Well, there is a Toyota dealership less than 5 miles from where I live. How are people's experiences with taking their Lexus to a Toyota dealership? I will have to take it there to get the breaks and fron exhaust manifold checked... or I'll have to drive like 40+ miles to a Lexus dealership.

I'll do the drain-n-fill (4 qrts) myself through the next months. I hope the 16 quarts of Type-IV I'll ultimately end up purchasing won't be too pricey compared to the $280 tranny flush!

 

I do my oil changes at Toyota. No problem. Though I do all the major ones (every 30K) at Lexus.

Four drain-n-fills should do it. I did 3 in a row about 40K miles ago because a rouge Lexus dealer didn't change my ATF. You can see the color change from each drain below. (The right most is fresh Toyota ATF.) Hope this helps.

 

Its about $7-$8 a quart.

DO NOT DO THE FLUSH. i had a 90 ES250, the fluid was the same color as your tires. I was told that if i TOUCHED the fluid, changed it at all or anything, it would kill the trans.

I thought it best to drain and refill every other oil change for 5 oil changes. as a result, the trans was still working fine when i totalled it. (2 years later).

 

My local Toyota dealer sells them for $4.70 per quart, whilst the Lexus dealer sells them for $7.99. So shop around.

 

you can either get it from a toyota dealer or order a case of mobil 3309 to your house like i did, bout the same price either way, heres the link

http://avlube.com/mobilatf3309.html

 

Wait, your post is kind of confusing. So you're saying not to get the transmission flush done, right? (like what everyone said)

Also, the Toyota dealership is selling the Type-IV $5.99 a quart. So it's not too bad.

I called the closest Lexus dealership and they wanted to charge me $1,350 for replacing the cracked front manifold and the cross pipe (the exhaust pipe that has the open crack). They would not weld it at all. $120 for labor.

The Toyota dealership would do $110 for labor but still wouldn't weld it. But they did say that I should be just able to weld the outside of it no problem after describing the size of the crack. The Toyota dealership would just order from Lexus and charge me pretty much the same price.

I should say... I tried looking under the car during a bright day this weekend and I cannot find the crack at all... Could it be possible that the mechanic is BS'ing me and trying to kill my wallet? Would I even be able to see a crack in the cross pipe if I went under the car?

 

I had this very same crack on the manifold and had it welded up.

 

For that other exhaust crack, I'd focus here.

If you turn on the vehicle and go underneath, you might hear the hiss.

 

Your crack on the manifold is nearly identical to mine... Did you have to completely remove it from the car to do it (if that's actually possible), or the have it welded while it was in the car?

Also, is that part near where I would drain the transmission fluid?

 

We welded it while I was in the car.

The second photo is very close to where you would drain the transmission fluid, with the transmission being in the foreground of the photo. You can see the drain bolt right there for the pan.

 

Mut- As Lexmex said, the cracks in the exhaust can be welded on the car-no need to take anything off. I would suggest that you look for a GOOD muffler (exhaust) shop. But make sure they use a MIG welder. Some (maybe a lot) of the muffler shops use gas (acetylene) torches to do the welding. That is going to produce too much heat and maybe cause more cracking. If it is welded by someone who is experienced (MIG welding is easy) with mig welding it should be an excellent repair and shouldn't cost you more than $30.-$40.

 

I don't bother to disconnect the cooling lines, just the two sumps which gives me 5 qts total. The capacity of the system is 9.4 qts. So, after the first drain/refill you have 53% new and 47% old in the trans. Run for at least a month to make sure the trans fluid is completely mixed. When you do the second drain refill you will remove another 5 qts total, but only 43% of it will be old stuff or .43 x 5 = 2.2 qts. So, after two drain refills you have removed 5 + 2.2 = 7.2 qts of old stuff. Now your trans is 7.2/9.4 = 77% new and 23& old. Etc, etc.

 

Mut, thats exactly what I am saying. Do not flush. just drain and refill. your fluid isnt even dirty enough to where i would drop the pan. I simply wouldnt bother yet.

My cavalier (beater) has 150,000 miles...the ATF has never been touched...and there is no drain plug on the trans pan...so I am still pondering what to do with this situation...

 

Armyofone, Hey glad to see your posting here, I didnt realize you were on this site also...Thankyou for your service, one day late, and God Bless. Lenore

 

I'll take it to the shop once I have some money saved up and tell them to not be wimps and to weld it instead!

I'll make sure to tell them to use a MIG welder.

Yeah, I'll use that formula but with 4 quarts drained-n-filled.

Thanks everyone for the help! I'll do one this weekend another one probably Thanksgiving weekend since I'll probably drive about 280 miles from this weekend until Thanksgiving (driving all the way home for the holidays). I'll do one more another 150 miles later and then a final one after another 150 miles. Is this a good plan?

One more question: When I undo the drain plug, doesn't the old, dirty oil just squirt out as the plug is coming loose? Should I slowly undo the plug or take it out as fast as I can?