Whats done is done & I had no problems.
As stated it is not a path I would go down again but in this case I had inherited a vehicle & had no idea of the fluid / service history.

Important to note that in the procedure I described above no loose particles can damage your tranny. They are all swept out.

I now practice a regimen of drain & refill & do so knowing that I have done all I can to assure that the fluid is pure clean Toyota T-IV. This is the path I would recommend for all to take. Do so & you should never require a full flush.

All is happy with my 190,000 mile LS400.

Heat kills transmissions. Old, warn fluid offers no capacity to relieve heat so in the case we are talking about I would drain & refill (not much more than a quart will come out) at the very least. This should leave plenty of the old fluid that people apparently believe is acting like a leak damn.

 

hmmmmmm, I have a 94 LS 400 also and I don't think my dad's ever drained any of the fluids in the damn car. the only thing he swears by is changing the oil every 3k (now 5k with the newer oils) and replacing a part when it's broken.

I, on the other hand, believe you should change your fluids often. Especially if the car is in heavy traffic, goes through plenty of cold starts and lots of idling.

The car currently has a little over 108,000 miles.

I don't think it has ever gone to the dealer for any of the maintenance schedules. I only know he's replaced the spark plugs at 90,000.

what do you guys suggest I do about all the fluids in the car? (radiator, transmission, rear diff, etc)

 

I suggest you change all of them

 

me too

and check to see if the timing belt / water pump was ever replaced as well...

 

oh the timing belt and water pump is new. my dad did it himself after the belt went bad.

Just a drain and fill for everything?

or flush? power flush?

 

Just do a drain and fill. I bet your Dad put new antifreeze in when he did the timing belt and water pump. I would just have Lexus service your transmission and rear differential. I would also have the brake fluid changed.

 

Why Lexus? All you need is the correct allen wrench for the rear diff - you drain it through the drain plug, reinstall the drain plug, then fill it through the fill plug until it runs out the side, the reinstall the fill plug - done... the trans - I would just drain and fill it as well, drain it, fill through the dipstick tube, done...

 

cool. thanks guys

 

I have just done a drain & fill on both of my high mileage GS300's and have not had a problem other than a smoother shifting tranny..My latest GS300 had 220,000 miles when I first bought it and I did a drain & fill every 2k miles for the first 6k miles and now my tranny fluid is a nice cherry color. Hope this info works..

 

Because Lexus can charge big $ for simple DIY jobs. It also would save the owner "valuable time" while in reality he/she has to burn gas, spent twice the amount of time driving to the dealership and waiting at the lounge. This is called customer service marketed at its best!