blkstealthpaid4

6 months ago I was having hard shifting from 1st-2nd gear and especially in colder weather.I then took the car to Texaco(oil change place) to have them flush the tranny fluid with their flush system.After that, the system shifting got a lot better but a day later I was smelling coolant from inside the vents.I immediately popped the hood and saw coolant leaks from the seem area(top) of where the plastic meets the metal.The overheating never started until 2 weeks ago.I came on here and did an extensive search on some of the older threads.During this time I was always checking the coolant.


I then went ahead and bled the system.This cured my overheating and NO HEATER problems I was having.Driving 2 days ago through some back roads, the RPM immediately shot up and I lost much power.I pulled on side side of the road with the wife and new born twins and checked the tranny fluid and smell.The smell did seem normal but seemed very hot.

The initial first gear is the problem and it gets better when I shut it off for a while.I bought the car with 265k and that was a chance I took.

Anyway I found a guy on CL who claims he deals with only lexus parts.
http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/pts/1527216812.html

Here is his CL ad.I will go check out his shop before I have it Towed there.

When it rains it pours..........
My Dell Optiplex desktop that I bought on ebay started giving me blue screen of death errors.I researched the stop errors on MS website and it came up with bad physical memories.I then went to best buy and bought 1 GB memory to replace the existing two slots and now the damn machanine will not even power up.NO MORE DELL DESKTOPS FOR ME.


My misery hasn't ended yet.I am an independent trucker, and while driving through PA I was losing air pressure(air brakes).I took my RIG in to TA truck stop to replace my valve and now my cruise do not work.I HAVE THE WHOLE DASH APART trying to understand the electrical schematic and using my tester but I cannot figure this **** out.


WHEN WILL ALL MY PROBLEMOS END.

Banshee365

Hadi (sp?) is a great guy. He's in Marietta and I've dealth with him as a parts source SEVERAL times and have never been disappointed. I have not had him do any work to my car becaues I do it all myself but I'm sure his shop is good. He has a group of mechanics that do nothing but work on Lexus's. They're taken every car apart to the last screw to inventory the parts. Don't think twice about spending your money with him, he's good for it.

91LS400LEX

I have heard that flushing an older high mileage transmission usually puts them in the grave.

I have been very fortunate. Both my 1990 LS400 (276K) and current 1991 LS400 (225K) had have perfect shifting transmissions.

Hope you get back on the roads soon.

91LS400LEX

Hope you have better luck with that guy than I did. I recognised that # and went to the ebay ad and its the same guy. I saw his stuff on ebay. Needed a part and he said he would check it. I called about three times, each time he said he had forgot and would check and for me to call back, or he would call, etc. Never did. I would then email and get no reply, etc. I finally gave up. I wasnt going to beg. Thankfully a club member found me one off of a crashed 1994 LS.

I have asked myself that several times... the answer was "when I sell my LS400". Everytime I fix one thing, something else breaks.

91LS400LEX

Guess you were one of the lucky ones. I never could get him to even check a part for me.... "kept forgetting" he said on the phone calls and for me to call back... was the same old story. Eventually would not even reply to emails....

Not slandering anyone, but that was just my experience.

Thermactor

iTrader: (1)

That guy put me through the same **** too.

91LS400LEX

Ah, so I am not the only one.
I tell you it was frustrating. I was when I was battling my power steering issue.... and I needed a rack solenoid. I am guessing he realized it was part of the rack and didnt want to seperate, but he could have at least told me so.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

you had TEXACO do a fluid flush?

did you remember to use actual toyota T-IV fluid....?

blkstealthpaid4

Yes they did a flush and I am not sure if they used a toyota tranny fluid.Something had to be done and it probably would have gone anyway.I am seeing most people loose their trannies around 300k miles and which is still not bad.
I talked to him on the phone and he seem like a fast talker and so I will stop by there this week and check him out and his shop.He seem to have every part anyone would need.Took him almost a week to respond to my emails and he is only 40 miles from me.I will go check out his place this week.

