Tranmission Oil - Anyone?

[Ozzay]

Anyone ever changed transmission oil before?

Lexus dealer are charging £150. I am not sure if the car needs it at any point.

I read this on a few forums and saw on YT. Some say trans oil lasts the life of the car and others say it might be healthier for the gearbox at 100k.

I am not sure if I need it the car is mostly fine especially when warm. Just sometimes when it slow down almost to 5mph going over these horrible local bumps it shifts down to 1 and then I see a little neutral rev as I accelerate out before it selects the gear again.

Does not happen much but cars generally fine. Not a flush just a complete change. Just wondering.

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Oz. There's been quite a bit on this subject very recently here. There are those who most strongly say no need. There are those who say most strongly yes. There are only a few who are in the middle. 

Lexus quoted you £150? That my friend is only for a partial drain and topped up with anything up to 2.5 litres.

Main thing is how many miles has your car done? Generally speaking and personally too it is suggested to do it at around 60k miles. Yes 100k miles is attainable but I'd say that's for cars which do around 20-30k miles a year and mainly on motorways.

I've had my is250 6 months now. Git it with just under 80k miles on it but I had Lexus Stockport do a partial drain and fill and I did notice a difference. When my car goes in again for its service there I'll get them to do another partial drain and fill. This is purely for my piece of mind and my belief my transmission will benefit from it. 

So basically if your car has over 60k miles then certainly get it done. Don't be under the illusion that all 7-8 litres of transmission oil will be drained. No. Thats a massive job. What you've seen on YT is a partial drain and fill. That quote from your Lexus dealer is a very good one. Do it if your car is over 60k miles.

[2ddesign]

Hi check out this post on the forum.....

 

[Linas.P]

Funny enough, I just replaced it for new owner of my old car few weeks ago. Why do you want to change it - any issues? I my old car case it was throwing error codes for solenoids and that is why the change was need and it did transform the shifting to be honest. But it was 193k miles.

I have ordered the kit with 4L ATF, gasket and filter and that was just about enough to do the job, but you looking at £140 just for parts alone. There is no way Lexus dealer doing replacement, they generally don't do it at all. £150 will be just for refresh - maybe 0.5 or 1L of ATF out and fresh one in.

The fluid is indeed "life-time", but the question is what is considered "life-time" of the car? 10year/100k miles maybe? So yes eventually it needs to be changed. Some people on this forum suggest 50k, but each change, especially if not done properly could harm more than it helps, procedure is not exactly easy to do and there are not many places which could do it well enough to risk.

[Ozzay]

Some companies do a proper flush using a specialised machine. They claim to have done this to most auto boxes for many cars. Its probably more than £150 for sure. Wonder if a refresh is it worth it all. 3 flush method has to be done with a proper mechanic I have mostly cowboys around here who need to be watched. Anything can be done if we had the tools and space. I unfourtunately don't have that option.

I am not sure if I need it but it would be wise to give it a try early I reckon there will be a slight improvement in cold.

[Ozzay]

38 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Funny enough, I just replaced it for new owner of my old car few weeks ago. Why do you want to change it - any issues? I my old car case it was throwing error codes for solenoids and that is why the change was need and it did transform the shifting to be honest. But it was 193k miles.

I have ordered the kit with 4L ATF, gasket and filter and that was just about enough to do the job, but you looking at £140 just for parts alone. There is no way Lexus dealer doing replacement, they generally don't do it at all. £150 will be just for refresh - maybe 0.5 or 1L of ATF out and fresh one in.

The fluid is indeed "life-time", but the question is what is considered "life-time" of the car? 10year/100k miles maybe? So yes eventually it needs to be changed. Some people on this forum suggest 50k, but each change, especially if not done properly could harm more than it helps, procedure is not exactly easy to do and there are not many places which could do it well enough to risk.

You should do it for me LOL

[Ozzay]

5 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Hi Oz. There's been quite a bit on this subject very recently here. There are those who most strongly say no need. There are those who say most strongly yes. There are only a few who are in the middle. 

Lexus quoted you £150? That my friend is only for a partial drain and topped up with anything up to 2.5 litres.

Main thing is how many miles has your car done? Generally speaking and personally too it is suggested to do it at around 60k miles. Yes 100k miles is attainable but I'd say that's for cars which do around 20-30k miles a year and mainly on motorways.

I've had my is250 6 months now. Git it with just under 80k miles on it but I had Lexus Stockport do a partial drain and fill and I did notice a difference. When my car goes in again for its service there I'll get them to do another partial drain and fill. This is purely for my piece of mind and my belief my transmission will benefit from it. 

So basically if your car has over 60k miles then certainly get it done. Don't be under the illusion that all 7-8 litres of transmission oil will be drained. No. Thats a massive job. What you've seen on YT is a partial drain and fill. That quote from your Lexus dealer is a very good one. Do it if your car is over 60k miles.

Safest approach really I personally don't like all the stories I have been watching on YT where the advise don't change it and don't flush it. Partial changes are very common.

[Linas.P]

4 minutes ago, Ozzay said:

 I have mostly cowboys around here who need to be watched.

That was what I had to do... seems ok so far (their work that is). Problem in my case was that in my kit I got incorrect gasket, so now I needs another kit and do it over again (probably not too bad, considering it may benefit of 2 flushes after 192k miles). 

[Mihanicos]

Whenever the transmission oil is fully drained, only about half is drained out.

Lexus specifies transmission fluid change in specified mileage or time whichever comes first, for each of their models. This does include " sealed for life transmissions ". To confirm  log in to Lexus-tech.eu and look up the maintenance schedule of your car.

