Originally Posted by wayman28

Thanks JiffyPop. I'd be very interested in the results of your fluid change. From what I hear the procedure is a little trickier than one would expect because there's no dipstick and the only fill hole is vertical (as opposed to on the bottom or top of the transfer case) so you'll have to get creative with how to "pump" the fluid in. I'd be curious about the procedure you end up using.

Besides the crazy cost of the Toyota fluid, the main issues are:

1) Since Lexus seems to have reformulated the fluid to solve this shudder, will an "equivalent" aftermarket fluid solve the issue at all?

2) Will the fluid change procedure fix the shudder permanently or just temporarily? My Lexus tech said the underlying issue is the way the transfer case was built. The reformulated fluid definitely fixes the issue in the short-term but the shudder returns after about a year so it's not really worth the expense to do the procedure.

I guess if we discover a fluid change with a cheaper equivalent fluid makes the shudder go away even temporarily then it's much more feasible to do that annually versus paying $150/liter with Lexus.

Looking forward to see how things go with your fluid change when it gets warmer out.

Originally Posted by Doublebase

These are $8 at harbor freight and Walmart. I've used them several times to fill all sorts of transfer cases, rear ends and transmissions.

Originally Posted by caha14

My 2010 600hL has this "magic" fluid from the factory. It exhibits no shudder when turning, so I would lean to conclude that the fix is permanent, since my car has been running with this fluid for over four years.

In terms of paying for this, I would at least ask Lexus corporate for assistance. They may say yes to paying for it all, they may say no, or they may offer to pay for labor or for the oil. There is nothing to lose for asking, especially since this is a known issue (i.e., they did change the factory fluid), and the price tag is so high.

Originally Posted by wayman28

Caha14, just so I'm clear can you confirm that you previously had the shudder problem and went through the TSB procedure to fix it?

Originally Posted by caha14

My 2010 600hL has this "magic" fluid from the factory. It exhibits no shudder when turning, so I would lean to conclude that the fix is permanent, since my car has been running with this fluid for over four years.

In terms of paying for this, I would at least ask Lexus corporate for assistance. They may say yes to paying for it all, they may say no, or they may offer to pay for labor or for the oil. There is nothing to lose for asking, especially since this is a known issue (i.e., they did change the factory fluid), and the price tag is so high.

Originally Posted by caha14

No TSIB for my car; my VIN is past the cutoff in the TSIB, and thus, as I said, my car came with this new fluid from the factory, and there is no shudder when turning.

Originally Posted by satiger

Well said.

This is a know problem on certain Toyotas and Lexus lines. As I said earlier, no ebay or amazon fluids going to fix this issue. Secondly I wouldn't trust some mechanic's statement. One way to confirm this is to call Lexus 1-800. They will transfer to second level support to answer technical questions. Toyota would not have have issued a TSB with fix if that were to be a temporary fix. This oil/fluid suppose to have been delivered to dealerships in drums and not in retail 1 quart cans/bottles.

Originally Posted by satiger

I used regular Lexus customer support line. When I had a technical question, they transferred me to second level support.

Personally I would ask that mechanic whether he used specially formulated bulk oil from Toyota or the ones from regular cans during his TSB services. Secondly what did he tell to those customers who according to him returned with the same issue after year or so?. Same TSB one more time, ask them to contact Lexus.....?.