for my weekend project i'll be doing some maintanence. when doing tranny drain/fill on 98 ES what fluids do you guys use? manual says dexron II,III. and i was thinking about buying mobil1 synthetic atf. i always thought toyota/lexus always recommends toyota atf/iv fluids only but oh well. any brands, type you guys prefer?

thanks

 

Amsoil ATF, but any of the other synthetics such as Mobil 1 ATF, Redline or Royal Purple are a big improvement over the non-synthetic Type IV fluid. We already have a bunch of people using the 4 synthetics mentioned above in the RX300 (which have a greater strain on the same basic transmission, the U140, as the ES300), and I haven't heard of any issues. I use Amsoil ATF personally.

 

I have used Mobil 1 synthetic ATF in my ES300 for the past two years. This clearly has improved the shifting smoothness from the prior fluid, which was OEM.

 

i like mobil 1 synthetic ATF or amsoil myself...
oem is always a good option, but for my car i always put M1 in my engine/trans.

 

I swore someone said this was bad for your transmission....maybe I'm thinking of something else...?

 

yeah i believe it's for 02-06 ES300s, on my 02 ES u had to use TOYOTA ATF TYPE IV, that's why i was kinda confused on 98 ES300. well i will be running Mobil1 Synthetic ATF from now on

 

Oh! Good to know...

 

Really so will my transmission benefit if I switch from Toyota TYPE IV to Mobile 1 ATF on my 2000 ES?

 

i believe if your owners manual says TOYOTA TYPE IV you can not subsitute with anything, but if it says Dexon II, or Dexron III you can subsitute with any Dexron compatible Fluids including Synthetic, I would check owners manual first before switching

 

Any of the synthetics I mentioned above are compatible with Type IV.

See,

Redline,
http://www.redlineoil.com/product.aspx?pid=51&pcid=9 (Popular applications: Toyota Type T-III and T-IV, Honda ATF Z1, NissanMatic D & J, Diamond SP-II, SP-III, Mazda ATF M-V, most BMW, Audi, VW automatic transmissions)

Mobil 1,
https://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English...hetic_ATF.aspx (Also suitable for use in vehicles that specify the following fluid requirements: Toyota T-III, T-IV)

Royal Purple,
http://www.royalpurple.com/transmission-chart.html (Toyota Type: T, T-III, T-IV)

Amsoil,
http://www.amsoil.com/storefront/atf.aspx (AMSOIL Synthetic Universal ATF is recommended for transmissions, hydraulics, power steering and other applications requiring any of the following specifications: Toyota Type T-III and T-IV)

 

My 97 ES specifies Dexron, so M1 is OK.

 

The only official T-IV compatible is Mobil ATF 3309 https://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English..._ATF_3309.aspx

Older M1 ATF did not compatible with T-IV.

 

my 99 uses t-IV

 

You can also use Dexron-VI in the 98 as it is backwards compatible with Dexron II and III.
I'll be doing this tomorrow morning.

 

I've been running M1 synthetic ATF in both my 98 ES and my wife's 03 RX without any problems. Absolutely no leaks, both are shifting better, and I haven't noticed any slipping. I recommend switching to some sort of syn if you don't go M1. I'll be doing another drain and fill on both the Lexus' pretty soon and M1 is going back in.

For those who said that if the manual states "toyota" then you have to put in Toyota fluids is wrong. There is legislation that states an auto maker can not dictate what brand fluid, but can only state what quality/formulation.
Ferrari tried to make people buy "ferrari oil" for their cars at $100 a quart back in the day.