Watch the video on Youtube by John Kadogan, an austrlalian qualified mechanical engineer, on automatic transmission fluid's life expectancy according to the fluid's operating temperature. If I remember correctly, it is reduced by 30% for every 20 degrees above normal operating temperatute.

Changing the transmission fluid never causes any problems. The problems arise when the correct procedure is not observed.

Chris.

[Las Palmas]

Nothing last forever. Oil needs to be changed in engines, so how could it last forever in transmissions?

Changed transmission oil in my old Honda Coupé (100.000 km), and VW Golf 2.0tdi DSG (150.000 km). Honda had the automatic transmission flushed and cleaned by special machine. VW had it done by VW so do not know if it was complete or partial. The most expensive was VW as far as I remember.

If we still have the CT when it has done 100.000km transmission oil will be changed.

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, Mihanicos said:

Whenever the transmission oil is fully drained, only about half is drained out.

Lexus specifies transmission fluid change in specified mileage or time whichever comes first, for each of their models. This does include " sealed for life transmissions ". To confirm  log in to Lexus-tech.eu and look up the maintenance schedule of your car.

Changing the transmission fluid never causes any problems. The problems arise when the correct procedure is not observed.

Yes, you get ~3.5-4L in the pan.

Please show me where it states recommended schedule for Aisin A960E.

I partially agree with you here, the problem is - Lexus UK outright refuses to do fluid change. If you insist they do 1L refresh at most. So your only option is either finding transmission specialists which not only difficult to find, but expensive as well... or trusting local garage who have little clue about correct procedures and don't have correct tools. This means in practice procedures are most likely not to be followed.

Now it is all great if you are aircraft engineer yourself and can follow correct procedures and do change yourself, or if you live nearby gearbox specialist which you happen to know and who can do it for you at reasonable cost. Otherwise if gearbox causes no issues I would advise leaving it at that, certainly less risk than giving it to generic local garage and gambling on them refilling correct amount of fluid... mostly by accident. 

[nicnac]

21 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

Now it is all great if you are aircraft engineer yourself and can follow correct procedures and do change yourself

Who could that possibly be Linas?😁😇😇😂

[Linas.P]

2 minutes ago, nicnac said:

Who could that possibly be Linas?😁😇😇😂

It certainly wasn't an accidental wording 😁

[nicnac]

31 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

certainly less risk than giving it to generic local garage and gambling on them refilling correct amount of fluid... mostly by accident. 

The key to doing it is to run the car at the correct temperature as detailed in the procedure ( either with the help of techstream or the get around as detailed) and then undo the stack level hex . This is in the centre of the pan . Then let the fluid out to a slow drip .

I agree with the statement " Dont do it unless you know what you are doing , have the tools ( techstream etc) and explicitly follow the rountine . FULL mechanical flushes as stated above somewhere are not recommened on the 760/960 range .Four or 5 cycles of a few litres  and check adjust level on last cycle is the best procedure , but again ................ ONLY IF YOU DO IT CORRECTLY 

[nicnac]

 

[nicnac]

Just now, nicnac said:

 

She does a pretty good job of explaining the cycle procedure here . There are also ones on youtube where they change sump strainer . 

[nicnac]

 

[nicnac]

Similar transmission

[Linas.P]

I mean I looked into service manual a while back and procedure isn't difficult, it is just tedious and you have to follow all the steps (which is the purpose of having procedure). 

However, now give that to your standard garage mechanic with attention span of squirrel and it is not hard to imagine it failing. Especially, steps 6 and 7 where you need to get transmission up-to specific temp etc.

[nicnac]

13 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

I mean I looked into service manual a while back and procedure isn't difficult, it is just tedious and you have to follow all the steps (which is the purpose of having procedure). 

However, now give that to your standard garage mechanic with attention span of squirrel and it is not hard to imagine it failing. Especially, steps 6 and 7 where you need to get transmission up-to specific temp etc.

Agreed ! It is tedious................. I would only do it for my own !😇😂

[m4rkw]

21 hours ago, Ozzay said:

Anyone ever changed transmission oil before?

Lexus dealer are charging £150. I am not sure if the car needs it at any point.

I read this on a few forums and saw on YT. Some say trans oil lasts the life of the car and others say it might be healthier for the gearbox at 100k.

I am not sure if I need it the car is mostly fine especially when warm. Just sometimes when it slow down almost to 5mph going over these horrible local bumps it shifts down to 1 and then I see a little neutral rev as I accelerate out before it selects the gear again.

Does not happen much but cars generally fine. Not a flush just a complete change. Just wondering.

If you plan on keeping the car a long time then absolutely yes - should ideally be done every 50k or so. £150 sounds cheap, mine was £300 at an independent!

[m4rkw]

Since you're in London I would highly recommend taking it to Russell Birch at Toyotec in Red Hill. He's done mine twice, car runs great, no issues.

 

[Linas.P]

6 minutes ago, m4rkw said:

Since you're in London I would highly recommend taking it to Russell Birch at Toyotec in Red Hill. He's done mine twice, car runs great, no issues.

@ £300 I would expect so, because £400 is the cost of used gearbox (obviously, by the time it is fitted you looking at £600-£700). But still we just talking about fluid change here.

[m4rkw]

Just now, Linas.P said:

@ £300 I would expect so, because £400 is the cost of used gearbox. 

A used broken one? 😛

[m4rkw]

Things done properly cost money. A transmission fluid change is not something you want to scrimp on imho.

The labour was only 1h 15min, the rest of the cost was parts and fluid, the strainer assembly alone is £92.98.