Lexus Lifetime Transmission Oil

[noby76]

Hi guys so i now own a MK3 GS300 and covered just over a 100k miles and wondering if i should bother with having the transmission fluid drained and refilled. had these done when i bought both my IS300 and GS430 but i guess most models from 2005 upwards were meant to be sealed transmissions and not needing changing as they are 'Lifetime' but we all know oil does not last forever. would anyone advise having this changed or has any one had theirs changed and still been trouble free or should i just go with Lexus advise and leave it alone?  

[Herbie]

You already know the answer - have it changed.

No transmission fluid is meant to last for life, no matter what the manufacturer says.

[Guest]

Manufacturer defines life differently to us. Usually the length of the warranty.

Sent from my BV5800 using Tapatalk

[The-Acre]

If nothing else it'll give you peace of mind knowing you've got fresh fluid in the transmission.  

[noby76]

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

You already know the answer - have it changed.

No transmission fluid is meant to last for life, no matter what the manufacturer says.

I know but wanted to hear suggestions from owners over 100K running the 'Sealed for Life' transmissions if they have carried out such service or just left alone. will get it booked in..

[The-Acre]

21 minutes ago, noby76 said:

I know but wanted to hear suggestions from owners over 100K running the 'Sealed for Life' transmissions if they have carried out such service or just left alone. will get it booked in..

Mine is also sealed, and being an import the history is all in Japanese so I've no idea if its been changed.  When I fitted a new radiator a few weeks ago I noticed the fluid was nice and red and had a good smell, so I'm more than happy to leave it.  Maybe just have the colour checked? If the colour is good and smells OK just leave it.  If its dark and smells burnt then have it flushed.

[Hangie]

First of all check fluid condition - smell it, smear between fingers.

If it is burnt and got particals in it leave it as it is already too late for a change. When you put new one you might do few miles and gearbox will fail most probably.

If it is just tired but still smooth and not black like oil change it.

 

ive changed it in my both cars. Both were done by Lexus as it is not easy procedure on hybrids. With conventional gearbox you can go to anyone good.

 

[noby76]

thing is there is no transmission oil dip stick available to check/inspect oil condition for MK3 GS300 does yours 450h have a dip stick @Hangie ? not sure why Lexus/Toyota decided not to provide a dip stick from models 2005 upwards makes it a pian to check/inspect oil condition without draining a bit out.. unless some one knows another way of checking without the dip stick?

@The-Acre i think your is stii the same engine as i had in my previous GS430 (3UZ-FE) which had a dip stick to check/inspect oil level and condition

 

[The-Acre]

37 minutes ago, noby76 said:

thing is there is no transmission oil dip stick available to check/inspect oil condition for MK3 GS300 does yours 450h have a dip stick @Hangie ? not sure why Lexus/Toyota decided not to provide a dip stick from models 2005 upwards makes it a pian to check/inspect oil condition without draining a bit out.. unless some one knows another way of checking without the dip stick?

@The-Acre i think your is stii the same engine as i had in my previous GS430 (3UZ-FE) which had a dip stick to check/inspect oil level and condition

 

Yes, it has the 3UZ-FE but on the facelift model they very annoyingly did away with a dipstick.

[Hangie]

Nope there is no dip stick in 450h. System is sealed.

in my case easiest way to check oil condition is to very slightly loosen oil hose going to the radiator. Connect to pet bottle cap was get out and retighten the hose.

in my case oil was tired but still smooth with little residue. Smell was alright. Seeing that I’ve asked Lexus for an oil change which they did. After 8k miles no issues. Shop around one dealership quoted £450 while other done it for £180.

it took like 1.5-2h and oil isn’t cheap either so I paid very good price.

[The-Acre]

28 minutes ago, Hangie said:

Nope there is no dip stick in 450h. System is sealed.

in my case easiest way to check oil condition is to very slightly loosen oil hose going to the radiator. Connect to pet bottle cap was get out and retighten the hose.

in my case oil was tired but still smooth with little residue. Smell was alright. Seeing that I’ve asked Lexus for an oil change which they did. After 8k miles no issues. Shop around one dealership quoted £450 while other done it for £180.

it took like 1.5-2h and oil isn’t cheap either so I paid very good price.

