Fumsinderkidte

Hey friends,

My ls430 shifts weirdly. Shifts are harsh and it changes gears randomly and even looses a gear sometimes and drops in neutral and then changes to a gear again while driving.
A few days ago i wanted to check the transmission fluid level. I opened the overflow screw while the car and almost 1 liter of transmission fluid came out.

Does this mean there was too much fluid in there?

I did this while the car was turned off..30 Minutes after driving. The oil was still a bit warm.

Did i do anything wrong? Please help.

TominPT

The transmission fluid has to be within a certain temperature, with the engine running, when you open the overflow drain.. There are a lot of posts on how to check it, I believe in the mother thread on transmission fluid, see the FAQ section. Or hopefully someone will chime in with the exact procedure.

Do not drive the vehicle further until you have found the procedure, and followed it. You may have to add some fluid before you start it because you may now be low, not sure.

Fumsinderkidte

I still have to drive it to a place where i can lift it up.

Can i start the car when all 4 wheels are lifted? Will this damage the air suspension?

TominPT

Can you jack up the car and place it on jackstands where it is now? Just enough clearance to allow you to access the overflow plug and fill port. I don't think this will damage the air suspension. If that is not feasible you might want to consider having the car towed to a mechanic, especially if the distance is more than a few KMs.

Fumsinderkidte

Yeah i can try to do that.👍🏻

TominPT

OK, great. If I were in your situation I would start with the presumption your transmission issues are not due to overfilling - therefore replace the volume of fluid you drained out with fresh fluid, THEN start the warm-up and fluid check procedure. And make sure the car is level when you do it. Does your transmission show any evidence of leaks? E.g., around the edge of the pan? It is possible you could have been low (due to leaks) but then again, if not, if the last time the transmission was serviced in theory the mechanic did the overflow procedure correctly and all the years since then the fluid has been more or less at the proper level until your recent mishap - in which case something else is going on causing trouble.

Fumsinderkidte

I did not see any leaks or anything else.

I currently also have the problem that the cars engine is running too lean problerbly because of an vacuum leak or a faulty fuel pump...idk.

Since my Ls does not constantly have enough power because there is more air then fuel in the system it could be that the car doesent know which gear to choose...resulting in burning transmission fluid?...Could that be?

alextv

Quantity will not be less but fluid would be darker and smell if it did. There is a reason Toyota says Lifetime trans fluid. Too high, too low, containments introduced will all lead to improper operation. Very few ever get this right and that is why they don't want you touching and only leaving to professional and hopefully it will be done right.

Fumsinderkidte

Yeah i will proberbly just let this be filled up by toyota.

But bro..how hard can it be to fill up the transmission fluid 🤔🤨

OrionHunt

Temperature range is 115-130F. Best if checked using an OBD 2 reader. I use OBDFusion with the extra add-on for Toyota vehicles and a Kiwi 3 BT OBD reader.

Basically have to let car idle until it reaches that temperature. While idling, take the overflow plug from the bottom of the pan. It's a Allen #5 bolt. There should be a trickle of fluid if the level is set correctly. If nothing comes out, you are underfilled. In that case, turn off car. Add 0.5 quarts to the the fill plug. Start the car up again. Let it idle for 10 seconds. Then re-check the level. Repeat until there is a trickle of fluid coming out. I recommend new gaskets. Make sure you can remove the fill plug before you do anything else. Car needs to be level. That is the general procedure for all Toyota/Lexus sealed transmissions (temperate ranges are different for each transmission (e.g., 97-114F on my Tacoma).

Fumsinderkidte

Thanks for the detailed advice.
I think the best thing to do is to let a dealership fill up the fluid. Is this very expensive? Will they even fill up old fluid with new fluid?

Is it so expensive at a dealer that its worth it to do it by myself?

alextv

I agree and would do it myself and just follow the suggested procedure and keep clean fluid going in and you will be fine.

Fumsinderkidte

If i want to do it myself i have to do it on the ground because i only have a lift where the wheels are in the air.

Since i cant start the car with the wheels in the air
because the airsuspension could fail in this process (and for filling up the fluid i need to start the car) only the ground is an option. Is this enough place for this kind of work?

alextv

Mine is a 2001 but as I remember for my UL with air suspension there is a switch to turn it off to service but have never done it and forgot where it is unless I research

Fumsinderkidte

Yeah no problem. I read that those switched only where on the early ls430 models...later models shouldnt have them.

Either way. Thank you and all the other people for answering and helping me with my transmission.

I will go to a dealership and let them do the fillup and the repair of other problems with the engine running to lean. I dont have enough time to do all that myself sadly even if i wanted to.

Cheers guys