LS400Lucas

Hi, I have a 97 ls400. Im 16 and got my car in may, around midsummer I did the trans fluid and filter. I did not use the Toyota fluid, I forget what exactly it was but I used the fluid orieleys said was needed. Do I need to drain and put in certified toyota fluid? If so do I have to replace filter too?

My ls is not as ¨quick¨ as its supposed to be. I understand its not supposed to fast but I just want to make sure I have everything sorted before I start buying stuff like coilovers and wheels. Could this be why my ls is so much slower. It seems fine off the line but it gets to 5k revs n seems like it has trouble shifting. Trying to know a lot about ls400s so any advice is welcome, thank you

LeX2K

What exact fluid did you use? My advice don't buy coilovers and giant wheels put the money into other things like detailing products. Don't rice an LS it deserves better.

LS400Lucas

I used Valvoline Import ATF. N i understand wanting to keep a car clean but Im really in love with VIP. I don't have super crazy plans for it, 18 inch chrome wheels and moderately low, no big **** or 20 degrees of camber lol

bradland

Yes
Toyota T-IV

400fanboy

Coilovers and wheels won't make the car go any faster. Bigger wheels will actually make the car accelerate even slower. How "quick" should the car be? Why do you think yours isn't performing?

Coilovers and wheels will change the aesthetics of the car and sharpen up the handling a little bit by going VIP, but trust me - as someone who put raaamms' on my car, it comes at the cost of making the ride quality considerably worse. Like, a lot worse. Like you'll start hating potholes and any imperfections in the road.

My 2cents: learn learn learn, it's going to take a long time for you to understand 1) what you want and 2) whether it's worth doing. You'll make a lot of mistakes along the way. I know I did.

It takes a LOT of money do VIP this car "correctly". Don't do it cheaply, it won't turn out good at all.

Your transmission may or may not like the generic fluid. Good news is a drain & fill of transmission fluid only replaces about half of the fluid that's in there (ballpark). If the fluid was dirty coming out, not a bad idea to do it again with the correct fluid this time.

Was the old fluid dirty? Did changing the fluid make any difference to the transmission shifting? What do you mean by "trouble shifting"?

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Mobil 3309 is also a direct fluid to use.

LS400Lucas

I understand wheels and coilovers wont make me faster, I meant I want to make sure car is running right before doing cosmetic. Im not looking to make my ls fast, I just want it running how it should. Its very slow. I had a friend who works at a shop drive it today and he agreed, very slow. We plugged in a obd2 scanner and it gave codes for knock sensor (P0325) and 2 codes for cats (P0430). Ive had these codes for maybe 2 months. I had the caps replaced in the ecu to see if it was that and it was just throwing random codes. The codes remained so I will do the knock sensors this weekend. N sure the car has trouble shifting but its jus slow in general, I might upload video if possible.

Also ya Im going to take my time and build it right, once its running good Im going to get bc coilovers! Ill keep you guys updated, thank you

Edit: I don't remember the old fluid being dirty, I did it with my grandpa and he didn't say anything bad about the fluid. Im sure its not alot to do with fluid now, was just guessing before

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Who did the caps in the ECU? A P0430 may also relate to an O2 sensor as well as anything in that chain of the fuel injection system. That has a variety of possibilities to cover.

400fanboy

To me it sounds like you're on the right train of thought. But it's outside of my knowledgebase - so best of luck!

LS400Lucas

I had a good rated local computer shop do my caps. N yea for the P0430 code Im probably going to take it to a shop for that because its such a general thing and I don't have much mechanical knowledge

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

how much trans fluid did you swap? was it just a drain and fill, or a complete flush?
a drain/fill is only about 2-3 quarts if i'm not mistaken which is only a fraction of the total volume of ATF in the system. i would try and get toyota T-IV ATF in there but doing so depends on how much of the non-toyota stuff needs to be removed. no need to change the filter in my opinion.

as for the modifications, your car your call and i'm glad you're taking care of the maintenance first before doing any mods.

LS400Lucas

Was not a complete flush, I used about 3 quarts of the orieleys fluid. I will drain and measure how much comes out and fill it accordingly. Thank you!

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

i forgot to mention driving the car around circulates the fluid so it would be virtually impossible to get just the non-OE fluid out!
since you only used 3 quarts i would do a few drain and fills with toyota ATF for good measure, and make sure you have the right fluid level afterwards (using the HOT side of the dip stick at operating temp).

lextout

big wheels plus coil overs is counterintuitive

2 will suffer

your suspension components and your wallet