Cinc04

I've got a 2004 Lexus SC430 that I bought in July of this year. I took the car to the Lexus dealership in November to have them take care of the airbag recall. While there, they suggested a transmission service. Since I didn't have a lot of information about the car, I told them to go ahead.

On the service sheet, the service was described as, "Performed world standard transmission flush". I don't drive the car very much in the winter and so it didn't move much until we had a reasonably nice day yesterday. I noticed when I moved the car I had a small leak, on the garage floor, at the transmission. I crawled under the car and it appears that the leak is from a line, on the driver's side of the transmission pan and closer to the front of the car. I've attached a photo and you can see a droplet on the elbow of the line.

Questions: Is this the line for the transmission dipstick? Why would it leak? The connection to the transmission case/pan is dry. The leak looks to be up higher and the fluid is "following" the line down. With a flush, sorry, a "world standard flush" what do they do? Do they remove the pan? I'm assuming there is a filter? I saw a little dampness at the rear corner of the pan, but I don't think it is dripping at this time. The car didn't leak a drop of fluid from July to November and then after the transmission flush, I now have a leak. Any thoughts?

SC300Es

Is it possible that it traveled from the dipstick above after they refilled it?

Seattle SCone

I agree with SC300Es. The lower aspect of the dispstick pipe interface to the transmission looks dry. Also, lack of witness marks on the bolt heads and pan suggests they didn't open the pan.

This looks like residual ATF that was spilled above at the dipstick entry and traveled down along the tubing. I had this same occur when I performed six ATF fluid vacuum drain/fills via the dipstick tube. Filling the ATF via a funnel in the dipstick tube inevitably created some minor spillage. That travels down the tube exterior and you get something like this. From the looks of yours, the spill volume is very small.

I would simply clean this up and recheck later for recurrence.

Cinc04

Seems reasonable. Thanks for your response.

Bgw70

Did they just pull the plug, drain and refill or did they connect it to a machine?
you said flush, which means total remove and replace.
if drain and refill, then yes, a typical “tech” might make a mess.

I drained and refilled my transmission every 10k-12k miles. Easy like oil...
keep doing it...it’s easier than a rebuild.

DshngDaryl

In 2006 Lexus introduced a new transmission on the SC. It uses World Standard Transmission fluid which is suppose to last 100K miles That is also why they removed the dipstick.

Prior to 2006, the transmissions used Toyota Type IV fluid

You cannot mix the two fluids together, but if you take out all the old fluid and replace it with the new WS fluid, everything should be ok.

jehmin

Hold the front DOOR.
If you have a 04 sc430 I think its a TIV4 Fluid. So why would they use that in the trans?
Was it a typo or did they mix the two? If mixed I wonder what it did. How much did they charge for service and what did the service include?
my 04 Drain and Fill uses about 2.5 Liters of fluid. My original owner didnt change it and it took 2 drain and fills for the color to start changing to not too soo dark.
Any thoughts on this subject anyone?

Seattle SCone

Here is the Toyota ATF type T-IV This is what I used 12 quarts of to perform six sequential drain, fill, & runs for my 2002, NOT world standard fluid.

It was pretty easy to perform via the ATF dipstick tube in a 2002. A cheap Harbor Freight fluid transfer pump, accurate measuring container, big disposal container, and long funnel were all that was required. Simply pumped out 2 quarts and refilled same volume. (Pour small aliquots slowly and with pauses to avoid spillage) Drove around a few miles between each cycle. Final level was checked via the ATF dipstick. Having that dipstick in the pre 2006's is a huge advantage for changing ATF fluid and verifying fill level. Getting ATF from dark bad smelling, coca cola color to red took all six exchange cycles. Sixth cycle was intentionally 20% lower drain volume to ensure I had sufficient fresh ATF left final leveling

Long Funnel for filling
5 gallon HED pack for disposal
Accupour pitcher for measuring

jehmin

The message was for the guy who took it to the dealer to have the WS Service on an 04?
Which doesnt make sense but maybe he might know better.
Is it just me or I dont know how to use that dip stick properly.
Also it never goes in smooth there is like this hicuping point.
The transfer pump I was using had a crappy hose which was not piable and kinda hard. So it tended to wander out the fill hole. So I just made a funnel for that tiny hole.
The flow rate is very slow but it was a cleaner job.
Do you experience any bucking at 5mph coasting.
Such as a 2nd to 1st gear shift. if you do a complete stop its fine or if you speed past its ok but when your in a low gear presumably 1 and then without hitting the brakes slow to a roll. I experienced this before the trans fluid change now it seems much better after just the 2nd drain and fill.
1st drain and fill it was kinda present.
2nd drain and fill it might do it but the very soft almost not noticeable.
I hope I dont have to drop the pan and change the filter and check solenoids.

Seattle SCone

Yes for Cinc04, because it was odd that they used WS on a 2004.

As for hicupping. Nothing while coasting. I would describe mine before the fluid change as getting just noticeable pause between gears during moderate acceleration. That's all gone post the fluid exchange. My shifts are now fast and smooth.

Oddly enough the Harbor Freigh pump's thin hose wasn't an issue at all. It was flexible, stayed put, and readily passed through the dipstick tube into the AT pan.

DshngDaryl

If you want, you can use the transmission cooler output and some hose to do a complete fluid change without using a pump
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...rain-plug.html

Cinc04

I started this thread and I’ll see if I can answer some of the questions posed by the respondents. Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment.

In November 2020, I took my 2004 SC430 in for the airbag recall. While there the dealership did an inspection and found some issues and recommended a few things, including a “transmission service”. I didn’t initiate the request, but I did approve the service. I didn’t ask about the specific procedure that was going to be done, I thought the dealership would know more about the service than I did.

In January, I noticed a slight transmission fluid leak and I thought I would take the car back to the dealership to determine the problem. The car didn’t leak before the service.

I reviewed the service sheet and I saw that they flushed the transmission. I want to understand this procedure so that I will be as educated as possible when discussing this with the dealer. Again, it didn’t leak before the procedure. Did they do something wrong? I don’t know that, but I need to be able to ask the right questions. From the comments, I am now wondering if they used the correct automatic transmission fluid.

I’ve taken a photo of the service sheet so you can see the description. The sheet says, “customer states to perform transmission flush….” I didn’t say that, I just approved what they suggested. You may also notice that it isn’t an inexpensive procedure.

Just to make sure I provide a complete picture, I had noticed that the radiator was leaking and I asked that it be replaced. I have a warranty on the car and this work was covered under the warranty. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone, recall, and radiator. To replace the radiator, they would have had to remove the transmission cooling lines from the radiator and I wonder if they would do the flush with these lines.

It was mentioned that the tech may have been a little sloppy and the leak is just the “spillage” of some fluid. It’s been 2 months since the work was done, i”m going to wait a few more days before taking the car back to the dealership, to see if the leak stops, but it has had 2 months for any spillage to drip down.

Bgw70

Based on the invoice, they are using a BG flush machine and they used 12qts of Toyota WS fluid.
I also noticed they did a Power steering fluid exchange. Both good things to do, but I am not a fan of the machine.
not sure if you located the source of the leak but I am not sure you will be able to blame the dealer for the leak.
Here is the video.

You Tube

Cinc04

Thanks, BWG70. This is exactly what I was looking for. At least now I can go in with a little better understanding of the procedure. Due to some health issues, it is difficult for me to get underneath the car. I did get far enough to take the photo at the beginning of the thread. I need to have the dealership tell me where the leak is coming from.