I have a load booked this week and AI will be over the raod for about two weeks.If he seems credible in person and his shop impresses me, I will have it towed when I get back.I will have him replace the winning power steering pump and it's annoying valve,tranny and the radiator.I would be pleased if he can do all this for $800.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

actually the aisin made transmissions in the LS tend to last damn near forever PROVIDED they are properly maintained. if you paid anythiing less than $140-150 for that "flush" you got the wrong fluid, AND being a random oil change place you probably got the wrong fluid regardless. you NEED toyota t-iv fluids or else your trans will slip, and eventually burn out the clutches.

get your trans FLUSHED (not drain/fill) with actual Toyota T-IV fluid before you drop the $$ replacing it.

willhickey

iTrader: (1)

yeah and let me know if that works because my sc400 has 251k on it and a couple weeks ago mine started downshifting and doing the same thing you described .. haha Pure drifter is onto something though because my transmission was low on fluid and i added 2 quarts of dex.3 and right away it started bouncing off the rev limiter and boom next thing you know byebye tranny. At the time toyota was closed when I added the fluid and I knew it was wrong the fluid but I thought hey whatever dex is better than running it low right? Wrong... Last time I use my stupidity first instead of being smart and driving home to pick up the camry

blkstealthpaid4

This Hadi guy may be good in sometimes getting you guys parts, but I drove my wifes car out there to check out his business and his junk yard.I don't know about you guys, but I don't trust someone who talk fast,is constantly on the phone while driving and sounds like a typical sales man.I didn't trust his work or his place.The guy works out of his house and has sectioned off his backyard for his junk cars.He showed me the 97 LS400 that he had yanked the tranny from.He has set up a bay outside and only one guy is working on a 94GS.I can't trust my car to be in anyones house for tranny work.

I have pretty much decided to find a tranny shop who can advice me on if it needs a new tranny or an adjustment/flush.
Any Ga folks out here know a good tranny place south of the airport?

blkstealthpaid4

I am back in town and I am about to deal with this issue but I need to make a good decision that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.

First of all let me tell you a little history with a tranny rebuild.7 yrs ago,I had my tranny rebuilt on a 1997 Dodge Caravan by Certified Transmissions(chain).After the rebuild, I must have taken the van back to them about 5 times in a 2 month period and then I finally dumped the van to a junk yard .I then vowed never to rebuild another tranny but rather get a used tranny to swap.


In being careful not to get shafted by another tranny shop, I drove all around my neighborhood to ask for a referral for a tranny shop around the area.Just like I thought,none of the shops recommended Cert. Transmissions from down the street but 5 shops did recommend Thirmis Transmissions.I wanted a tranny shop that would carefully diagnose it in case it wasn't a tranny problem ,and also a shop that will allow me to bring a used tranny incase mine was bad.

The questions is, which way will you guys go?
I had my 1990LS 400 for 5 yrs with 250k miles on it and the tranny was still good when I sold it.I bought this 1995 LS 400 3 yrs ago and at 301k miles I am realising these 2nd gen trannys are not as bullet proof as the 1 Gen's.
Thurmis Transmissions quoted me between 2100-2300 to rebuild my old one(worse case scenario) or they can swap one out for 550-600 on just labor.A used one from a yard is $700-$800.Do I go the 2100-2300(1 yr warranty) route to rebuild, or do I spend around 1300 for a used one(includes labor)?
Weigh my bad experience in rebuilding trannys and the cost to put a used one in and please tell me what you would do?

If I do go used I would want one from a yard that still have the tranny in the car and in that case I can verfify the mileage.I wouldn't want one that has already been yanked out.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

the 2nd gen trans are just as bulletproof, but less tolerant of the wrong fluid.

id just yank it, you can buy a 2nd gen trans cheap if you know where to look.

blkstealthpaid4

I looked on car-part.com and the cheapest ones have something missing like a torgue converter.I found one local on car-part.com but the torque converter was missing for $400.I think I would want the complete transmission with nothing missing.Almost every shop I called on wanted 700-800.
One guy had a rebuilt one on ebay for 1200 but that was for a 98.
I can also take a chance with this Hadi from craigslist who sounds like a typical sales man that he desn't seem trustworthy.Where should I be looking for a cheap tranny? Anything out of town will have at least a $150 shipping charge.
Hey I will definitely keep you guys posted, unlike others who fixed their stuff and forget to update their findings or fixes.