ES350Bob

1seek,

I thought you had decided to wait to get your transmission replaced or were thinking of waiting. You went ahead and did and is the shudder the only thing you think you are experiencing?

ESsearch

I agree that fluid levels is the latest Lexus "Let's try this" remedy. The tech made a point of telling me they tried that. He said it is a complex operation and the fluid has to be put in using a computer which calculates the amount based on temperature (fluid?, Transaxle?, outside air?) and other factors. He said he thought it would help with mine. It did not.

I have played around with the sympton and can duplicate it fairly easily. It happens at about 37 mph and the tach shows about 1200 rpm. When applying very light throttle, it shudders just like an old manual tranny would when the engine is being "lugged" (the tranny is in too high a gear). Using the "S" mode I found at that speed the transaxle is in 6th. I believe it is a programming issue with the computer between knowing to downshift and the car being in too high a gear. I have also felt it occasionally while decelerating at highway speeds. Again, the tach is around 1200 rpm. I also did not have this issue with the original transaxle.

Pete

ESsearch

I forgot to mention, I cannot get the shudder when the car is cold. I believe the higher gears are locked out at that point. It will shudder regularly once the car is warmed up.

Pete

ES350Bob

Frozen,

They are told to feed you that BS. Months ago it was said if we had a nickel for every claim by a dealer thay had never seen something or never heard of it before, we could all go to dinner at the finest of restaurants.

Ask the parts manager next time as though inquiring whether you would receive a new or rebuilt transmission as a replacement and get ready to take notes, or call another dealer in your state and ask them.

ES350Bob

1seek,

I see Pete is shy about answering your shudder question

He seems to have an added dose of it, but best described as though going over the metal grate of a large draw bridge only without the tire on grate noise, feels like, or similar to that as you are accelerating, slightly speeding up, a very uneven feeling when shifting.

Alternatively, if you are landlocked or never went over a draw bridge with a metal grate, similar to exiting a freeway ramp and coming upon those areas where they have built into the road those 1 inch high asphalt grids to let you know you should be slowing down only again none of the tire on road noise, no buzzing sound as though tires are going over something like that, but sort of feels like that experience.

ES350Bob

reyrey,

Since you do not own an ES350, what is the reason you voted on this poll?

I don't know if Dave can get rid of your vote and he should not have to spend his time on that, but please consider we do these when we start seeing a trend, such as something is not working, in order to get a clearer picture of the degree.

Our--Wanderer's-- TSIB valve body poll was a great prediction the thing was failing. It seemed this was too so Wanderer created this poll to see degree.

osokuko

You maybe experiencing torque converter lock-up, unlock. Below is some information from the Transmission Manual on that subject.

MONITOR DESCRIPTION
Torque converter lock-up is controlled by the TCM based on the turbine (input) speed sensor NT, output speed sensor NC, engine rpm, engine load, engine temperature, vehicle speed, transmission fluid temperature, and gear selection. The TCM determines the lock-up status of the torque converter by comparing the engine rpm (NE) to the input turbine rpm (NT). The TCM calculates the actual transmission gear by comparing input turbine rpm (NT) to output shaft rpm (NC). When conditions are appropriate, the TCM requests "lock-up" by applying control voltage to the shift solenoid SLU. When the SLU is turned on, it applies pressure to the lock-up relay valve and locks the torque converter clutch.

LOCK UP
[Test Details]
Control the shift solenoid SLU to set the automatic transaxle to the lock-up condition.

[Vehicle Condition]
• Throttle valve opening angle: Less than 35%
• Vehicle Speed: 37 mph (60 km/h) or more

HINT:
• This test can be conducted when the vehicle speed is 36 mph (58 km/h) or more.
• This test can be conducted with the 6th gear.


Personal Note:
(Why I get that feeling of bucking or it feels like it doesn’t know what to do at about 40 MPH).


HINT:
• When changing the accelerator pedal opening angle while driving, if the engine speed does not change, lock-up is on.

