TAURUSSLVR

haven't done an oil change since I'm still under warranty. I recently changed out the brake pads and rotors. The front is slightly easier than the rear. As the other members here have mentioned, there are plenty of videos on youtube regarding this. Myself personally, I youtubed DIY Dan for reference. He did an oil change and front and rear rotors and pads on a 2013 GS 350 AWD (about the same process for a RWD). He gives a list of tools necessary for the job.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

I do all the regular maintenance myself, it's not hard. I also enjoy working on my cars.

UDel

I do everything I can, oil changes, brake pads, rotate tires, filter changes, will change my own spark plugs, etc.

thisguy_06

Anyone done their ATF and rear diff fluid?

Or do you guys know how much your dealer is charging to get it done?

UDel

With ATF you only want to do a drain and fill, do not have it flushed. I am waiting a little longer until there is more of a consensus on how to do the drain and fill in this car. I have not done differential, some say don't bother with the differential, it is not something that really needs changing but I will just pay attention to other experiences and recommendations before/if I attempt that too.

thallium

I've got a Camry with similar V6 and a GS350. I've done quite a bit of maintenance on the Camry, including ATF filter change and two drain and fills. If you're thinking of doing an ATF drain and fill here are some resources:

Some Forum Threads on ATF Changes (be aware, some are for AWD and some RWD; very similar but there are some differences)
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...hange-diy.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...iy-w-pics.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...iy-w-pics.html

Youtube ATF Change DIY on AWD: Youtube Rear Diff Oil Change on AWD:
After experiencing a Toyota dealer while trying to get my Camry ATF changed in its "sealed" transmission and them not even acknowleding a known tranny problem and being suspicious that they didn't even do the job properly while charging me over $300.00 I decided to do it myself.

Cwang

I do my own maintenance. Have done the diff and engine oil, all the filters and the spark plugs. I have all the gear to change the transmission filter and fluid but am hesitant...may enlist a pro for that one

thallium

I was hesitant too, before I learned how to do the changes on a Camry. You don't need any special skills or equipment, though certain equipment might help make it easier. Here are the hardest thing about it or that were most frustrating (at least to me):

• Car needs to be raised so it's level - Requires 4 jack stands (or mechanics lift if you're lucky) and somehow you need to ensure it's level. I don't think you have to be **** about it but try to make it level. I used a magnetic level attached to the pinch weld seam and matched the level when it was on the ground to when it was in the air.
• Have a way to determine transmission fluid temp with one of the following:
  • Use the instrument panel method by jumping the OBD pins - This is easy to do and costs no money.
  • Use OBD scanner if you can find the ATF temp with whatever software you have - May need to write custom PID as proper temp may not be present.
  • Use an infrared thermometer on the transmission pan - May not be as accurate if you don't have it calibrated right for the material
• Refilling without making a complete mess, spilling and wasting fluid - I hate the smell of ATF and don't like it on me. When doing this on a Camry doing a 12 quart drain and fill from the ATF cooler line I had to drain and fill 1 quart at a time so had to drain a quart, fill a quart and so on. I tried using a tube and a funnel or a hand pump and it drove me nuts as the hose kept popping out of the fill hole or fluid dribbled out past the hose in the fill hole or I poured it too fast into the funnel and overflowed or on and on so that I would have ATF all over my hands the ground the side of the transmission and then I'd have to get in the car, start it and let it run until I'd pumped out a quart but I was oily and dirty and would have to clean my hands before getting in the car. It was very frustrating. Would have been easier to have an assisant. I've since gotten a Motive fluid pump tank that I'll use the next time I do this. It has a hooked filler nozzle so hopefully I won't be spilling fluid and it will make things a lot easier.

That's about it for the hardest parts. The rest is pretty basic. If you're going to change the filter on the GS, it's pretty straight forward to pop the pan off and replace it. In contrast the Camry's pan cannot be removed without undoing a motor mount and jacking the engine up which was another frustrating step.

Cwang

Thanks for taking the time to post your experience. The only part that worries me us getting the right amount of fluid back in. I've read the process bit everything is that much harder when the car is 1 foot off the ground!

thallium

Getting the right amount of fluid back in is the most important part but it's not that difficult. Some people just measure exactly how much they took out and put that much back in and then you don't even have to worry about finding the temperature.

In theory this will work if: the proper amount of fluid was in there to begin with and the fluid you're adding matches the temp of the fluid you removed. You might not be able to rely on the fact that the right amount of fluid was in there to begin with. Anecdotal evidence has shown that sometimes they come low from the factory and if you take out warm fluid and add cold fluid you may overfill. Also, if you drop the pan and replace the filter, you can't measure the amount of fluid trapped in the filter and you increase the amount of fluid that you can't measure and are more likely to have some loss due to spillage.

Personally, I'd rather do the proper temp procedure level check and at least compared to the Camry, the GS is much easier. I won't go into it in detail but the Camry doesn't have a seperate drain and overflow, they're combined and the overflow tube is removable which caused me some problems. Anyway, you can drain the fluid and add back what you removed and then add, say, an extra quart. Start the car, engage the temp mode or get your other method ready, let the car warm up and when it enters the right temp range you remove the overlow plug and let it drain until the trickle stops and then you replace the plug and you're done.

It's better to overfill and let it drain out than to underfill becuase if it's too low, nothing will trickle out and now it's too hot and could take hours or overnight to cool back down to when you try again.

er34

Brake pads, rotors, fluid
Front/rear diff fluid
Filters

All I've done so far on this car.

UDel

Safest way to me to do it is drain it while it is pretty cool/room temp into a clear jug(I used milk jugs or OJ plastic containers) inside a pan or something to container to catch any spills, lift it up, drain out of drain hole, then fill the identical container with the exact same amount of new transmission fluid or you can mark the container you drained into with a pen, pour out the old fluid into something else and put new fluid up to where you marked it. Then just carefully pour new fluid back into the fill or dipstick hole if it has one and you don't have to mess with trying to match temperature/heating new fluid. You may have to do it a couple times to replace most of the old fluid but just adding new fluid would make a big difference in the life/quality of the fluid in there.

I wonder since Toyota says this is lifetime transmission fluid and does not need to be changed that if your transmission does go and the diagnosis has something to do with the old/bad/burnt fluid that you could get Toyota to pay for the new transmission since the lifetime fluid failed.

peasodos

iTrader: (1)

Never changed the transmission fluid on Honda's. My parents has a 1998 Honda accord that had 232,505 miles on it when I sold it, never changed the coolant and never had an issue, same with the brake fluid, and power steering. Yeah it gets old and dirty but any difference in performance is negligible as long as there is fluid. I drained and filled that transmission once.

2GR

Common Maintenance is exactly like any other Toyota. Tools are the same and even some parts are shared.
P.S. DIY Dan is a huge help and excellent resource for info