available!)

Oh..Confession I change the engine oil/filter every 5,000 miles in my households cars also

paul m.

[route66]

11 hours ago, Texas said:

Have a read through of this from IS owners over the pond

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/643544-diy-transmission-fluid-change-question-for-is250.html

Some of their (US owners) cars clock up Starship Enterprise mileage and there is no way any oil can resist deterioration for 'ever'.

'Sealed for Life' you say, well Lexus interpretation of life and yours might be a bit different.

concensus is change it sooner rather than later, 

paul m.

I don't think that's relevant to IS owners this side of the pond as there are no IS300Hs (= CVT) over there. The gearboxes these guys are talking about would be regular automatics and therefore the oil change requirement - and indeed the process for changing it - would be different. And it looks like there is no process for replacing the IS300H fluid ...

The question for me really is "Why would Lexus want all its IS300Hs to expire prematurely due to transmission failure?" They have a service schedule in place for other stuff like engine oil, brake fluid differential oil, etc, etc; why would they leave the transmission oil out?

Unless, maybe, they designed it so that it does actually last for ever?

[rayaans]

11 minutes ago, route66 said:

I don't think that's relevant to IS owners this side of the pond as there are no IS300Hs (= CVT) over there. The gearboxes these guys are talking about would be regular automatics and therefore the oil change requirement - and indeed the process for changing it - would be different. And it looks like there is no process for replacing the IS300H fluid ...

The question for me really is "Why would Lexus want all its IS300Hs to expire prematurely due to transmission failure?" They have a service schedule in place for other stuff like engine oil, brake fluid differential oil, etc, etc; why would they leave the transmission oil out?

Unless, maybe, they designed it so that it does actually last for ever?

Well yes, exactly, its designed to last for a very long time or atleast, a lot of miles. Possibly something like 500k. 

I dont think Lexus would tarnish their reputation for reliability by not putting a transmission oil change in the service schedule if it really needed doing.

[ColinBarber]

Plenty of Lexus autos have 'lifetime' transmission fluid but really need a change every 100k miles.

The hybrid transmission is different to an auto though. Much less stress is put on the fluid so isn't really as important. Still it can't hurt to change it (provided you use the correct fluid), at 150k at the same time as the inverter coolant.

If you are worried about it then drain some out and see how dirty/burnt it is, and either put it back if ok or replace it all.

[route66]

15 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

Plenty of Lexus autos have 'lifetime' transmission fluid but really need a change every 100k miles.

The hybrid transmission is different to an auto though. Much less stress is put on the fluid so isn't really as important. Still it can't hurt to change it (provided you use the correct fluid), at 150k at the same time as the inverter coolant.

If you are worried about it then drain some out and see how dirty/burnt it is, and either put it back if ok or replace it all.

But is that even possible? Is there a link somewhere to how this can be achieved on an IS300H (I couldn't find one)?

[ColinBarber]

It's possible on other Toyota/Lexus hybrids so don't see why the IS would be different. The procedure or drain/fill locations are probably within the workshop manual or via the Lexus Europe tech site:

https://www.lexus-tech.eu

You will probably need to pay for an hour or more subscription time to access that info.

[Malc]

Let's not forget that even with a comprehensive Lexus Warranty that Lifetime Warranty claims fail when the car is @100k miles old ..........  and there's no reason to suppose that the gearbox would be warranted after that milestone ..............  one would expect maybe 500k miles BUT without an oil change ? well, who knows.

I've read of other components of Members not being covered, say air suspension for instance having reached 100k miles .............  their lifetime I guess

Just my thoughts

Malc

[Britprius]

There are other problems with Lexus/Toyota hybrid transmissions that do not apply to other vehicles. The transmission oil is in direct contact with the two motor generator electric windings. These windings carry a high voltage "around 700 volts depending on the model". Only lubricants that have been tested for there dielectric properties "insulation" should be used in these systems.

