Why did you have it changed? Were you having any symptoms?

 

No problems, bought the car like 2 months ago and checked the fluid and it was really dark brown, just thought it was the smart thing to do.

 

should have had the fluid flushed (not power-flushed) instead of drain+fill

 

Doesn't sound like they did the whole system. If they just drained the pan, it is going to take a handful of drains before you see red. (In usual business circles we don't want to see red but with Toyota fluid we do...har-har. )

 

The only thing those guys are trained to properly drain is your wallet and any pocket money left over.

AVOID!!!

Search the forums. There are a few ways to go about properly servicing your transmission. I posted a video a while back (from Youtube) .

 

Another point is did they use the correct Toyota Type IV fluid?
You have around 10 litres of ATF in the transmission and a drain and refill replaces around 2 litres so you now have 8 old litres mixed with 2 new litres.
The reason why the fluid was red to start with was because the new fluid went straight into the transmission pan and that is where the dipstick is pulled out from,by the time you got home the new and old fluid had mixed together giving you the brown color you now have.
I drained and refilled mine 6 times over a week to get a reasonable red color on the fluid and at that I probably still have 2 litres of the old stuff in there.
The one thing Lexus didn't fit was a torque convertor drain option which would have made things a lot better.

 

The fluid is supposed to turn a different color because it is being broken down. Like mentioned above, you'll never get all of the old stuff out, especially the valve body, converter, etc. Toyota's purpose of the drain and fill is because over time the clutches and fluid wear down and take up clearances in some places. The clutch material often mixes with the friction material in the fluid and helps older transmission stay running. I have a 151k on my GS430, never an issue, 200k on my LS400, both running on T-IV, just drain and fills. If you power flush, you might run into issues of having the new fluid not being able to take up some clearances, causing issues. I learned my lesson with the oil type/filter, so flush, drain and fill, power flush, it's up to you. I've never had a problem with drain and fill. If your concerned with having the freshest of the freshest fluid in there, just do a drain and fill every 15k, instead of waiting 30k to drop it. Also, think about a Hayden or any other brand tranny cooler to extend the life of the fluid.

 

This is where the incremental drain at each oil change (Pick your oil drain interval) is pretty good. Most will have 2 liters of fresh fluid every 5-8K miles. Can be a PITA if you dislike crawling under the car but it is quite easy. Wayyy cheaper than paying some guy to do it. But again, if you don't like getting under the car...

 

fwiw, the tranny fluid has never been replaced in my old 92 and it has over 400,000 miles on it now with zero issues.

anecdotal? maybe...

 

I had mine drained and filled twice. I've heard flush can be no good can anyone confirm? Only toyota t-iv on our trannies. I plan to drain/fill every other oil change. I'm doing this to my Z also and it's been good.

 

power flush=bad
fluid cycle/flush=fine

 

Flush vs fluid cycle have been discussed at great length in prior threads.

PD said it above .

 

Wow! Are you the original owner? Are other LS400's experiencing the same results?

 

+1.... It'll take about 10 drain and refill if you want it to clear out or definitely do the flush. So many DIY's floating around specially on lexls site.

 

I've got a bad transmission slip, from 2nd to 3rd and also have problems with a delay in the reverse shifting into gear. Once the car is warm, shifting into reverse becomes a lot more smooth and not delayed as much.

After speaking to my mechanic, he suggested flushing the transmission. Have any of you had a similar problem and how successful was the trans flush?

I've searched the boards a little and im quite confused on what is the correct ATF to use. Is the Toyota type iv also known as dextron 4 ? or is that a different brand all together. Thanks for the help in advanced.