900kLS400

New to the Lexus world..

Recently bought the LS with 900k miles on it. Car is good, but when I shift it from P to D or from D to R it makes a horrible noise and the engine dies.

If i start the car in N, and shift to D it's ok.


Any ideas? I was told neutral safety switch, but that doesn't sound right.

YoshiMan

Did you buy that white 96 that was on craigslist? If so, there was a thread just talking about that very same car just a week or so ago!

Not sure on what would cause that issue. How do the RPMs look during both scenarios? does it stay running if you give it a slight amount of throttle during the switch?

sha4000

iTrader: (1)

First of all did you do some basic maintenance on a car with that many miles. I'm sure it's due for another TB/WP job. Have you checked ALL vacuum lines,

mappo

The car sat idle most of the last year (and maybe longer) so there could be dry rot in the rubber bits. Gaskets, hoses, vacuum lines etc.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Congrats! This will be interesting. Most the times we only hear of the high miles ones. Glad you are here so we can have direct conversations regarding your car.

Any error codes? What is the service history?

900kLS400

Working on maint now. Car runs great.

No codes, I'll have to check vacuum lines again .

dicer

So what was the problem? If it runs great then it must not be dying when shifting outa park.

900kLS400

It runs fine except the shifting issues.

islandbeef

Show us some pics of this 900k car.

MikeFoxx

iTrader: (8)

Subscribed to see how long we can keep this car on the road with the ClubLexus support!

900kLS400

Here are some pics of the car now.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Tranny fluid color?

dicer

First thing that came to mind was the torque converter clutch, but the other symptoms kinda rule that out. If a tc clutch is flaking off pieces can cause it to stick slightly engaged, and it would be like dropping the clutch on a manual car when the engine is at idle. Give it some gas while taking it out of park, ride the brake or be in an open area.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

neutral safety switch would not cause horrible noises as you pointed out so that's out of the question. can you describe what type of noise is heard? grinding? rubbing?

i'm guessing the transmission is not properly slipping causing the engine to die when going in drive. check the transmission fluid level and ONLY use OEM toyota type-IV ATF! these trans are very sensitive to fluids.

i would be cautious to do a transmission flush on a car with such high miles. these transmissions get all finicky when too much fresh fluid is introduced after being used to a certain mixture.

for now make sure there is enough fluid, usually measured using the 'hot' side of the dipstick after driving the car for a few miles and checking on a level surface.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

a good quick check! fresh fluid is transparent red like kool-aid, then gets darker as it wears. muddy dark brown to black is bad.