Transmission fluid
07-10-19, 09:24 AM
#16
Driver School Candidate
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: ON
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I may need to consider using aftermarket parts, through I hate to do so in such a critical application.
10-30-19, 07:30 PM
#18
Driver School Candidate
First, thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. I read it several times and then did the transmission drain and fill (3 times, about 3.5 qtrs each time) on my wife's 2007 GS350 AWD with 104,500 miles on it. Here's what I did based on what was in this thread and other threads.
1) Got 12 qtrs of Toyota ATF WS (on ebay for about $100), 14 mm socket for drain plug, 10 mm socket for 2 bolts covering over the drain bolt, 15/16" socket (24 mm) for fill bolt, 5 mm hex bit for overflow bolt, torque wrench for tightening bolts (29 ft lbs for fill bolt, 15 ft lbs for both the drain and overfill bolts), bucket with pint and quart markings to determine how much drained and gloves. Since the Lexus has a forward slant, I put a 4 foot level on the driver door handle and back door handle to see where the level bubble would be when the car is level. The level bubble was not between the two level lines. The left side of the level bubble was just touching the right line of the 2 level lines (car has a forward slant). Laser Temperature tool.
2) Jacked up front of car using a low profile 3 ton jack positioned on center of cross beam that runs from front wheel to front wheel. My Lexus had a slighty raised levelspot
in the middle of the beam. Then I put stand jacks on each side of the car on the front jacking points just behind the front wheels. I eventually jacked up the back of the car but not yet. Since the drain bolt is in the back of the fluid pan, I read that jacking up the front but not the back would result in more fluid being drained from the pan.
3) My job got easier right away since 1) the plastic underguard protecting the transmission was missing and 2) the cover on the fill bolt was also missing. This made my job easier since I didn't have to remove either one or put it back. The missing covers are probably a good reason for doing these jobs yourself since both are missing and would cost money to replace.
4) Used 15/16 " socket (similar to 24 mm socket) to loosen 24 mm fill bolt (WS on it) on driver side of transmission above the fluid pan. I got it lose fairly easily. I took it out so I would get a better drain from the pan. If you can't remove the fill bolt you are done. Do not drain the fluid out of the engine before being sure you can get the fill bolt out.
5) Used 14 mm socket to remove drain bolt from bottom of pan. I drained 3.6 quarts from pan into a bucket with quantity markings on the side (pint and quart markings). Let it drain for awhile to get as much out as possible. Put drain bolt back into the pan
6) Procedure for filling fluid. If not already removed, remove "WS" fill bolt that was already loosened. Using a funnel and 34" of a 1/2 OS 3/8 IS clear tubing. (34" tube will go from top of plastic engine cover to just below the fill hole). I feed the tubing from the right back side of the engine compartment down to the fill hole area. From under the car put the tube into the fill hole. Using the funnel and tubing, poured 3.6 qts (same amount removed from the transmission) of Toyoto ATF WS into the transmission. Put "WS" fill bolt back in hole and tighten. Unless you have a nice fluid pump, this made the job of filling the transmission so much easier than having to hand pump the fluid into the transmission from under the car.
7) Started the car and let it run for 30 seconds between the first and second fill. I read in one of the posts that the transmission exchanges 1 quart from the pan to the transmission every 7 seconds. So for 30 seconds of running the engine, the new 3.6 qtrs of fluids (probably a little over 4 qts total in the pan) would be pumped out of the pan and into the transmission. Between the 2nd and 3rd drain and fill, I ran the engine for 50 seconds.
I repeated steps 4, 5, 6 and 7 twice more for a total of 3 drain and fills. Besides the 3.6 qtrs removed the first time, 3.3 qts and 3.4 qts were removed on the subsequent
8) On the final fill I added a little more than I had drained out. I drained out a total of about 10.3 qts. I filled a total of 10.6 qts.
9) Jacked up back of car to make car level. The rear jacking point is the flat bottom of the rear differential which is in the middle of the car in the rear. The rear differential has some fins on it if you are looking for it. I made sure this was the jacking point and a thread on this site had pictures and re-stated that the bottom of the rear differential was the jacking point. After jacking the rear end, I put the rear end on car jacks on the each side of the car at the side jacking points. Be carefull when you do this.
