LS400 Gearbox Oil discoloured

[highflyer]

Hey all

I recently bought a 90 LS400 with almost 300000km on it and one thing I forgot to do was check the transmission fluid colour when inspecting it..

A long drive home was faultless, everything running fine..

However when I checked the fluids on arrival I was somewhat confused.. I found what seemed to be gearbox oil in the engine and a blackish oil similar to that of engine oil in the gearbox...

Now I know the first thing I am going to hear is that i am F!#*$D but I have been told that the reddish oil in the engine could be due to carbon build up, I changed this ASAP and the engine runs as whisper quiet as it had before..

It is still the gearbox though that concerns me.. the oil is greyish colour very similar to that of motor oil...and there is a receipt from the previous owner that had it flushed for around $300 a few months ago..maybe a possibility that the mechanic decided he would do things back to front. who knows..

So what do i Do? I was thinking of pumping out as much as i can and replenishing it with the appropriate oil..I dont know if this will be detremental or beneficial however time will tell..

Anyone with similar experiences please leave a comment or even just any advice or opinions...

Thanks guys

PS anybody know roughly how much oil the gearbox holds?

 

[spf_lexus]

I'll be honest... I waited too long for my last tranny flush and mine was grey too. There is a fairly easy way to DIY if you want to flush it with new. I have 1991 LS and mine has over 200,000 miles and all I have ever done was change fluids on the reg. I used to pay the $300 from the dealer but found an easier/cheaper way.

Jack the front end up off the ground, hold it in place with bottle jacks. Then disconnect one of the transmission lines that run through the bottom of the radiator. Have this drain into something large. All you do is run your car for as long as it takes to drain a quart... maybe 2 then turn off car. Keep refilling the same amount drained with fresh Dextron 4. I think you will need 12 quarts for a full flush but just buying the oil and not using dealer saves quite a bit.


Here's a good tutorial if your up to it, found a lot of his LS DIY's very informative:

http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/transmission/transflush.html

 

[highflyer]

Thanks for the reply mate..

when you say it was brown was that a few months after it was flushed..because according to the receipts I got with this car it was flushed only abou a half year ago

So I will do what you said , its what I had in mind and should work a treat, just couldnt understand why it was so discoloured

 

[V8sprint]

Could be discoloured because the last transmission flush did not use Toyota Type-IV Transmission Fluid from the dealer. Had this problem with an early model LS400