LS430 transmission service

jaffer · April 9, 2018

I'm driving my LS430 2002 to Pakistan this August from Staffordshire so I am getting my car ready for this 12,000 mile round trip.

I have bought toyota world standard gearbox oil, the sump filter. I am struggling to find the sump gasket which will need to be replaced once the sump is taken off.

Lexus birmingham are telling me the car has a sealed unit which isnt true as there is a dipstick, a sump plug and a filter which is to be replaced.

Can anyone help me with this gasket,

Service kits are readily available for the LS400 so if I get the gasket for that, will it fit my 430.

ColinBarber · April 10, 2018

Does your transmission take WS, if it is a 5-speed then shouldn't it use T-IV? People have used WS as a replacement but it is thinner and Toyota do not recommend it.

cruisermark · April 10, 2018

Hi Jaffer

I cannot help with your query but was just curious as why you chose the 430 to drive to Pakistan? The roads are not the best there and you wont be able to get that smooth refined drive plus what if you hve suspension problems? - will you find a garage to fix such suspension problems?

One advice I would give is fit a separate transmission cooler if you havent already done so - not only will it prevent the the posiability of radiator failure and fluids mixing but also pakistan climate is alot hotter and a stand alone cooler will help keep things cool.

jaffer · April 10, 2018

Colin Barber - Thanks so much for this, since you mentioned this I have looked in the owners manual and you are right T-IV fluid is the right one for my car.

Lexus say its 100% sealed and for me to use the silicone-rubber based sealant to seal the gearbox sump back up.

I have now purchased 5 litres of the correct fluid from toyota this morning for £41.

jaffer · April 10, 2018

59 minutes ago, cruisermark said:

Hi Jaffer

I cannot help with your query but was just curious as why you chose the 430 to drive to Pakistan? The roads are not the best there and you wont be able to get that smooth refined drive plus what if you hve suspension problems? - will you find a garage to fix such suspension problems?

One advice I would give is fit a separate transmission cooler if you havent already done so - not only will it prevent the the posiability of radiator failure and fluids mixing but also pakistan climate is alot hotter and a stand alone cooler will help keep things cool.

Hi, a few reasons

The roads are silky smooth on the entire journey, there is a one hour (40km) patch when entering pakistan which is not the best but not really an issue, people have done the journey in 3 series bmw and e class mercs so I will be fine. I have the full LS range and I like the drive of the 430 the most, even more than the 600H, they are pretty good at coping with the higher temperature as majority of the cars there are toyota. Regarding problems with the suspension that is a risk I am willing to take and there will be mechanics to sort it. one of the most common cars there is a land cruiser V8 petrol which also has air suspension so should be mechanics there to sort it should I have an issue.

I appreciate your advice on the transmission cooler and will do some further research upon this, I think its certainly a good idea since I am pretty much changing everything on the car anyway so might as well do this as most transmission failures occur due to over heating.

New bridgstone tyres all around

pads and discs all around

timing belt

spark plug

all fluids and filters (differential/gearbox/engine)

cruisermark · April 10, 2018

Sounds good - enjoy the journey

Malc · April 10, 2018

2 hours ago, jaffer said:

The roads are silky smooth on the entire journey,

Blimey, and you're going from Dover or Folkestone ??? where in that neck of the woods are roads that are smooth and silky

......... and a couple of years ago travelling through Europe ( I presume that's the way to go ? ) I rarely encountered such roads ..... or is that where the UKs contribution to the EU budget goes, repairing their roads and not ours !

Malc

jaffer · April 10, 2018

7 hours ago, Malc said:

Blimey, and you're going from Dover or Folkestone ??? where in that neck of the woods are roads that are smooth and silky

......... and a couple of years ago travelling through Europe ( I presume that's the way to go ? ) I rarely encountered such roads ..... or is that where the UKs contribution to the EU budget goes, repairing their roads and not ours !

Malc

I will either be taking the Eurotunnel train or the ferry from dover depending on what is cheaper at the time. More than likely the euro tunnel because its just 30 mins to calais. Roads are better in Europe and as I get into Iran the roads there are nice and smooth. Motorways in Pakistan are fairly new chinese built roads.

Media makes that part of the world look like a war zone (because thats all what they show to people on TV) but its quite different to that.

Can anyone help me on the gearbox sealant....

jaffer · April 10, 2018

7 hours ago, cruisermark said:

Sounds good - enjoy the journey

Thanks - also I have spoken to my mechanic here and he told me that the gearbox in this car is pretty strong and since I am not going to be pulling any extra weight or putting any more load on the gearbox to leave it as it is. messing around with a working unit might not be a good idea at the time.

The kit is only about £100 brand new. Its certainly something I had no clue even existed so thanks for teaching me something new :)

Malc · April 11, 2018

ENJOY if I had the time and the energy I would think about such a trip BUT as you point out, news and media reports of multiple war zones do quite put me off.