From # 1, I leveled the car on jacks so on a 4 foot level rested on the driver door handle and the back door handle the level bubble was just touching the right line of the 2 level lines (forward slant to car).
10) Check ATF WS fluid level in transmission: Started car. Let it run. Using a laser temperature tool I keep shooting the temperature of the transmission pan. A temperature of the fluid has to get to 104 degrees to test for over fill ( and remain between 104 and 116 degrees) . From reading 2 different threads on this site, both times the laser temperature readings were 3 degrees less than the OCB readings done by the car. As a result when the laser temp reading was 101, I removed the overfill bolt with the 5 mm bit. Fluid started to drain out. After a short time it slowed to a trickle which is the sign to put the overfill bolt back in. About 1 pint total drained out. This was about .2 of a quart more than I expected but certainly a reasonable amount.
11) Tightened all bolts to spec with a torque wrench. Fill bolt 29 ft lbs, drain bolt and overflow bolt to 15 ft lbs. I reused the gaskets for each bolt because I didn't have the correct gaskets on hand and they all looked in good shape. The 24mm fill bolt has a rubber o ring, the drain bolt has a crush washer but smaller than the ones used on the differentials and the overflow bolt has some type of gasket that is different than the others. I will check for leaks and if there is a leak I will replace the gasket.
Glad I did this. Even though records (my wife bought the car with 78k miles on it, now has 104.5 k miles) didn't show the transmission fluid as being changed, it appears it must of been changed at some point. The undercarriage plastic transmission cover was missing. The cover for the fill bolt was missing. And the transmission fluid while very dark and smelly was not as bad as I expected. But before the fluid change I could slightly feel the the transmission shifting gears. After the changes, I couldn't feel any shift changes at all - none. So I think it was worth doing.
Also the 1 pint of fluid I drained from the overfill drain was very, very pink. So I think the fluid in the transmission is very good and should protect the transmission for a long time.
1) Got 12 qtrs of Toyota ATF WS (on ebay for about $100), 14 mm socket for drain plug, 10 mm socket for 2 bolts covering over the drain bolt, 15/16" socket (24 mm) for fill bolt, 5 mm hex bit for overflow bolt, torque wrench for tightening bolts (29 ft lbs for fill bolt, 15 ft lbs for both the drain and overfill bolts), bucket with pint and quart markings to determine how much drained and gloves. Since the Lexus has a forward slant, I put a 4 foot level on the driver door handle and back door handle to see where the level bubble would be when the car is level. The level bubble was not between the two level lines. The left side of the level bubble was just touching the right line of the 2 level lines (car has a forward slant). Laser Temperature tool.
2) Jacked up front of car using a low profile 3 ton jack positioned on center of cross beam that runs from front wheel to front wheel. My Lexus had a slighty raised levelspot
in the middle of the beam. Then I put stand jacks on each side of the car on the front jacking points just behind the front wheels. I eventually jacked up the back of the car but not yet. Since the drain bolt is in the back of the fluid pan, I read that jacking up the front but not the back would result in more fluid being drained from the pan.
3) My job got easier right away since 1) the plastic underguard protecting the transmission was missing and 2) the cover on the fill bolt was also missing. This made my job easier since I didn't have to remove either one or put it back. The missing covers are probably a good reason for doing these jobs yourself since both are missing and would cost money to replace.
4) Used 15/16 " socket (similar to 24 mm socket) to loosen 24 mm fill bolt (WS on it) on driver side of transmission above the fluid pan. I got it lose fairly easily. I took it out so I would get a better drain from the pan. If you can't remove the fill bolt you are done. Do not drain the fluid out of the engine before being sure you can get the fill bolt out.
