bigegg

If you're getting transmission fault codes, then it's 99% likely to be transmission fluid.
You can jack up the car by putting your jack under the 3in square box section chassis rails which run front to back, about 9?inches in from the sill. Jack it up, and put your axle stand under the suspension to hold it up.

Then remove the black plastic cover which is fastened to the bottom of the car, preventing access to engine from underneath - there's about 6x 10mm (7/16"?) headed screws across the bottom of the front bumper, then about another 15 or twenty around the edge of the cover.

Once that's off, you should be able to take a better look at were the leak is.
My bet is that it's the hoses leading from the transmission to the radiator.

Even if it isn't, worst case is a seal or two - couple of hours labor and $30 of parts? then a refill of ATF.

$300 tops

This will almost certainly clear your fault codes.
IF the solenoid is shot, then your'e looking at another $250 for a new one - and an hours labor to refit -
the job is literally:
drain oil pan
remove oil pan
clean filter and magnet (why not since it's open?)
remove gasket
unbolt solenoid (1 bolt to hold it in place)
unclip cable from solenoid
test resistance on solenoid (11-14 ohm = good, anything else = bad)
test cable for open/short circuit
replace solenoid or replace cable
fit new gasket
replace oil pan
refill oil pan with ATF (through dip stick hole)

An independent mechanic should charge you, at most, $150, plus the solenoid or cable as neccessary.

Plenty of tutorials, with pictures, about to guide you through it if you want to try fixing it yourself - it's not complicated - just a matter of one step then another, then another, until it's done.

pwesseler

I guess if you don't have a clue..?

Lutkis

I'll add one problem to the list.
When I break hard (for example someone in front of me does emergency breaking) and when I release my foot off the brake pedal the car starts to roll slowly and then when I accelerate it kind of jumps/bumps forward.
It seems like the tranny didn't have the time to fully shift to lower gears during the hard breaking or something? Hopefully someone understood what I meant.
Either way it shouldn't act like that, that is the opposite of soft shifting.

It's definitely tranny fluid. Fluid level is almost at High. Should it be exactly in level with High or is it enough if it's over the Low?

Well not just because of that code but everything else suggests that. I'm not that confident in myself that I'd do that. Best to leave it to the ones who knows what they're doing.

Well actually it's mostly attached with zipties 'cause I lost "a few" bolts when I did the retrofit and took off the bumper. So it's not a biggie to take the cover off.

This is the part where it starts to cost money. They'll have to take the tranny down and I don't think they would just change the seal, they'd open the tranny too to be sure there are no problems.

So here's my possible problems:

- Solenoid busted or just giving the error code because of bad/not enough fluids
- Main seal (or multiple) and who knows what else on the inside of the tranny
- Leaking hoses

And here's my possible solutions:

- Fluid change (could get rid of the solenoid code?) - have to take it to a shop
- Solenoid and fluid change - have to take it to a shop
- Seal replacement - have to take it to a shop
- Hose replacement (adding fluids after this?) - could be done by myself

So most likely I'd have to take it to a shop to let them take a look at it.
Also there might be something wrong with the TC because it isn't giving me full power on acceleration. When I first got the car I could burn rubber at launch and now it just stalls and lags a few seconds when I do a standing still launch.


Quite long reply, bear with me.

bigegg

The lexus auto box is reputedly unkillable - everything I've read (and I've read *a lot*) seems to say the *only* thing that goes wrong with the box is dirty fluid causing solenoid problems - and (apparently - mentioned on this thread) seals.

There have been several mentions in the past of the metal pipes from the cooler corroding - this is the first place I'd check, before worrying about seals and solenoids.

All your faults are almost certainly related - to have two, unrelated, transmission issues on a box which has a reputation for reliability is unlucky to the point of absurdity!

*IF* you are lucky - the hose is busted, and the low ATF level is causing the fault codes - so check the hoses, and top up the fluid - to the "HOT" line when the engine is hot, and hope.

*IF* you are unlucky - the transmission seals are busted, and either the low fluid has damaged the solenoids, or the leaking fluid has damaged the wiring - in which case buy a new transmission, because it will be cheaper.

bigegg

and the "fluid change" is really easy - as easy as changing the hoses, and refilling!

tutorial here
just drain the transmission oil pan first!

Changing the solenoids, almost as easy.

transmission seal - no idea, depends which one! If it's the main seal between engine and gearbox, should be very cheap to have that done - couple of hours labour maximum.
If they want to check the entire transmission, tell 'em "no" - it's your dollar

Lutkis

Well that's what I've been told and read too. Maybe it's just my extremely bad luck with cars and going with a minimal budget.

