lx470noob

When changing from p to R or p to d or r to d it clunks pretty hard. But from there it's smooth as far as the actual shifting goes.

The differential fluid has not been changed, it's at 117k, helping someone with this car.

So we know what causes the clunk and how to fix?

Jacket

You sure it's the transmission? Many times a driveline "clunk" is caused by a lack of grease in the driveshaft that is causing some play. I'd lube the ujoints (until old grease pushes out the seams) and the slip yoke (5 to 10 pumps - don't overgrease it) first and see if that helps. Otherwise it could also be bushings wearing out in the control arms. That's a bit more involved and harder to diagnose, but still a relatively easy repair to press in a new bushing.
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- Matt

2013 GX 460
1996 FZJ80
1976 FJ40

hankinid

Not sure I understand the "don't over grease it" part. FSM advises to add grease until it flows out the end of the seal...just like similar seals on other machinery...without seeing flow, you have no idea if the entire length of the splines is greased or not.

If you don't see grease flowing smoothly out through the seal, the likely cause is that it's not been greased for a while. In that case, simply pull the DS from the truck, pull it apart and clean it, manually apply grease to the splines and reinstall it in the truck. Then grease per the FSM once it's installed.

hth

Steve

Jacket

That's true for the U joints, but the slip yoke is a different design. The splines need to be greased, and are often the source of clunking in Land Cruisers. To just pump grease liberally into the slip yoke - you could end up filling the enter space with grease, which can impact the ability to compress the shaft. In slow/normal conditions, excess grease will likely push back out the slip yoke joint, but if you encountered a severe compression of the driveshaft, and if it's completely full of grease, it can cause trauma to the shaft because the grease restricts the compressions. So the general consensus is to squirt a few pumps of grease into the slip yoke without going crazy, or better yet, pull the drive shaft, clean it out and re-grease the splines.

hankinid

Jacket, I suppose we'll agree to disagree, just a bit.

The last page of the FSM "PF" (propeller shaft) section advised to apply grease after installing the drive shaft until grease flows from the seal...it's also called the "dust cover" prior to the last page.

I've queried both the local Toyota and Lexus dealers and had the same response from them...I got the same answer from LTS (Lexus Toyota Scion) indy shop here in Boise.

I've had my LX since 2009 and noted no grease flow from the spline seal the first time I lubed the shaft. Replacing the seal (and the shop manual shows it with a black diamond, meaning do not reuse) fixed the issue. If the truck has issues with grease flow from the shaft, it's probably since the oem grease dried up and no one lubed it during scheduled maintenance.

I seriously recommend ignoring the oem maintenance interval...I do mine along with the u-joints at every oil change, ~7500 miles.

Steve