lexus-is2

So I put a transmission in from the breakers yard on my 2006 IS250 RWD. Tranny has about 85k miles on it. Running nice and smooth. The shop put new fluid and new filter etc in. My question is, how regularly from now with this new tranny should I do fluid change? fluid changes works out rather expensive at the shop. I was thinking, could I possibly do a trickle fluid change on a yearly or every two years or x mileage where I drain out the fluid from the drain plug then close the drain plug with new washer if needed and measure the exact amount that came out and put that amount back in?

mandyfig

Yes a DRAIN and FILL would be less expensive and will not shock the tranny system. That's what I do. You can research the exact amount of fluid needed for a drain and fill, you need to strictly follow this, however this quantity of fluid assumes your car is level. What I did was I drained the tranny fluid and replaced it with the exact amount (drained) if for example you just jacked up the car on 2 wheels. Use Toyota ATF WS Transmission Fluid, good luck.

In my case luckily I have a slope on my driveway, I used ramps and used my "leveler" to get the car to parallel on the ground. Close enough to make sure tranny fluid out = tranny fluid in. Do not sweat it. The most important thing to remember is "SAFETY" when you are lifting cars.

MikeFig82

iTrader: (13)

It's not the correct process, but it has worked for me as well. Drain 4 qts then fill back up with 4 qts. I'm about 60k with this method with a total of 5 drain, and fills.


2010 AWD IS250

winterturb

Another drain and fill advocate. Every 30,000k is plenty. It’s easy and cheap. Just put in what you take out. Level of the car matters much less than temperature of the fluid. Do it cold if you can. Measure whatever comes out and put that much in. Use the Toyota WS and nothing else. Don’t mix fluids. If doing a full swap then you can switch to an Amsoil or other compatible fluid but for drain and fill stick with oem fluid and you will likely never have any tranny trouble.

primavera

Buying a siphon pump is not necessary. 4,5 ft. 1/2"inch (no larger then 3/4"inch) of clear tubing from Home Depot or Lowe's will do the trick. Open the hood, feed the tubing through the engine bay into the transmission filler hole. SLOWLY pour the fluid into a funnel and let the gravity do it's thing.

lexus-is2

Thank you for the replies. I dont do that many miles per year anymore. Probably around 4 to 6k miles at most. My replacement tranny has now been in the car for about 5 months and everything runs smoothly. All my rough jerking issues etc all gone. Now thinking long term to protect my investment of the new tranny, how often should I do a trickle change where i drain and refill the same amount? Would yearly be excessive? If I say every 20k then problem with that is it could be 4 or 5 years for me to get to that with current driving.

In regards to a DIY fluid change. Currently I have a brand new filter and new fluid in there. The tranny shop emptied the old fluid as much as they could in order to try and get as much as of the old fluid out as possible. At some point i'm assuming maybe I need to take it back to them to do a filter change etc. So I was thinking maybe 5 years or 40k miles whichever comes first I can take it to them to drain and chnage filter again? But this service is quite expensive so doing a basic drain and refill without removing pan or anything sounds like a good habbit to be in to keep things clean inside. So it seems like many agree that you can drain the fluid and then measure the exact amount that comes out and put that exact same amount back in. One post above mentioned level ground, but this is very hard to do on a DIY as usually you have to put car up on ramps or something on the front end. But surely if the car is lifted on the front the level shouldnt really effect it because whatever comes out is what i will be putting in right? The other problem is the small differences in measurement and small amount of fluid that might get wasted in the tube when pouring the fluid back in.

winterturb

your car does not have to be level of doing a drain and fill. You simply put back in what came out. If checking the fluid levels them levelling the car matters. It’s does not matter one bit when you change it. If it’s tilted too much one way or another then less or more fluid comes out. It’s no big deal


there is not a significant filter in the tranny. Just a screen and it doesn’t need to be changed. So you don’t need to drop the pan every time you drain and fill.

the toyota tranny fluid is good stuff. If you drain and fill every 4 years or 20k the transmission will likely outlast you.

you may be worrying more than you need to on this.

lexus-is2

Thank you man that's some great advice. I know I'm probably overthinking and over worrying but having had to replace the tranny once, I want to try and avoid another episode. So you suggest 4 years or 20k miles to drain and refill the exact amount that I drained? Does the thickness of fluid etc not effect the measurement? For example the fluid I drain because it's old and will have sludge then technically will that fluid quantity technically not be different to the exact same quantity of brand new fluid? So for example brand new 1L is it the same as old sludgy dark 1L fluid?

Also, when refilling if I was to use a clear tube coming down the engine bay with a funnel at the end and I pour in the exact amount I drained, then will I not loose a tiny amount of fluid each time that gets stuck to the walls of the hose and funnel etc?

mandyfig

"Also, when refilling if I was to use a clear tube coming down the engine bay with a funnel at the end and I pour in the exact amount I drained, then will I not loose a tiny amount of fluid each time that gets stuck to the walls of the hose and funnel etc?"

Yes you can fill from the above as you suggested. In my case I used a pump form underneath which is actually challenging.

bryceis250

i just wanted to remove it

bryceis250

his was a great tidbit man, i never thought of it and my mechanic passed on the job because his pump was too short.

winterturb

if your old fluid is sludgy then that changed things, In which case you should do a drain and fill in 4 successions like once a week for 4 weeks. You still don’t want to do a flush just drip and fill.

as for filling I went to the local are ware store and bought some 1/2 copper bendable tubing so I could creat a hook that would stay in the fill plug and then connected a clear plastic hose to it with a funnel in the end si i could fill the tranny from under the hold rather than trying to pump it in. Likely less than a capful or two will remain in the fill hose so add that much extra. That’s it.

otherwise when you drain and fill if your tranny fluid looks fine then yes every 4 years or 20k will be fine. You can do much more often if you like. It won’t hurt anything

as far as fluid sludginess I would still do volume per volume. 1 quart out 1 quart in. Temperature likley matters most. Hit fluid will be lower volume than cold