2006 LS430 4th ATF drain and fill--Still dirty

[OldEuroCarLover]

I just drained the ATF for the 4th time and the fluid is still dirty. Cleaner than the last time, but still significantly darker than the new red stuff. (Using Valvoline Maxlife Synthetic.)

Is this normal for this trans? The car has 125k miles on it, and this is probably the first time the ATF has been changed. Roughly 3 quarts per drain.

 

[spiderbypass]

I have a 2000 Lexus LS400 that I bought close to two years ago it had 134,000 miles on it now it has 202,000. I got the transmission filter and fluid change when I first got the car. I also have a pump extractor that I've used at least four or five times it takes about 2 quarts out and he just put 2 quarts back in through the dipstick if your car has the same set up. Very clean looking now

 

[ZZman]

Can you not pull a trans line hose on that at the radiator like I can on my Avalon and pump it all out at one time?

 

[OldEuroCarLover]

This model has a "sealed" transmission, so no dipstick. Drain plug, overflow plug, and fill plug.

I've done the radiator line method on other cars, but I leaned slightly toward the drain and fill being easier with the sealed trans. Radiator line probably would have been easier, honestly. But here I am.

 

[JeffKeryk]

I am about to service our 2013 GS. I started a thread yesterday.

 

[blufeb95]

It holds 11.5qt total apparently so you're only exchanging about a quarter of the fluid each time, that means each time you fill 75% of the fluid is left. So the first fill leaves 75%, second leaves 56%, third leaves 42%, the fourth leaves 31%, the fifth leaves 23%, the sixth leaves 17%, the seventh leaves 13%, ect... So where you're currently at you've got about a third of the old fluid mixed with 2/3 of new fluid.

 

[Mr Nice]

I'd do 3 drain / refills within a few days to get rid of most of the old ATF.

 

[Hall]

4 drain and fills, I presume within a reasonably short period of time (how long?) - it's fine. What's in there now is better than 100% of the fluid having 125k miles on it.

 

[HyundaiAbuser]

If this is the first time it's being changed then the fluid you're putting in could be cleaning the debris and gunk from the last 125k miles. On top of that you aren't getting a full fluid swap and that'd definitely contribute to the color.
If color is a huge concern at this point is do a cooler line fluid exchange after driving another 1k miles or so but either way you have refreshed the fluid pretty well at this point.