5) Used 14 mm socket to remove drain bolt from bottom of pan. I drained 3.6 quarts from pan into a bucket with quantity markings on the side (pint and quart markings). Let it drain for awhile to get as much out as possible. Put drain bolt back into the pan
6) Procedure for filling fluid. If not already removed, remove "WS" fill bolt that was already loosened. Using a funnel and 34" of a 1/2 OS 3/8 IS clear tubing. (34" tube will go from top of plastic engine cover to just below the fill hole). I feed the tubing from the right back side of the engine compartment down to the fill hole area. From under the car put the tube into the fill hole. Using the funnel and tubing, poured 3.6 qts (same amount removed from the transmission) of Toyoto ATF WS into the transmission. Put "WS" fill bolt back in hole and tighten. Unless you have a nice fluid pump, this made the job of filling the transmission so much easier than having to hand pump the fluid into the transmission from under the car.
7) Started the car and let it run for 30 seconds between the first and second fill. I read in one of the posts that the transmission exchanges 1 quart from the pan to the transmission every 7 seconds. So for 30 seconds of running the engine, the new 3.6 qtrs of fluids (probably a little over 4 qts total in the pan) would be pumped out of the pan and into the transmission. Between the 2nd and 3rd drain and fill, I ran the engine for 50 seconds.
I repeated steps 4, 5, 6 and 7 twice more for a total of 3 drain and fills. Besides the 3.6 qtrs removed the first time, 3.3 qts and 3.4 qts were removed on the subsequent
8) On the final fill I added a little more than I had drained out. I drained out a total of about 10.3 qts. I filled a total of 10.6 qts.
9) Jacked up back of car to make car level. The rear jacking point is the flat bottom of the rear differential which is in the middle of the car in the rear. The rear differential has some fins on it if you are looking for it. I made sure this was the jacking point and a thread on this site had pictures and re-stated that the bottom of the rear differential was the jacking point. After jacking the rear end, I put the rear end on car jacks on the each side of the car at the side jacking points. Be carefull when you do this.
From # 1, I leveled the car on jacks so on a 4 foot level rested on the driver door handle and the back door handle the level bubble was just touching the right line of the 2 level lines (forward slant to car).
10) Check ATF WS fluid level in transmission: Started car. Let it run. Using a laser temperature tool I keep shooting the temperature of the transmission pan. A temperature of the fluid has to get to 104 degrees to test for over fill ( and remain between 104 and 116 degrees) . From reading 2 different threads on this site, both times the laser temperature readings were 3 degrees less than the OCB readings done by the car. As a result when the laser temp reading was 101, I removed the overfill bolt with the 5 mm bit. Fluid started to drain out. After a short time it slowed to a trickle which is the sign to put the overfill bolt back in. About 1 pint total drained out. This was about .2 of a quart more than I expected but certainly a reasonable amount.
11) Tightened all bolts to spec with a torque wrench. Fill bolt 29 ft lbs, drain bolt and overflow bolt to 15 ft lbs. I reused the gaskets for each bolt because I didn't have the correct gaskets on hand and they all looked in good shape. The 24mm fill bolt has a rubber o ring, the drain bolt has a crush washer but smaller than the ones used on the differentials and the overflow bolt has some type of gasket that is different than the others. I will check for leaks and if there is a leak I will replace the gasket.
Glad I did this. Even though records (my wife bought the car with 78k miles on it, now has 104.5 k miles) didn't show the transmission fluid as being changed, it appears it must of been changed at some point. The undercarriage plastic transmission cover was missing. The cover for the fill bolt was missing. And the transmission fluid while very dark and smelly was not as bad as I expected. But before the fluid change I could slightly feel the the transmission shifting gears. After the changes, I couldn't feel any shift changes at all - none. So I think it was worth doing.
Also the 1 pint of fluid I drained from the overfill drain was very, very pink. So I think the fluid in the transmission is very good and should protect the transmission for a long time.
10-30-19, 08:04 PM
#19
Glad to hear that you can feel the difference before and after. For $100+change and a few hours of your time, it is definitely worth it. I would do a drain and refill every 20K miles from now on, hopefully the GS350 will return the favor by giving you 250k miles of reliability. : )
My wife’s 08 RX350 has 135k miles on her and the shift is still buttery smooth. I do the drain and refill every year between Nov/Dec timeframe, regardless of the miles driven.
My wife’s 08 RX350 has 135k miles on her and the shift is still buttery smooth. I do the drain and refill every year between Nov/Dec timeframe, regardless of the miles driven.
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