Strange how no one ever mentions Cyprus and proximity to Syria ............ and the UK MOD bases there .......... are they prone to aggression from nasty forces I wonder

That whole part of the world would scare me tbh.

Good luck with it all ... I find the ferry crossing from Dover to be quite the relaxing start to any vacation

Malc

Newbie1 · April 11, 2018

18 hours ago, jaffer said:

Colin Barber - Thanks so much for this, since you mentioned this I have looked in the owners manual and you are right T-IV fluid is the right one for my car.

Lexus say its 100% sealed and for me to use the silicone-rubber based sealant to seal the gearbox sump back up.

I have now purchased 5 litres of the correct fluid from toyota this morning for £41.

The sealant Toyota re-labels and sells for this purpose is Threebond 1281B. Let me check my garage as I have some left and it will only go off (opened a few months agao-hopefully OK.) I can send it to you if that's the case as it's expensive and I won't be needing it for another 60k miles...

jaffer · April 11, 2018

3 minutes ago, Malc said:

ENJOY if I had the time and the energy I would think about such a trip BUT as you point out, news and media reports of multiple war zones do quite put me off.

Strange how no one ever mentions Cyprus and proximity to Syria ............ and the UK MOD bases there .......... are they prone to aggression from nasty forces I wonder

That whole part of the world would scare me tbh.

Good luck with it all ... I find the ferry crossing from Dover to be quite the relaxing start to any vacation

Malc

Thanks, we are allowed a military escort soon as we enter Pakistan border from the issuing bodies of Carnet de passage (its basically a temporary import permit) to take my car into those countries. We are allowed this for the whole duration of the trip but I will only be using them for the first hour after we cross the border to clear the danger zone and then continue on our way to Karachi.

If all goes well with this trip, I am planning a route down to Botswana in 2019 summer :D

Exciting times.

jaffer · April 11, 2018

5 minutes ago, Newbie1 said:

The sealant Toyota re-labels and sells for this purpose is Threebond 1281B. Let me check my garage as I have some left and it will only go off (opened a few months agao-hopefully OK.) I can send it to you if that's the case as it's expensive and I won't be needing it for another 60k miles...

Thanks - just ordered 2 tubes from eBay, should be sufficient to seal the sump.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/THREEBOND-1207B-GASKETTING-SILICONE-OFFICIAL-SUPPLIER/111607407837?epid=1488668837&hash=item19fc51e4dd:g:pwMAAOSwPhdU7aIp

Newbie1 · April 11, 2018

This is the right stuff: https://www.techsil.co.uk/threebond-tb1281b-fipg-silicone

Japanese writing on it and all

Malc · April 11, 2018

Jaffer, you sound a great Explorer .. well done, I don't know your age but if I was a tad younger I might consider such wonders ....... I did a fair bit of global travel in my time and can't think of anything much better than well considered travel, especially by car .... a Lexus Ls

BUT having just turned aside the thought of a 3 month trip around India following my recent limiting experiences there I'm beginning to realise my age is definitely against me right now.

Good Luck and while your chasing through Africa in summer 2019 I'll be bored stiff on a cruise and visiting ( inter alia ) St. Petersburg then .............. is that going to be safe do you reckon or am i going to be in the middle of a war zone there too

Malc

jaffer · April 11, 2018

1 minute ago, Malc said:

Jaffer, you sound a great Explorer .. well done, I don't know your age but if I was a tad younger I might consider such wonders ....... I did a fair bit of global travel in my time and can't think of anything much better than well considered travel, especially by car .... a Lexus Ls

BUT having just turned aside the thought of a 3 month trip around India following my recent limiting experiences there I'm beginning to realise my age is definitely against me right now.

Good Luck and while your chasing through Africa in summer 2019 I'll be bored stiff on a cruise and visiting ( inter alia ) St. Petersburg then .............. is that going to be safe do you reckon or am i going to be in the middle of a war zone there too

Malc

Malcom i am 25.

The way i see life that if i want to do something I will do it without thinking too much about the consequences (maybe I get that from my mum because she is joining me on the trip) - the rest of my family think I am bonkers for doing it when a flight can get you there in 7 hours and is considerably cheaper. if something is going to happen to me it can happen to me stepping out the front door (i know thats an immature way to think about things but thats how i see them)

I will be recording the whole trip via dash cam/go pro so I will be uploading on youtube and Ill post a link on here when its all done.

Best of luck with the trip I am sure youll enjoy it.

Malc · April 11, 2018

Lexus Ls is the way to go then ............ flights, hanging around, getting to the airport, plane changes ..... nothing at all pleasant about any of that crap IMHO

The whole Lexus experience will be brilliant, exciting, possibly challenging from time to time BUT you will certainly enjoy it all .. especially in hindsight .......... lucky mum to be going too

Malc

GrahamG · April 11, 2018

Jaffer, if you can afford it the French toll roads offer effortless driving at 80mph.

