duane

I’m a newbie here and have learned quite a bit, so I want to give back if I can.

My wife and I bought a used 1999 RX300 with 90,000 miles on the odometer. Part of the purchase agreement was that the timing belt was replaced prior to our taking the vehicle. The previous maintenance history is unknown, but the vehicle looked very clean and drove very well.

I was worried about the engine sludging issue, but was unaware of the potential tranny issues. There are no signs of any sludging issues with the engine, so that’s the good news. The following is a list of 90,000 mile maintenance and other things I wanted to get done.

•Replace PCV valve. Easy and straight forward
•Replace transfer case and rear differential gear oil with Mobil 1 75W-90. Old gear oil still looked good
•Replace spark plugs. Not the easiest of jobs.
•Replace cabin air filter. Easy and straight forward
•Purchase used master key with new uncut blade. Had it cut at local locksmith and programmed using instructions from this site. All works well.
•Engine air filter looked new, so no replacement at this point
•Brake fluid looks very clean so no replacement at this point
•Coolant looks very clean, no replacement at this point
•Power steering fluid looks very clean, no replacement at this point
•Change the tranny fluid 3 times over a course of 1000 miles. (Toyota type IV) Last two included dropping the tranny pan and removing the front differential drain plug. The inside of the pan and exterior of the filter was coated with a silver dust, and the magnets had a fair amount of stuff on it. Hand cleaned everything. The micro-screen in the tranny filter looked very clean. When I drained the tranny fluid for the first time, it looked okay, but I’m glad I took off the tranny pan. I now wish I had replaced the filter, but I’ll get that after the next 10,000 miles. I’m surprised that the filter holds fluid up in the tranny, because when you remove it, another 10 – 16 oz drains out. I did not think to check if there was some sought of check valve which holds the fluid up to keep the system primed. The problems experienced on this site have me rather concerned over the longevity of the transmission. It works well now, but we will see about the future.

Discovered two problems with the vehicle.

1.Passenger rear window will go down from the drivers control panel, but will not go up. It will go up from the switch on the passenger’s rear door. Any input?
2.Anti-lock brakes actuating sporadically when braking. It’s not consistent when it happens, mostly under slow speed gentle braking. I was hoping to pull the speed sensors and clean, but after reading info on this site, it looks like they are hard to pry out of the wheel hub. Any input?

Comments Welcomed

TunedRX300

Nice work, on the transmission filter, could you verify the one came with the car is a metal one? I am ordering an replacement filter and plan to change the filter. I am also going to disconnect the tranny cooler and see how much ATF I can get out of the cooler.

Tammy

The last fluid is the washer fluid in it's reservoir. Siphion it dry with a 1/4 inch hose and refill it with fresh. Test the motor with the front and rear washers. Top up the tank.

1 - Your master switch assembly is most likely at fault. Cost may be prohibitive for the single switch failure.

2 - This suggests that you have air in the hydraulic system. Take your RX to a toyota dealer for a brake bleeding using their diagnostic tool. This insures the ABS motor is cleared of all air. Lexus would use the same tool.

dwsmith37

Is the filter in the RX actually a metal screen? Does it really need to be replaced? I have read on some other posts that the metal screen can be cleaned with brake cleaner. Is this true? Same issue with the pan gasket; Does it need to be replaced when dropping the pan or can it be reused? Anyone care to chime in on these questions?
Lexmex, is a DIY photo guide for dropping the transmission pan in the future?

Daniel

dwsmith37

I had posted this question to you in another thread but I will ask it here. How about a DIY for a transmission pan drop? I would like to see a photo guide for that before give it an attempt.
By the way, your DIY photo guides have helped me alot in my DIY projects.

Daniel

Lexmex

Thank you.

I think TunedRX300 is going to take this one on. I actually will do a follow up afterwards to show what was in my filter and pan for comparison since we both differ in mileage by quite a bit.

salimshah

Daniel:

One of the things I love on Lexus is the trans-drain plug.

If the pan does not leak or the drain bolt is not cross threaded, I see no reason to pop open the pan. The screen filter practically requires no service. I don't mind oil under my nails, but the trans fluid is nasty stuff. Fipg needs to be kept cool before application, and afterwards you have less than 10 mins from squeezing the paste to last bolt being torqued.

Photos would help, but the process is intuitive. Removing old fipg, cleaning the surfaces is the most difficult part, followed by breaking the seal. Breaking the seal requires a bit of gumptions as one is tempted leave it alone [but if you partially crack the seal, you have to go all the way].

Salim
Been there, done that and don't intend to do it again.

hksimpson

I am doing my tranny fluid this weekend and love that it has a drain plug and a regular filler (dipstick). On many cars they went to sort of a lifetime fluid. This means to drain you remove the pan and to fill you pull some obscure plug off the side of the transmission. 100% guarantee you will make a mess and cuss the whole time. You will also cuss when you find out that those cars require fluid that will run you about $100 if you can find the OEM kind or twice that at a dealer.

TunedRX300

This is what a Audi A6 owner finds out after only 30K after he drops the pan. Magnet at the drain plug works, but only when the ATF is close to it, which is very small %. Every drop of ATF must pass through the tranny filter, which when clogged decrease the pressure because there is no bypass valve. Just because something is not easy to be serviced does not mean there is no need.
http://www.audipages.com/Tech_Articl...servicing.html

TunedRX300

Daniel,
Here is another picture of new and old filter in an Audi A6 after just 30K miles, you can decide which one you prefer to have in your car.

salimshah

In my case I did see some filings clinging to magnet but not as much as the picture above. It was many oders of magnitude less. I also dont recall the screen that tightly knit to get clogged.

Dont let me discourage you, if you think your transmission will benifit, go for it. From my point of view, a simple drain and fill should suffice. Examine the drained fluid and then decide if it is worth popping the pan off.

Salim

Lil4X

Housekeeping note: We've split and merged the DIY and Transmission threads to help users find this information more easily and assist the search engine to pick up this thread. Sorry for the initial confusion.

Great information! Keep it coming.

Lexmex

Taking off the pan requires taking off 18 bolts, removing the magnets (there is a precise placement to them) and then removing the three bolts to the oil strainer. If there are filings on the magnets they are steel and can indiciate bearing, gear or plate wear whereas the nonmagnetic brass elements you would find in the bottom of the pan would be bushing wear though the strainer could catch them, too. I didn't see much of anything last time around.

hksimpson

The transmission filter kit that include the filter, pan gasket and filter o-ring is about $65. My vehicle only has 42K miles, but I am going to do that so I know what my future looks like.

If you go with a generic kit (non OEM), you can find them for around $40.

H

salimshah

This picture should be posted in all transmission shops.

Are those pet porcupines?

Salim