sweet100

2007 awd, 130k miles. I asked my wife if she wants a new car? She said no. Then I think I should change all fluids.

Well, as I replaced steering rack two years ago, I will skip power steering fluid, as well as windshield water. So my original plan is engine oil, transmission fluid, transfer case oil, diff oil and brake fluid. I read the manual and wrote down all fluid type and quantity. Such as 3.7 quarter transmission fluid. I bought them all in one trip.

Engine oil is easy. I did it many times before.

transmission fluid pan gave me some hard time because there is no enough clearance and I had to turn a wrench little by little for 4 or 5 bolts. But I did it anyway.

​​​​​​my old transmission fluid is quite good , the two magnet dont have much dirt either. I should have done a drain and fill only.

Then it becomes interesting when I fill it up. I poured all four quarter down, started the engine, the fluid level is still very low, an inch lower than the line.

Puzzled, I read the manual again. Shoot, it says, drain and fill , 3.7 quarter......

I made another trip and bought two more quarter. I believe I used 5.5 quarter and the line finally reached the minimum...

Then the diff oil is quite easy with a transfer pump. The old oil is very clear, I actually don't need to replace it.

now it is transfer case, I figured out that I don't have such a big short socket, the clearance is terrible , I decided to skip it.

Brake fluid is easy too as I use a one man bleeder.

Total cost is $120. I am curious how much a dealer or shop would charge me. Someone please tell me a number, so I can be more happy.

One tip is to use a pillow while working on the 18 transmission bolts. It saved my neck.

Another tip is to have a good wife. My wife give me a pillow as soon as I started to complain about my neck muscle.


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05RX330AWD

That was a ambitious project, not only you did save most likely around a thousand dollars, the satisfaction of completing the DIY is most gratifying...
also admire the motivation in your part since your wife wanted to keep the vehicle instead of purchasing a new one.
Now I wonder if my wife will be willing to give up her pillow for the transmission pan drop I plan to do.

RedGemini

I've done two drain and fills of the transmission so far. Each time I just dump in 4 quarts. A 4 quart bottle of Valvoline MaxLife is $20 at AutoZone, or $18 at Walmart, if you can find it.

For the transfer case, the fill plug has some spare room (which you MUST remove FIRST), so I used a standard 24mm socket. I had some trouble getting a socket on it, but it was due to rust and debris buildup. I had to scrape around it a good bit, and used a piece of corse sandpaper between the plug and transfer case until I could finally get the socket on it. For the drain plug, I used a 24mm wrench with no issues. I got 2 bottles of Valvoline 80w90 gear oil at Walmart for $11. The other bottle for the rear diff.

The rear diff is where I ran into the most trouble. The plug holes were so full of debris and rust, that I had to keep scraping and banging on them in an attempt to clean the holes out good enough to get the 10mm in them. The drain hole was worse.

I'll note that none of those fluids had been changed since it was new, if I had to place a bet on it. 135,000 miles of PA road debris was quite fun to break through.

05RX330AWD

I am presently complicating on whether to Drain/ Fill or drop the Transmission pan although leaning towards drop the pan as the benefit would be to replace the filter, have a look at & clean the magnets.
However I will be going with the Toyota Transmission Fluid T- IV as highly recommended in the Lexus Manual.... (photo)
fortunately the quart is not as expensive as I thought it would be at the local Toyota Dealership here.

FrankRX

I have priced the cost of these services at the lexus dealer and my local mechanic:
Transmission Fluid Change: Lexus Dealer $299 Local Mechanic: $160
Coolant Change: Lexus Dealer $199 Local Mechanic: $65
Brake Fluid Chang: Lexus Dealer $199 Local Mechanic: doesn't even want to hear about it because says its totally unnecessary.

Wondering if the Transm Fluid and coolant are necessary to change also. Have heard many stories from people with over 100K miles and never changed the transmission Fluid.

mdbrown

I would find a different local mechanic. Brake fluid changes are absolutely necessary as brake fluid tends to hold moisture. As a former ASE technician and ASE service writer I've seen the results of leaving brake fluid in without ever changing it. Can you do it for 10 years and get away with it? Maybe, but if you don't it can be very expensive. Having been a crew chief in the Air Force I am also a firm believer in preventative maintenance. I have too much invested in my Lexus to play russian roulette by cheaping out on servicing it.

I still don't understand how people can change their oil on a regular basis yet believe brake fluid (or transmission fluid, or power steering fluid or coolant) is somehow magical and never needs changing...

sweet100

The Maxlife ATF I bought does say it is compatible with Toyota WS ATF. I used Maxlife too as Autozone is much closer to me.

By the way, thanks a lot for the good words.

sweet100

I agree with mdbrown that Brake fluid need be changed. I just asked my wife, she messaged me that she feels more braking power. I believe it is her true feeling because she doesn't know what fluids I changed.

05RX330AWD

One way to test brake fluid is to take a small piece of paper towel, dip it into the Brake Fluid Reservoir, if it it is really dark in color (as closer to black), it is exhausted, therefore replace.
Unfortunately with Transmission Fluid it is not that simple, the dip stick will tell you some, but not all.

05RX330AWD

I was referring to RedGemini's post where he substituted the Toyota Transmission Fluid T- IV.
The only fluid I would hesitate to substitute is the Transmission Fluid for a RX330, although a 07 RX350 may be more forgiving....
only research & your manual can answer that.

BlackLexRX

When I bought mine a few months ago, I started going through all the fluids and it really makes the car feel like new. Biggest difference was transfer case fluid exchange IMO so you should do it. Dealer will do it for about a half hour labor if you supply the fluid (use a full syn GL-5 75w90 gear oil), so about 75$ for them to do it and well worth it.

sweet100

Now it is really tempting to replace the transfer case oil, as both you and redGemini encouraged me.

I decided I will do it in a few weeks and will update this post. After all, the title of this post is "I changed all fluid". If I don't do it, I am a liar.

RedGemini

Valvoline MaxLife is compatible with Toyota T-IV fluid, and they guarantee it won't void warranties, not like I have factory warranty. I've read reports of many people who swear by it, so I'll give it a try. It's also highly recommended for Honda automatics, which are at least as picky as a Toyota trans. So far, it's performing better.

05RX330AWD

That's the bottom line... improved performance, good to hear your satisfied.

sweet100

I just changed my transfer case oil. The old oil is very dark, it is very satisfying.

Today jacked up the car, figured both bolts are 24mm, the bottom one need wrench, the top one need a normal depth socket. I have a set of wrench and the only thing I miss is the 24mm socket.

I drove to the shop and bought a set of socket. With a half inch breaker bar, it was a piece of cake to loose the top one. The oil started drip.

Now it is time for bottom one. I actually tried my new 24mm socket, there is no enough clearance. redGemini is right, the bottom one needs a wrench.

​​​​​​I went to my cabinet, got out the set of wrench. Shoot, the set has almost all the size from 8 to 25, except 23, 24.

After yelling and cursing for a while, I used a small tube with a hand sanitizer head, sucked out as much oil as I can. I think it is still better even if I can only replace a half.

Then I used transfer pump to pump the new oil in. Guess how much I pumped in? The whole quarter bottle. It means I sucked all the old oil out.

I guess I am blessed today.