Timothyj

I had a trans flush on my 04 es. They used the BG flush, done by a machine that used low pressure to push the old fluid out, new fluid in. Watched them do it. No problems had it done about 1 year ago.

enterconne

Off Topic, but I heard the same thing about fuel injector flushes. If you use them they can dislodge gunk from the tank which can clog your injectors. Just use good gas, and you'll be good to go.

yeldogt

Many transmission fluids start out using the same base -- They then have additive pacs placed on top of that base fluid. Often the specification given is this base fluid -- the specification listed by the manufacturer must meet this minimum specification. With cars manufactured all over the world - the base specifications are needed as to available fluids in that area. The availability of many different aftermarket fluids in the USA is an exception -- most places do not have the variety available that we have in the USA.

Some fluids have more solvents and/ or cleaning agents -- they are designed to get brown. Many fluids have powerful dyes in them -- they never look old. Some fluids are designed to not allow the particles to remain in suspension -- so they look cleaner. The color of the fluid id not a good way to determine what is up. But they can all meet the base specification of say a III or a Type IV -- but they are all different fluids designed to do different things.

Why would a car company have two fluids -- when one would do -- and be better?


Will a different fluid harm a transmission? -- Who knows. Transmissions last so long today that it will be owned by someone else. But it very well may shift differently. People often change a fluid and say that the shifts are smoother. Well, that is because the additive pac in the fluid is allowing the clutch pack to slip ...... smoother shifts but more wear on the clutch pack.

As to the SUV problem with longevity -- that is a transmission problem/ some say clutch pac issue -- fluid can't overcome the laws of physics.

BradTank

I agree, and I'm personally suspicious of "all in one" synthetic transmission fluids that say they work with all sorts of different transmissions. You wouldn't trust a motor oil that instead of putting a weight like 5w-30 on the bottle said "universal", and I definitely wouldn't trust a fluid that claimed it worked with all types of transmissions, even if it felt "smoother", which could mean it's simply allowing more slip (not a good thing) Transmissions are incredibly complex, and I would wager a bet that the overwhelming majority of transmission shops and rebuilders only recommend the factory fluid after a rebuild (unless they get money for pushing something like Amsoil which has a sales model like Amway or Avon)

The overwhelming majority of ES's here are on their original transmissions, and I would be willing to bet that there's many cars here with well over 200k miles on their original transmissions that have only used the fluid Toyota recommended. To me that says there's nothing "wrong" with the fluid Toyota uses, it works fantastic, and it doesn't make sense to risk trying other "universal" branded products.

BDSL

I have a 97 ES300 with almost 250k miles on original transmission. I have been running on Dexron3 in the transmission since day 1. I just do drain and fill every 15k miles. Everything is as per service manual.

LeX2K

My experience with Royal Purple shows the opposite. Shifts are smoother (you feel them less) but they are quicker. On both my cars I'm running RP in, same experience. I didn't notice a lot of difference in my Lexus, but in my Camry a much more obvious improvement. My mileage also improved slightly.