Transmission fluid confusion. Update: fixed/ Filled?

"XJDano" (xjdano) 01/23/2018 at 14:15 • Filed to: Lexus, IS250

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Update: Later that evening he text me saying it’s fixed. I’ll be honest, I cringed. Car was not in driveway this morning after I went to the store. Also our driveways are on slopes. I hope it doesn’t burn up.

And I can’t help right now as I’m heading to work shortly. This should be an adventure.

bob and john > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:18

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*grabs my 08 is 250 and reassures it I will never do that to it*

My citroen won't start > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:19

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I read their messages in a thick Russian accent for some reason

PartyPooper2012 > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:19

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https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-2nd-gen-2006-2013/475925-how-to-change-the-transmission-oil-in-my-is250.html

can’t be done. You can drain it... but then, that’s it

E92M3 > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:20

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Oh boy.. So did he drive it afterwards? Did he overfill the oil? Why does he need help? He can buy a pump for $5 at any auto parts store. If there’s no dipstick, then you just fill it till it starts pouring back out the fill hole.

XJDano > My citroen won't start 01/23/2018 at 14:20

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He is Vietnamese.

XJDano > PartyPooper2012 01/23/2018 at 14:25

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He also sent a link of how to videos, so I’ll check those out later.

HammerheadFistpunch > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:27

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Stupid aisin transmissions and their “lifetime” fluid

PartyPooper2012 > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:27

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Step 1: Place car on rotisserie  

Step 2: Flip car upside down.

Step 3: pour proper transmission fluid back into transmission

Step 4: Close transmission drain and return car to upright position

Step 5: give me half your profit.

Chariotoflove > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:32

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Well, at least he didn’t try to put transmission fluid in the oil reservoir. So there’s that.

Takuro Spirit > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:33

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I remember seeing a lot of that back in the day with Hondas, because they had the trans on the wrong side of the car versus most other FWD transverse crap.

But at least those had dipsticks.

Ash78, voting early and often > HammerheadFistpunch 01/23/2018 at 14:46

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Hey, that’s raci...ohhhhh

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:47

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Sounds like an audi ZF transmission fill procedure. It’s really not that bad, but you need a way to get underneath with the car level and running, in park, and also to be able to run it through the gears.

So one plug is the drain plug and no biggie there, but the other is the check/fill plug, so you stay there, pull that plug, and if the car isn’t running, you will lose a bunch of fluid out of that port, if the car is running, then In theory you shouldn’t lose any fluid and would add fluid until it starts to drip out of that same port. A pressure filler works great for this. But you could use a cheapo pumper head to get the fluid in there, but it will be a mess. They make specific hook ends that should be inserted into the port and it will hang in there as you add fluid. If you are just checking the level, you only want to open that port and fill while the car is running and the trans is a little warm. Then run through the gears and refill if necessary, once fluid drops out, pull the filler and replace the plug, all done.

If you are changing the fluid, just pull the drain plug, after you pull the fill plug, and let the fluid drain. Then replace drain plug, and refill with the procedure listed above, but leave the car off until you do an initial refill. Once fluid drips out, start the car, and add until it drips out again, then run through gears and top off till it drips again. Replace plug and you’re done. Mine needed a 17mm Allen head to remove the fill plug, but his car may be different. Ecs tuning has a nice pressure filler that has a bunch of end fittings and works great.

Good luck.

Ash78, voting early and often > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 14:48

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I assume he doesn’t need the car now? Does he understand not to drive it?

Filling from below is a PITA. Finding a $5 hand siphon is the easy part. Getting the fill level correct (right temp/expansion, plus making sure it gets into all the important parts — that’s trickier).

This is not uncommon at all. I still think all car should have filler necks in the engine compartment. Having one of each, I’ll take the one that’s easier to refill.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > HammerheadFistpunch 01/23/2018 at 14:49

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Audi does it too, as does Volvo I believe. But we all know there is no such thing as a lifetime fluid. But that ZF fluid is pricey at over $20 a liter.

Urambo Tauro > merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc 01/23/2018 at 15:11

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Ford and FCA as well. I dunno if they actually consider their transmissions “filled for life”, or if they’re just trying to get you to take it to a dealer, but still... it’s ridiculous.

LOREM IPSUM > XJDano 01/23/2018 at 18:51

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Maybe Divorce might be able to help.

I mean Tavarish.

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Urambo Tauro 01/23/2018 at 19:45

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I know audi does it to skew the ownership costs equation. From what I understand if they move stuff out past the 100k mile mark it doesn’t count against the costs. Something like that, but they are also figuring their new purchasers will never see that kind of mileage anyway so why bother worrying about it. The best is when I called into the dealer to get an estimate to do a drain and fill and they gave me a “we can’t give you a quote, but the fluid is “x” amount and it takes 19 bajillion liters so it will cost over $800....”. So I politely requested the parts department to get their cost for fluid and what type it was. But all they could tell me is the VAG part number, but good enough to cross reference for the ZF fluid type. Fun times. Lifetime fluid my ass, even ZF has recommended intervals now. Buy I figure if I do a handful of drain and fills, then I’ll have a good amount of fresh fluid in there.  

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > Urambo Tauro 01/23/2018 at 19:48

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My ‘06 Cadillac STS 4 had a similar deal too, but the fill plug was on the side of the trans. But you still drain it and fill it, run it and keep filling till it reaches the fill hole, but simpler than the under pan setups where you need the hook adapter. But after doing it once, it’s no big deal.  

My bird IS the word > HammerheadFistpunch 01/24/2018 at 12:37

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“lifetime” being average car ownership of 10 years

XJDano > Ash78, voting early and often 01/24/2018 at 12:38

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I would assume he didn’t drive it after he found out.

But we know what happens when we assume things.

XJDano > E92M3 01/24/2018 at 12:41

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He sees me work on my cars, I guess he thinks I like it or something. I did put a bolt in a hole where a rubber grommet fell out of his step son’s prelude where the brake light switch wasn’t activating when pressing pedal.

Urambo Tauro > XJDano 01/24/2018 at 13:28

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That last message makes me cringe too. I hate how language barriers make people sound less intelligent than they really are. I sure hope that slope didn’t throw his fill level off.  

Nick Has an Exocet > Urambo Tauro 01/24/2018 at 13:51

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Double that price for Diaqueen SSTF-1 (evox mr/ralliart dual clutch fluid). $150/gallon. 2 gallons per change.

LOREM IPSUM > XJDano 01/24/2018 at 13:57

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My e38 doesn’t have a dispstick either. I leveled the car on jackstands, drained it, then cut the tip off of a garden sprayer and used that to refill from the upper port.

The hardest part was convincing myself to get under the thing to wrench on whilst on 4 jack stands. You’d be surprised how easily possible it is to unintentionally move 4000+ lbs and almost die.

XJDano > LOREM IPSUM 01/24/2018 at 14:22

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A guy I know only uses 3. Not to get under but swap wheels. Ill use ramps and 2 stands.

LOREM IPSUM > XJDano 01/24/2018 at 14:32

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I wanted to use my ramps but they had the front of the car lower than the lowest setting of the jack stands, so I couldn’t get it level. Would have been my preference though, for sure.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > HammerheadFistpunch 01/24/2018 at 16:09

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our explorer is the same way. had to replace the entire transmission back in september

Deltatango > XJDano 01/29/2018 at 12:43

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What language is that?

XJDano > Deltatango 01/29/2018 at 12:48

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He is originally from Vietnam.