Lexmex

Lower suspension, both lower supension pieces are on each side. Now some of the Lexus mechanics will have noticed in the prior pictures we did not remove the exhaust piping, as my uncle unscrewed some bolts to tip the engine downward so we could extract the transmission.

Lexmex

One of the lower suspension arms.

Actually with all of this out I finally going to deal with that transfer case to make sure the leak is completely gone and also work on the steering rack, which has a little play.

Lexmex

Active engine mount, boy was this thing ever wired up.

Lexmex

And this was my workstation, my laptop with wireless. That is a Pathfinder that had warped rotors and brakes that were absolutely dead. Of course you may have remembered from my cardomain page my uncle's Chow Chow, Gorda.

Tomorrow, I go back to work and will be taking a taxi for a while until everything is fixed. I anticipate we will know by the weekend what the deal is and maybe in about 2 weeks max, assuming we don't need parts from the U.S., we will be back on the road. I hope by December 9th, as that is my birthday.

I appreciate all of your support in this, for all I do with my RX, I am amazed at how we keep her in one shape...most of the time.

When it is back up again, we will do a DIY on shock installation.

salimshah

Are you going to go for higher stall speed TC?

Also remember to change engine side oil seal.

Salim

Lexmex

We are going to take a look at all seals in the area. I won't get to it until the weekend, as I have my day job to attend to.

As far as the torque converter, only if they can offer it here. It would take too long to get it sent from the U.S. (customs here is a PITA) and I urgently need the vehicle up and running for work.

Lexmex

Well, I can report some early news. My cousin Rodrigo reports that the flywheel/drive plate here is broken in the middle. So that we must get from the U.S. But I want to confirm with updated pictures later tonight after work. My uncle expects to have a report tonight on the state of the transmission after talking to his friend nearby, and I will give you a full accounting. I want to check on the seals and also the state of the torque converter. However, upon closer inspection there appears to be a crack at the 1 o'clock position (we must have been drunk when we looked at it before).

Fern

Lex,
I feel your pain and those pictures are all too common of when I had mine in one of the Toyota dealers service bays for over 1 week while mine also had "open heart surgery".

Lots of luck and we'll keep our fingers crossed til Dec 9/07
BTW, I have reserved some dancing girls for you... Or you can make your way out to Tijuana where the real action is

Lexmex

Well one good thing is that we are doing this on our own, and in some ways that is the best way, and it affords me the opportunity to take pictures we wouldn't ordinarily all get to see. Not sure if we will get everything taken care of by Dec. 9, but once I know everything that is wrong and what parts I need, then at least we know what to do, and I will breathe a sigh of relief.

If any of you make it down here, you are welcome to come to the track and enjoy the pleasure of EXXESSS, our wonderful nearby dancing club, top racers are all vips there.

thomas1

The tranny I worked on the pump is right behind that seal. That shaft should be pretty firm. Not moving side to side.So if the flywheel pilot hole where drifting than the main shaft would move side to side release fluid from the pump seal.

Lexmex

Well, now we know what we need to do.

First, flywheel below was busted in the middle as shown. We couldn't see but a few cracks before but after removing a center plate covering the middle, you can see the damage. This was causing noise and some hard starts sometime.

Second, seal on tranny pump needs replacement, my uncle has something that could work as a replacement along with another pump, but I will order the seal for the moment along with the flywheel tomorrow morning.

Rx300Mat

Lucky You. The parts are on order.

thomas1

Wow, do you think the racing caused the fatigue and breakage? I also noted that you had added the Lucas additive, but no way could I accept that additional torque from less slippage caused that. Hey good luck with the parts, and getting it repaired.

Lexmex

Although racing and a hard start would put stress on such a machine, the vehicle ran exceptionally quick for a daytime run, 18.1 on Sunday. Now after I had the Lucas additive, I noticed a small ticking, but then that went away and I didn't hear a thing. In addition, the tranny fluid shouldn't reach out that way.

Keep in mind, nothing else was an issue until the accident on Sunday and that force must have jarred something and then my continued driving must have torn it up like so. My uncle did ask the guy repairing the transmission if it is possible and he said if I were driving at a slow rate of speed after, perhaps it would have survived a bit longer, but any heavy foot driving after initial damage would cause what is seen above (and I was on the highway right after the incident). Now, might there have been a crack earlier? We will never know. I am not aware offhand of an aftermarket flywheel for our engine class, though there maybe something out there. I will after this incident nevertheless, make a thorough search, but already have the current flywheel on order.

With regard to the Lucas additive, the tranny mechanic noted that the tranny was in very good shape except for the pump and seal which had been jarred a bit loose and they will attempt to fix today and I will know in the afternoon if I should also get a pump, as I already have the seal on order as a precaution. I plan to run the Lucas again about a week after I get everything up and running, but will use smaller doses like I did before. He did check the tranny filter and it was clean (no accumulation of the additive) nor was any accumulation noticeable on any parts.

Lexmex

An update.

I will need to order on Friday seals for the front differential along with seals for the transfer case per my uncle's recommendation. As apparently there was a leak on the right side of the front differential.

In addition, my tranmission is now open at my uncle's friend's shop and tomorrow he will attempt to fasten the transmission pump which is a little loose and he is quite confident he can do it. I plan, if possible, to go with my father and my uncle on Saturday to visit him and take some photos of the tranny's interior. In addition, I should mention I put down $300 USD for his work and to have him reinforce areas of the transmission, and I hope to snap some shots of his handiwork.

He told my uncle that the transmission should be ready Saturday or Sunday.

Now, my uncle just needs the flywheel and spacers we ordered and everything should be in by Tuesday to send, meaning sometime by the end of next week, likely Friday I would guess, the truck should be up on its feet. My uncle can put everything back together in about 4 hours or so. He didn't even look at the manual when he took it apart, and I doubt he will when he puts it back together, though I gave him some hints on how much tranny fluid he has to put in (since it is all drained right now).