hoopes999

Hello Club Lexus

About a month I had a used JDM Transmission installed in my 93' es300. The mechanic warned me that there was a bad front mount and it was causing a hard 1-2 shift and jerking when placing the car into drive. I also had both half shafts changed because my boots were torn. Basically I tried to save money on the install and I ended up getting burned. I was referred to the guy and I also did some research, he had a decent website and when I talked to him he seemed like he knew what he was talking about. I had to have my car towed to the shop so I never checked out the shop and that was the #1thing that got me, had I seen the condition of the shop I would have never had my car worked on by him, put it like this, when i walked in I had to walk over dirty stuffed animals and motor parts just to get to the desk ..oh boy, yeah. Anyway, I was a sketchy job that are many things to mention but just for example for one I asked him to flush the cooler and I could tell he never touched it, the cooler lines were actually used and rotten, also they were leaking because the clamps were not tight enough. I even gave him new cooler hoses to use but I guess he just pocketed those cause I never saw them after that. Basically what I'm saying is this guy was a f'ing nightmare. So he told me that cause of the banging into gear was the front mount was broke, I had that replaced a ammco and it did not help, they said it could be the rear mount got broke during the install but they didn't want to "get into it" because they didn't want to go behind someone elses work. I just had a bad feeling also that the cv axles might be coming into playing with the banging into gear, is it possible if he installed them wrong that the axles could cause jerky shifts. The transmission shifts very nice and had very little wear in the pan when I dropped it so I'm happy with that, I was just wondering if any of you guys had an opinion of what could have happened during the install to cause the banging into gear, I did not have this issue before the install..thank you all.

hoopes999

Can the differential being low cause banging into gear. I'm pretty sure mine shares fluid with the transmission but I need to check it out asap

Oro

Three things to start with in my mind:

a) Make sure the fluid is full. This is done with the car running, AFTER shifting through all gears. On this year/model I am pretty sure the diff and tranny are a combined transaxle unit like on most later Aisins and fill together. Also check if there is a sep. diff. side drain plug, some had that though I don't think this does but I've never worked on this model Aisin. Check your manual if you don't know how to eyeball it. if the hoses were leaking, you need to check it. Some leaks get much worse on running and you may be lower on fluid than you think if you have not checked carefully.

b) Check all mounts. My generation makes a hard "clunk" on downshifting 2-1 when a mount is broken. I just replaced all my mounts the last two weeks. Fixed my issues. Have someone hold the brake, shift in to R and D and goose the gas a little. Watch the engine and you can see excessive movement.

c) If the above two don't cure it, make sure the fluid is correct. If he through in some other weird leftover fluid, it might bot be the correct type. This fluid should be Dexron III. Some say they get worse performance with Dex VI (the newer type that is backward-compatible) in some Dex III transmissions. Do a drop test (put a drop on a paper towel) and make sure it's clear and red at least and not dirty/used/etc.

hoopes999

thank you for the response, I have done two drain and refills already just to get the fluid looking good and I didn't really trust anything he did so thats another reason why, I'm currently using maxlife but I may upgrade to royal purple. I have mastered checking the fluid level because I have changed the fluid so many times on my previous transmission so i have that down. I do notice it shifts a little better when its on the lower side of the hot marks so I keep around that area. My engine does have a alot of movement to the rear, I have changed the dog bone mount and the front mount and that did not help. The rear mount is supposed to be a big job to get to and change out, its even hard to see the bushing from under the car but its obviously something I'm going to have to deal with because its the #1 suspect right now. btw, the mechanic had to swap over my neutral safety switch because the jdm one had a different connector, Is there anyway that switch could be causing problems with shifting if they are not compatible? Anyway, I will keep you updated, thank you for your help

hoopes999

oh I forgot, I did change the cooler lines already so they are not leaking anymore, there are no leaks at all, the fluid is holding at a steady level

hoopes999

oh I forgot, I did change the cooler lines already so they are not leaking anymore, there are no leaks at all, the fluid is holding at a steady level.

Oro

a) No, the neutral safety switch would not be at play here.

b) I would stick with MaxLife; it is very good and an incredible value. Paying a lot more for Royal Purple is not going to address this issue or in general get your better performance in any quantifiable way.

c) Sounds like you need to get at that mount to address this issue. I don't have any tips on that rear mount on this generation; maybe someone else will or look through archives with the search feature to find the best "how to."

hoopes999

Ok, I need to get a OEM dog bone mount , the cheap one that I just got has already cracked, just hoping its not the rear one that caused it to break