• Slowly release, but not fully, the accelerator pedal in order to decelerate. (Fully releasing the pedal will close the throttle valve and lock-up may be turned off automatically.)

ES350Bob

If they are doing this, it seems Lexus would have ordered it or approved it or the dealer would lose out on expense of transmission parts and expense of labor to remove one and put another in and would not do it for that reason.

I only hope they are disclosing this to the buyers of these vehicles if they are actually doing this at that dealer and other other dealerships, how horrible if not. It's like selling a certified pre-owned that was not owned by a person, but by a dealer instead with the buyers left in the dark paying new car retail prices. And given what seems the failure rate of these 2nd transmissions, what a nightmare for an unaware buyer.

1seeker1

Bob,

I'm still waiting for a fix. I asked about the shudder because my car does not shudder, only flares. It also loses RPM's at highway speeds per my other thread. That is why I wanted more information on what others are experiencing when they feel the car shudder. Until this post, I don't remember reading about the shuddering in relationship to the car flaring. Since I do not have this condition, I still don't quite understand what others are experiencing and when it happens.

ES350Bob

ok,

BTW: My buddy experienced shudder riding along last night, he said, tell them it is more like a partially clogged fuel line experience, at least from the passenger perspective anyway, though no fluctuating RPM indicating loss of fuel flow.

Let others add their view of that as one way to describe it, I prefer the metal grate absent tire noise myself.

ESsearch

The shuddering is very much like the sound and feel of going over the grooves cut into the roadway to warn you when you have drifted onto a shoulder or are approaching a toll booth. The first time it happened to me I thought it was the road. I have noticed it both accelerating and decelerating, always at very low rpm but at different road speeds.

Pete

reyrey127

hey esbob haha... i didn't think anyone was gonna catch it.. i actually accidentally clicked vote instead of see poll... if you can delete me from it sorry about that... i was logging in at work and wasn't thinking when i clicked it... sorry about that...

but in general, the TSIB doesn't look too good eh?? beer is still on hold buddy... until then esbob... cheers

reyrey127

well esbob,

to redeem myself.. here is an account of a toyotnation.com member who post the following...

Well, after driving a loaner car for nearly three weeks, I got my SE back tonight. It went in to service for the trans flare, pulling to the left hard, brake squeek, and a popping in the dash.....

They replaced the trans with a new design: my paperwork says: #30510-33530 transaxle assy per TSBTC002-07

They Swapped two tires and did an alignment per TSB 05-01

They added front and rear fitting kits to the brakes and greased the calipers per TSB BRO-10-06 Road tested and found the squeek still was there. They then followed TSB BRO-20-06 and added rear brake shims

Finally they took apart the dash and found the windshield retainers tapping. They followed TSB NV009-06 to fix by removing windshield locating pins top and bottom.


I took the car out tonight and it sat from 6:00pm - 8:45 pm outside with a temperature of +1 deg. F. Upon backing out of the driveway, and starting out on a 25mph road I got the flare. I got to the main road (40mph) and hit it. 1st...2nd...3rd...flare. I almost lost it.

In addition, the dash squeeks more than I started out with. In fact, the tick still comes from behind the radio, but now I have a squeek!

Also, now the car even after driving for 30 minutes is running at idle over 1100rpm. Seriously, I almost coasted through the garage wall as it simply wants to go...

So now what? of course a call to the dealer Friday first thing, but what now. Another three weeks?

I want to cry. Honest, I love the car, but soon I will be driving the loaner more than my own car. There is a quary nearby....think insurance would cover it?


hopfully you can use this bit as a negative on the tranny flare.. there are some others as well on the other forum...

mattvds

Well there you have it, my car definately slipped today on my way to work. It took 700 miles on the new transmission.

garsarno

I experienced the shudder on both new cars: 1999 Lincoln Town Car (within 5,000 miles) and 2004 Mercury Moutaineer (within 10,000 miles) - new torque converters were installed and no problems ever since, with Town Car (67,000 miles) traded in on 2007 Lexus ES350 and 53,000 miles on Mountaineer. Friends of ours had same problem with their Mountaineer.