Also if you are flush with funds I would take a front and rear air suspension strut available second hand on eBay from Paul Frost.

If you are to linger in one country then in Iran you may experience hospitality never dreamed of here.

Good luck.

jaffer · April 11, 2018

7 hours ago, Malc said:

Lexus Ls is the way to go then ............ flights, hanging around, getting to the airport, plane changes ..... nothing at all pleasant about any of that crap IMHO

The whole Lexus experience will be brilliant, exciting, possibly challenging from time to time BUT you will certainly enjoy it all .. especially in hindsight .......... lucky mum to be going too

Malc

Yes I converted to Lexus/toyota

In younger days I had a fleet of R8, C63 AMG, VW touran (daily runner)

now its:

Ls400, Ls430, Ls600, 1999 Toyota Hilux and the most special one is a 1987 Toyota Corolla GL 3 speed auto which has had 1 owner from new before me. I even have the bill dated 1987 from when it was new.

Lexus are fantastic, I do not miss the german cars even a tiny bit.

jaffer · April 11, 2018

7 hours ago, GrahamG said:

Jaffer, if you can afford it the French toll roads offer effortless driving at 80mph.

Also if you are flush with funds I would take a front and rear air suspension strut available second hand on Ebay from Paul Frost.

If you are to linger in one country then in Iran you may experience hospitality never dreamed of here.

Good luck.

Yes Graham I have heard about Iran's hospitality from a few others so quite looking forward to that.

Yes french tolls are good - December 17 we did france and switzerland in a 2017 volvo xc90, I missed my lexus on that trip because after 3000 miles of driving I was broken.

I will look into the struts, I need to grab some other bits from Paul frost (belly plate, one of the parking sensors is missing, transmission cooler - I have decided to fit one after all)

jaffer · April 11, 2018

8 hours ago, Newbie1 said:

This is the right stuff: https://www.techsil.co.uk/threebond-tb1281b-fipg-silicone

Japanese writing on it and all

Thanks sir- Just cancelled by eBay order and ordered from this place youve recommended.

Wish I joined this club sooner! had so much trouble with my a/c gas which kept leaking. Gave up and just disconnected the rear fridge and fitted a U pipe so it only works on the front now.

GrahamG · April 11, 2018

My understanding is to isolate the rear A/C you effectively cut the 'flow' and 'return' and fit stop ends to each pipe. You do not connect the two pipes. The front A/C has its own branches and is unaffected when the rear is disconnected.

It is quite common for the rear pipe work to corrode and as new Lexus pipes are expensive many owners have sacrificed the rear A/C. I am not an expert but this has been discussed before.

jaffer · April 11, 2018

Just now, GrahamG said:

My understanding is to isolate the rear A/C you effectively cut the 'flow' and 'return' and fit stop ends to each pipe. You do not connect the two pipes. The front A/C has its own branches and is unaffected when the rear is disconnected.

It is quite common for the rear pipe work to corrode and as new Lexus pipes are expensive many owners have sacrificed the rear A/C. I am not an expert but this has been discussed before.

yes i thought the same but when i gave it to the mechanic he told me he fitted a U pipe so dont know exactly what has been done. All i know is that it works now so happy days.

The gent who has done trip before, he has a land cruiser and he just replaced the pipes with rubber ones and they have lasted him 2 years, I have no issue in replacing the pipes but the labour to get them off and put new ones on is quite a big job, the price for the parts are £210 after my trade discount. I have to give toyota parts centre a toyota celsior reg so they supply me the parts a lot cheaper than lexus

GrahamG · April 11, 2018

So it seems that it is not necessary to join the two pipes rather than that you should not do it.

Giving a Celsior registration to get Toyota parts prices is pure genius.

jaffer · April 11, 2018

2 hours ago, GrahamG said:

So it seems that it is not necessary to join the two pipes rather than that you should not do it.

Giving a Celsior registration to get Toyota parts prices is pure genius.

Ill double check with him what he has done and let you know

Yes... front and rear pads and discs - £276 from toyota using a celsior reg. Dont even want to know how much Lexus would charge.

Oil filter (i bought 6 so i have some spares for the trip)

Lexus £13.50 each

Toyota £6.50 each

There is a toyota celsior ob eBay, if anyone needs parts for their 400/430 should use that reg for cheap genuine parts.

another thing i want to pick peoples brains on. My differential drain plug has rounded off when we tried to take it off. We heated it using a propane gun and wd-40 before hand but it wouldnt budge. This is the first time i am doing the diff oil since I have had the car. I bought it at 104k miles last march, its now at 117k miles.

Is cutting it off with an angle grinder the best option? dont want debris in the diff