I have been taking some longer trips lately and although Toyota seems to think these CVTs are sealed and shouldn't be serviced my own experience has shown this to be BS. Having done it recently on mine I'm glad I did too. Make sure you only use the Toyota WS fluid from the dealer (no substitutes!!!!) The transmission should take almost exactly 4 quarts and make sure you have a fluid pump because it's nearly impossible to set up a way to gravity feed the fluid back in. As always open the fill plug first, then the drain plug (never the other way around). This is literally just a drain and fill (no filters to change at all and the fluid level is just set to the bottom of the fill hole).

Here's a great link with pics for you to follow as well.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/hybr...ial-plugs.html

CVT Transmission


Rear Differential


Old vs New fluid

 

holy crap...think i may look at my fluid this weekend. I agree that I wouldnt use anything but the fluid supplied by Toyota. Great post! Was the fluid from both transaxles the same color?

 

Those weren't my pics but the results were pretty much the same.

Front transaxle (transmission) looked like the pic, rear was still like new but changed it anyway due to mileage.

 

I'm just asking but are you saying the transmission only holds 4 qts of Toyota AFT WS and the same fluid but 2 qts in the rear differential? I know the pic is a lexus but I assume it's close to my 2009 Highlander Hybrid ??

 

Yes, you'll want to get around 6-7 qts to do both and have some to spare.

Lexus hybrid drivetrain is exactly the same as the Highlander's so those pics are what you'd see on yours too.

Remember to always remove the fill plug first, then the drain plug when doing the service.

 

In case you are wondering why this needs to be done in that order, always make sure you can put the new fluid in BEFORE you drain the old fluid out. I have seen times when someone drained a tranny or diff and couldn't get the fill plug out. A wrecker bill to get it to someone that could remove the fill plug is not cheap.

 

Thanks for the post. I just bought my 06 Highlander w/135k and wanted to change the trans fluid. I wanted to add, that there is a fluid spout at walmart for under $4 that works well to refill without a pump. You just have to cut the hose in half so it doesn't crimp and so you can slide it into the filler hole, but the trans fluid container can slide up next to the manifold and gravity pour.

 

So I have a question.

I was doing oil change on my 2012 HiHy and noticed that there is a hex plug in the very transmission belly bottom. Not on the side, as circled, right dead smack in the center of the housing flat bottom area. It's in the middle of rectangular :door" bolted to the housing and appears to be the lopwermost part of housing.
Yet, there is also a "drain" plug as described in the OP post.

So my question is - which one actually drain plug? As one I am inquiring about IS the lowest transmission housing point.

 

Any chance you could take a few pics and post so we know what you are looking at?

 

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