The oil is used for lubrication, cooling, and insulation. The oil in use is put through heat cycles, and also possible dieseling as well as metal particle contamination leading to acid build up in the oil. This reduces the dielectric strength of the oil "it's ability to act as an insulator". This can lead to failure of the motors due to shorted windings. The reason high voltage power grid transformers have there oils tested, and changed at regular intervals even though no mechanical stress is put on the oil.

On the US Prius Chat forum many have had the transmission oil analysed at various millage's. The findings were that the oil was badly contaminated and had a substantial drop in viscosity by 30,000 miles. After that initial run in period 60,000 miles intervals seemed the ideal change point. The Prius shares it's engine, and drive train with the Lexus CT.

I would always change the transmission oil in Toyota/Lexus hybrids along similar lines where possible. An oil change is cheap insurance against problems.

John. 

[x_shaun]

Thanks for the advice I have ordered some new oil  for the peace of mind I am going to change it with discount it's comes to only 6 pound a letre much cheaper than a gearbox. The procedure will be the same as a normal auto with out a dipstick just because they say it's sealed for life don't mean it has no drain and fill plugs. 

[Shada]

Would you care to share any information on the correct fluid, and where the fill level is on the 300h? My cooler pipe got damaged and some fluid lost. Thanks in advance

[x_shaun]

You need to go to toyota or Lexus and buy some w/s atf world standard auto trans fluid. To check the level it's more like a manual gearbox, on the side of the box is a level bung. You have to run the engine for a couple mins go through the gears  then check the level with the engine off but you must check it with in 2 mins overwise the oil from the cooler will run back into the box. Level should be just under the bung hole. You can go on to the Lexus tech section and pay for a hour session and look it up for the full workshop procedure. Hope that helps

[Shada]

Yeah it does thank you. I was un certain as Ive done a few of the Audi cvt fluid changes and they had a sequence and chambers inside the gearbox that must be filled from the bottom upwards ect. 

Level plug is simple and just what I wanted to hear.

[Jayw13702]

I have run a number of Prius over the years and they are “sealed for life” transmissions.
However at 70,000-100,000 miles I have changed the WS fluid in the transmission and the difference is noticed.

I will be doing my IS300h shortly as it’s now on 85,000 and I would prefer to do it sooner than later.

There will be a drain and refill plug on the casing somewhere, after all they have to fill the thing when it’s new and there must be a way of draining it if required.


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[x_shaun]

Yeah there is a drain and fill bung I drained my oil at a 100k it wasn't black but not a clean shade of red. My dad's auris was worse and only had 70k on it.

[modly]

Hi! Anyone else has done the oil change? Is it worth to get this done by Lexus dealer or maybe just do it myself? 

[Jayw13702]

Hi! Anyone else has done the oil change? Is it worth to get this done by Lexus dealer or maybe just do it myself? 

I’ve done it, not easy as you have to get the car up in the air and level.

It’s easy if you have a pit or a 2/4 poster ramp but if your on axle stands then it can be a ball ache getting the car up and then level.

The oil change itself is a doddle, there’s a drain and a fill bung. Always make sure the fill bung will undo before undoing the drain bung [emoji6]


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[Martin F]

39 minutes ago, Jayw13702 said:

Always make sure the fill bung will undo before undoing the drain bung
 

This is a top tip. I’ve known a lot of people to get caught out on this one. 

[Shada]

On 1/19/2020 at 7:43 PM, modly said:

Hi! Anyone else has done the oil change? Is it worth to get this done by Lexus dealer or maybe just do it myself? 

I done mine but it was due to an accident damaged cooler not milage. 

I too am a mechanic by trade and just like the other mechanic in this thread I'd strongly recommend changing the atf before 100k or 5 years. 

If you can change the engine oil yourself you can do the atf too it's not any harder. 

Drain oil fil oil run then check level. No different to changing engine oil. 

Oil degrades through time so "sealed for life" to me means it will last until the car is over 5 years and the manufacturer benefits from selling you a new box or new car when yours goes bang! 

[Alex-123]

Hi x_shun,

how did you change the oil in the transmission at Lexus IS300H?

 

Do you have any photos or videos?

Thank you Alex

[agent_dess]

Does anyone have an instructions or diagram on changing the CVT Fluid for the IS300h??