maurice01

Is it a good idea to have the tranny fluid change at 140k, if it has never been change befor?

yyymmm31

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There are two camps regarding transmission fluid in high mileage (>100K miles) cars. One school believes that replacing transmission fluid in a high mileage car will do more harm than help because the fresh transmission fluid will clean the components in the transmission along with removing some wear particles from the gears and seals, which will lead to leaks and malfunction of the transmission. The other school believes that it is always good to replace the old worn transmission fluid since fresh transmission fluid will smooth the gears and make the car run better. As you may already know, the LS460 has a sealed transmission unit and Lexus USA (i.e., only in the USA) said that the transmission fluid is good for the life of the car and there is no need to replace transmission fluid. However, for the rest of the world including Canada, Lexus recommended replacing the transmission fluid every 60K miles. So, you will need to weigh out the benefits and potential risks of replacing transmission fluid on your 140K-mile LS460. If I were you, I'd do a drain and refill of the transmission fluid (needs about 3.4 qts of genuine Toyota WS transmission fluid) and run the car for a few weeks (800-1000 miles) and then check for leaks and abnormal sounds and behavior, etc. of the transmission. If everything is fine, do a second drain and refill and drive around for a few weeks and check the transmission condition again. If all is fine, repeat the procedure two more times (total 4 drains and refills). Thereafter, do a drain and refill every 30K miles. The key here is sticking to genuine Toyota ATF WS transmission fluid and doing the incremental drains and refills. Absolutely no flush of transmission.
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derpie

yyymmm31

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There is a paper filter but no screen in the transmission. Given the high mileage of the car, and since there are three magnetic metal catchers on the transmission pan, I would think that it is not critical to replace the paper filter, at least for the first two drains and refills. If all goes well after the first two drains and refills, I would not rule out replacing the paper filter at the third or fourth drain and refill. However, this is my biased opinion. Other perfectionists may not agree and may want to do a drop pan and replace the paper filter at the very beginning.
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silverbck

This is great info. Thanks!

writes123

The previous owner of my 600h had the eCVT flushed and filled at 96k miles with 12 quarts of WS ATF. Recently got my differential and transfer case fluid drained and filled and asked about transmission fluid service. The mechanic said it was unnecessary at this time (127k - 30k miles after).

colfax

Very interesting thread.

I have 105,000 miles on my 07 and the service record shows some kind of tranny fluid service was done at 60,000 miles, unclear exactly what.

At 100,000 I had the differential fluid changed, the mechanic said it was a little dirty not bad and good idea to change it anyway.

So now I am wondering if I should now do the tranny 3 quart drain and fill thing?

But my question to you all is why, why would Lexus say that US models do not ever, ever need the fluid changed, not even touched forever?

I remember about 10 years ago BMW motorcycles said that their drive shaft's fluid would never need changing, ever.

Then a year or two later they changed that policy back to change the fluid I believe something like every 12k miles.

So, both BMW and Lexus for whatever reason have both decided it simply is not necessary to change certain drive train fluids, interesting?

writes123

I read that lifetime fluids usually refers to 100k miles. Perhaps in an effort to lower overall cost of ownership, OCI were extended and other fluid intervals were changed.

Knowing that heat damages transmission fluid, it boggles the mind if it never ought to be changed if you want your transmission to last.

Thegamemhb

So did you change your tranny fluid changed or not

norakat

Here is the verdict (for me) - I only do partial changes (drain what’s in the pan) every 30-40k miles. That’s about 1/3 of the oil. I drive my car as a profession. Every time I do a change the shifting feels significantly better and you can feel the difference. If there were no degradation, you would not feel any difference.