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If you have a hard shift point, check your upper motor mount/brace (aka "torque strut")
We recently got a 2002 ES300 (really love it). I noticed it had a hard downshift either 3->2 or 2-L. I had read many owners complained of shifting profile on the 2002 and 2003 MY so I did not sweat it much. I drove it "manually" and all was well. I treated the tranny w/Transtune and drained it, pumped out the torque converter and put in T-IV spec full synthetic. That helped a fair amount.
Then we did the timing belt last weekend and when we pulled the upper mount off, it was broken through. It was hidden behind the dust covers on it so you could not see it until disassembled. The new one went in the other day and now it is reduced MUCH more.
The NAPA and Dealer prices on the part were like $140 (!). I found other aftermarket options on Ebay and Amazon.com from $17 to $25. I put in one of those and it's a big improvement.
OEM part after 12 years (do not know how long it has been busted).
Going around the Olympic Peninsula with it this week, then paint the bottom rub strip and one rear bumper scrape and get 'er all pretty. Really like this car. Probably going to get my mom into a used RX300/330 after our experience with this one.
Ha ha. Thanks. The "house" is this guest room and outdoor kitchen we built for my mom a few years back. The main house is small, so it was the economical/met the needs thing to do for guests and entertaining. It is a great thing as it has turned out.
The dog is my constant companion, Lucy Liu (I did not name her). I call her Lucy, Lucille, Loose Wheel, Beefy (she was way fat when I got her), or, as tribute to George R.R. Martin/Song of Ice and Fire/GOT, "Lady Beefheart." She is 3, my "new" dachshund. I had a pair of brothers from 1993 to 2011, they died at 18 years. Heartbreaking. She was my replacement after mourning so hard and not being able to take the pain and absence. And she is just a wonderful companion. I love dogs, I have had German Shepards, Dobermans, Collies, my parents' have had for decades Golden Retrievers, but there is something about Dachshunds that is unbeatable - loyal, cuddleable, hard-corps hunting dogs at heart and aggressive. Big dog attitude in small dog convenience. Win-f'in-Win!
Thanks for noticing; I did not intend to get her in the pic but she is always near by and in the frame of pictures.
08-25-14, 01:22 PM
Hard downshift - fixed
She is 3, my "new" dachshund. I had a pair of brothers from 1993 to 2011, they died at 18 years. Heartbreaking. She was my replacement after mourning so hard and not being able to take the pain and absence. And she is just a wonderful companion. I love dogs, I have had German Shepards, Dobermans, Collies, my parents' have had for decades Golden Retrievers, but there is something about Dachshunds that is unbeatable - loyal, cuddleable, hard-corps hunting dogs at heart and aggressive. Big dog attitude in small dog convenience. Win-f'in-Win! 
