Ls 400 Gearbox Oil?

[lex ls400]

What oil needs to but in automatik in -96 lexus. it´s four speed and autodata says decron II and 2l. What people to use, Mobil, shell, Castrol..... And what about this decronII, is it possible to use better like decron III or four?

[SteveLS400]

What oil needs to but in automatik in -96 lexus. it´s four speed and autodata says decron II and 2l. What people to use, mobil, shell, castrol..... And what about this decronII, is it possible to use better like decron III or four?

Dont put ANYTHING in it other than Toyota Type IV ATF unless you want to buy a new box.

[steve2006]

As above only use Toyota Type IV transmission fluid,it's not cheap here in the UK (It is in the USA) but is the only recommended fluid for this type af Aisin Warner transmission.

Fluid should be cherry red on the dipstick.

[lex ls400]

Someone makes this toyota atf oil, i ask from my brother and he said it might be made by Castrol . He works toyota finland and said that in finland they use Castrol.This toyota atf is not cheap in finland.... :tsktsk:

[SteveLS400]

Someone makes this toyota atf oil, i ask from my brother and he said it might be made by castrol . He works toyota finland and said that in finland they use castrol.This toyota atf is not cheap in finland.... :tsktsk:

Somebody does because Toyota definately dont make oil.

[steve2006]

The Toyota fluid is not cheap as I already stated,it is however cheaper than replacing a damaged transmission filled with the incorrect type of fluid.

In the UK it is around £60.00 for 5 litres in the US it works out around £20.00 for the same amount! What's the cost in FInland?

[abs66]

Hi

From my research (bloody hours and hours!) mobile 3309 ATF is the same as Toyota T-TIV and a lot of knowledgeable oil blokes say they make it for Toyota, whether that is true I can't say buy it seems that way. Apparently they make the ATF for Volvo's that use the AW boxes too and that is also the same as T-TIV.

As far as I can tell AW is a sub division of Toyota anyway.

There are some Fully synthetic ATF fluids out there that are allegedly up to or exceed the T-TIV specs but I would suggest you check these out for yourself as I don't mean to be unhelpful I just don't want to recommend anything I haven't been able to check out fully my self.

There is an oil company that I have heard good things about in the past called Opie Oils, I've never actually bought anything from them but a quick look at their website suggests they have alternative ATF's that meet the T-TIV specs, but again I would recommend giving them a ring as they seem very expensive per litre. Why are we so ripped off in this country!

Hope that helps a bit.

Couple of links, you will see its fairly pricey stuff, maybe the toyota dealers would be cheaper, not checked myself yet.

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-60163-fuchs-titan-atf-4400-automatic-transmission-fluid-for-japanese-cars.aspx

http://www.opieoils.co.uk/p-1052-amsoil-synthetic-automatic-transmission-fluid-atf.aspx

[SteveLS400]

Hi

From my research (bloody hours and hours!) mobile 3309 ATF is the same as Toyota T-TIV and a lot of knowledgeable oil blokes say they make it for Toyota, whether that is true I can't say buy it seems that way. Apparently they make the ATF for Volvo's that use the AW boxes too and that is also the same as T-TIV.

As far as I can tell AW is a sub division of Toyota anyway.

Hi

As I have said for a long time, someone must make Type TIV because Toyota don't make oil.

Don't suppose you saved any links from your research - which if proven - is a great piece of work. I've give up a few times.

[abs66]

I will have to try and re find the stuff but I was kind of glazing over after 4 hours lol.

I will try and retrace my steps but I'm pretty confident of the Mobil connection.

[abs66]

Here are some links that might be of interest:

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1350452

http://www.freewebs.com/howardsvolvos/driveline.htm

Scroll down to "Transmission fluid change "

http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s60-10/where-buy-mobil-3309-atf-san-jose-ca-44249/

http://volvoforums.com/forum/volvo-s60-10/transmission-issue-engine-revs-car-does-not-move-47042/

Hope that helps a bit, I will post more as I find them, but it seems pretty obvious if you trace the AW boxs fitted to other manufacturers the Mobile 3309 keeps cropping up and I have seen on a few forums with Mods who work for the maker eg volvo saab etc that Mobile make the ATF which is then rebadged for different manufacturers.

Just as a side note I've not actually managed to find an alternative to T-TIV at a decent price and I'm not willing to risk fully synths as some things I have read suggest that the AW boxes designed for T-TIV dont like it and who am I to argue with the techs that design the boxes.

With regards to Castrol, I did read somewhere that they do make a T-TIV equiv but dont know much about it I'm afraid.

[beavisrules]

Wouldnt have supprised me if toyota/asin specified thier own oil from the manufactor.

Toyota have been the top R&D spender in the world quite a few times in the last few decades and may well have specified something odd.

The oils that claim to be "higher spec" probably dont know exactly what criteria they are designing for so 'better' is going to be aplication specific.

Also iirc , the T-IV bottle does say "specificaly formulated by toyota for toyota gearboxes" on it , or somethign similar?.

Same as most above , wouldn't dream of putting anything other than T-IV in if i was going to change the ATF , for the sake of an extra £40? nowai!.