And that's where I'm going to check first.

As said before, it wouldn't be a surprise when talking about me.

Oh it was HOT, not High. Can't remember everything. Let's hope it's the hoses.

Wouldn't the draining be quite difficult space-wise? I only have two axle stands and I'm not very keen on going under the car with so little space.
Where exactly are the solenoids? Inside the oil pan?

I would propably feel more confident knowing there's nothing wrong on the inside of the tranny.
One shop told me that the clutch discs could have gone bad if the fluid level was too low at some point. Is there any truth behind this?

bigegg

I too, have a very limited budget - that's one of the reasons I bought a lexus.

You don't actually need to be under the car to do the draining - the hose is right at the front, just behind the radiator - lifting it up just makes it easier to see. Could be done by driving one side onto a high kerb. Same with the oil pan, you only need to make enough room to get one arm in to undo the bolt, and put a bowl under the drain.

If you don't trust your axle stands - get some you do trust!

basically, yes.

possibly. but you would then have a different fault code

Lutkis

I'm sensing a bit of sarcasm. What I meant was that it's my typical luck when I buy a car and it breaks and the repairs are gonna cost alot to fix. It's all the same if it's a BMW, Volvo or Lexus.

Today I went under the car and checked the hoses.
Here's a few pic:





As can be seen there's no leaks in there. It must be the main seal.

benzo555

iTrader: (11)

Doesn't look like main seal to me. The substance looks too watery. I'm willing to bet is coolant. I had the same leak (different engine) and it leaked from the seal around the water pump. Look around there.

bigegg

Funnily enough - I wasn't being sarcastic.
For the last 15 years, I've owned Vauxhall Omegas - what you would call, in the US, a Cadillac Catera.
Every year, I would budget the equivalent of $1000 for maintenance - a cambelt service has to be done every 20K or 2 years, and costs the equivalent of $600
On the lexus, it's 6 years or 60,000 miles - and costs the equivalent of $600, which means I save $200 a year on cambelts alone.
Insurance is $400 a year cheaper on the lexus.

A replacement (from a breaker) transmission for the Catera is $300. For the lexus $300.
Exhaust system (mild steel) on Catera is $400, and lasts three years. For the lexus it is $1000, and last 10-15 years.
Suspension parts are about equivalent price but last 2 or 3 times as long.

MPG is the same (3 litre)

Cateras (or at least the UK version) almost always need rust spots tidying up - every year - or the chassis welding, or *some* bodywork issues.
The list of regular failures is *huge*:

Heater bypass valve
Rocker gaskets
heater matrix
crank shaft sensor
cam shaft sensor
headlamp adjuster failure
powersounder bursting into flames
ABS ecu failure
Wheel bearing failure
Wishbone bush failure

and all those could be EVERY year - with new parts. (not the powesounder - that gets removed and binned!)

And the omega is known as a reliable car!

All in all, if the lexus is half as reliable as it's purported, it''ll still save me a grand a year - and potentially a lot more!

Lutkis

Recently I had to add coolant 'cause the tank was empty. I'll keep monitoring it.
It couldn't be just the coolant, how else can you explain the behaviour of the tranny? It behaved weird way before the solenoid malfunction.

Don't know if it's worldwide but we have a saying here in Finland that goes something like this:

"Every car becomes an Opel at some time of its lifespan."

Opel/Vauxhall, it doesn't matter what logo is in the front grille they'll still rust and rot away.

Edit: I forgot there's also Holden Commodore, Chevrolet Omega and Lotus Omega.

bigegg

lol.
In the UK, Ford is known as the worst for rust.
Vauxhall/opel second worst - but still known to be cheap to maintain


Easy way to check coolant - open a bright yellow highlighter pen and drop the foam ink reservoir into the coolant tank (or into a container of water, and refill the coolant tank with it).
It will glow under a UV (black light) lamp, and show you where the leak is.
It is possible that your solenoid problem is caused by a short on the wiring harness, caused by a coolant leak.
Fix the leak, the solenoid problem goes away.

bigegg

also - easy check for coolant or ATF - ATF eats paint, coolant doesn't.

Lutkis

Shouldn't the coolant taste sweet? I tasted the fluid on the ground and it tastes more oily than sweet.

jkeifer3

I don't know about today's coolants, but coolants of old (ethylene glycol) did taste sweet. Animals have been known to eat it because of its sweetness and, you guessed it, they died because it was poisonous.