That's interesting, so the 450h transmission is also cooled through the radiator.  Presumably there hasn't been any reported problems like with the LS430?

[Hangie]

It got quite a lot of torque and power to transmit plus all those hybrids components - all of that generate heat.

in 450h there is even separate “water” cooling system for the inverter 🙂

as for problems I’m not aware of any it is very classic system - 2 pipes leaving the engine to join main water radiator in a separate small circulation and then back to the gearbox. 

Oh only mk3 at the beginning got some problems with oil pump which was later fixed.

[noby76]

3 hours ago, The-Acre said:

Yes, it has the 3UZ-FE but on the facelift model they very annoyingly did away with a dipstick.

why cant they just keep it simple.. doing away with something  that was not getting in the way of anything..

 

2 hours ago, Hangie said:

in my case oil was tired but still smooth with little residue. Smell was alright. Seeing that I’ve asked Lexus for an oil change which they did. After 8k miles no issues. Shop around one dealership quoted £450 while other done it for £180.

it took like 1.5-2h and oil isn’t cheap either so I paid very good price.

so if Lexus does carry out such a service on customer request why do away with the dip stick and make transmission oil change serviceable item considering their service booklet still goes up to 150,000 miles. I have been quoted £130 by Jem Lexus based in North London. anyone had this service done by them and are they any good?

[The-Acre]

9 hours ago, noby76 said:

why cant they just keep it simple.. doing away with something  that was not getting in the way of anything..

 

so if Lexus does carry out such a service on customer request why do away with the dip stick and make transmission oil change serviceable item considering their service booklet still goes up to 150,000 miles. I have been quoted £130 by Jem Lexus based in North London. anyone had this service done by them and are they any good?

I don't know why the dipstick went, it makes no sense to me.  I'm assuming Jem Lexus aren't doing a complete flush for that price, taking into account the cost and amount of fluid they hold, or maybe they do?  

[noby76]

Yes i did specifically ask for a drain and refill and not a full flush i have drained and refilled all the automatic cars i've owned and put over 50k miles on some without any issues some like the IS300 and 2.4 Accord was driven hard as well and all held up well even at 150k miles the Accord was done twice at every 30k intervals. 

[Mihanicos]

My car has also a " sealed for life " gearbox, as stated in the owner's manual.

However in the maintenance schedule of the repair manual of Lexus published by Toyota-Lexus [ Lexus-tech.eu ], for my car, it is stated that every six years or 72 000 miles ( I am not quite sure of the mileage but it is somewhere around there ) the transmission oil should be changed.

Log into Lexus-tech.eu and you will find there all the information you need.

[noby76]

so i have had the drain and refill service done last week and so far so good. this also included brake fluids and rear diff fluids change. will probably do it again after 35 - 40k miles.

[Texas]

Were all those fluids done for the quoted £130?

If so, sounds good for piece of mind I reckon!

paul m.

 

[noby76]

All in was £245  the transmission fluid service was £130.. and £115 was for brake fluid and rear diff fluid.

[m4rkw]

On 3/2/2019 at 1:28 PM, Mihanicos said:

My car has also a " sealed for life " gearbox, as stated in the owner's manual.

Technically it’s a true statement, because when that fluids all burnt up it’ll be the end of the transmission’s life 🙂

[m4rkw]

On 3/2/2019 at 8:57 AM, The-Acre said:

I don't know why the dipstick went, it makes no sense to me.  I'm assuming Jem Lexus aren't doing a complete flush for that price, taking into account the cost and amount of fluid they hold, or maybe they do?  

If anyone tells you they’re going to “flush” your transmission - run. You don’t want this, at best it will do nothing of any use and at worst it may cause problems. All you want is a drain and fill and a new filter, unless the filter is sealed inside the unit in which case you may want to do a double drain and fill.