hondacurag

So I bought my GS300 knowing the transmission was bad, the owner said it was slipping. It lasted long enough for a test drive (no problems) and 40 of the 50 miles home, before having to be towed the rest by a friend. I am completely new to Lexus, and automatic transmissions in general (i've only personally owned manual's).

I found out that when it went out, if I pulled over, put it in park, shut it off, waited a couple seconds, and started it as normal, everything would work fine for about a mile on the backroads, and for about 5 miles on the highway. Each time it went out, I would just have to pull over and do the same thing over again, and it would be perfect until it just decided to stop, and the RPMS would jump, as if it were put into neutral. About 10 miles from home, it did this again, and I thought "well, same scenario", but the final time, it would not engage whatsoever, and thus, had to be towed home by a friend.

I've been informed that we have electronic tranny's? Could this be a computer problem? I really, really do not want to replace the tranny... I finally have a day off, and want to see if any progress can be made.

Thanks in advance CL!!!

Kaiser

iTrader: (1)

Dumb question, but have you checked the fluid level?

hondacurag

Yes. It's dark brown, but it's full. This morning, I disconnected the battery, waited a few minutes, reconnected, and it drove out of the garage (reverse) the first try. And then it wouldn't do anything after that. I just disconnected the battery again to try to drive it back into the garage in a few minutes. The night I bought it and it broke down, it wouldn't budge at all - no gear worked. It really makes me think it might be a computer issue, or the fluid is so dirty it's clogging something, and maybe it worked this morning for a few seconds because all of the dirt had gone to the bottom of the tranny, and starting it stirred up all the dirt again? I'm really at a loss for what to do. If it helps any, the tranny does make a whirring/whining noise. Could this possibly be from bad fluid as well?

Realistically, does a fluid change usually help, or is that something that should be done as preventative maintenance to keep something like this from happeneing?

Kaiser

iTrader: (1)

If it's brown the trans or converter is probably burnt. You can try draining just the pan and replacing just 3qt. I would not flush it at this point as the fluid would be too viscus for a trans this beat up.

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

I would not say it was the convertor. There typically isn't anything in a TC but vaines and whatnot. I'd venture to say that it's the clutch packs and planetary gears in the tranny itself. Try draining it as much as possible and loading in some fresh fluid. Drive it around and drain it again and refill. This will help get all the crap out. It might help but I venture to say that the tranny is toast.

hondacurag

Drained it (for some reason, there was still about an inch left on the stick after draining it, but couldn't get it out.....) and refilled with Toyota ATF. It's like it's just not engaging. I was parked in the driveway, and managed enough power/speed (4-5k rpms) to drive the front wheels up into the garage, and thats it. Had to push it the rest.

Couple things I noticed:

If I would leave it in D, no gas, just sitting there, and turn off the radio, it would surge slightly, like it engaged, and then stop. Same thing happened when I turned the ETC from PWR to NORM. However, I was unable to recreate any of these surges a second time. However, because it involves messing with the electronics, it makes me thing that it has something to do with the electronics itself? Again, i'm very new to Lexus/Toyota and automatics in general and have no idea.

TWong350

iTrader: (8)

Try this. Get under the car and disconnect the electrical plug. Should be connected where the gear selector arm is. Now try to put it in get and see if anythig changes. Why this does is uns your tranny in full manual mode with no electronics involved.

Kaiser

iTrader: (1)

If it's in park and it doesn't surge and only does it in gear, the electronics are fine. You'd have a check engine light with solenoid codes if it was electronics.
The trans fluid is now too viscus and will never engage. Never completely drain and refill a trans with burnt fluid. In my last post I specified 3 qts. In 6k miles you would do 3 more and in 6k 3 more until clean.
Replace the converter too, they do go bad and surging is a symptom of that. Even if it's not the converter, it's full of crap from the fluid.

hondacurag

I didn't completely drain it. I added about 1 1/2 quarts until it was at the full mark.

I'll try unplugging the electrical plug tonight and see if anything happens.

Fame

I'm currently having the same problem. Did you ever find out what was wrong with it?