omr

It all started after I refueled at Mobil after a rainstorm a month ago. Could be coincidence, but RIGHT AFTER THAT the car started jerking wildly and making a howling wind noise from the front. Thought it was the transmission. Brought to Lexus dealership, they told me nothing was wrong as I had low mileage on the car. There are NO Check Engine lights on the dashboard. Car "quieted down" after that, but the noise remains EXCEPT at high speed when it's quiet. In addition to that, the jerking/misfiring continues at stops, reversing, and slower speeds on OCCASION only.

I tried Techron FI cleaner, but it has not made a difference. Filled up several times since then.

What's wrong?

lexus997

If it is misfiring, sputtering, etc. I would expect it to throw some engine codes. Do you have a code reader? You can buy a basic one for $60 at Advance Auto Parts and they usually have online coupons to reduce the cost.


You stated "Car "quieted down" after that, but the noise remains EXCEPT at high speed when it's quiet."

That sounds like a double negative, can you clarify when it is noisy.

omr

It's noisy all the time except when I'm driving at high speeds sustained. If there's some deceleration during high speeds it comes back.

Rainbird

Many auto supply stores will check for trouble codes at no charge. You should definitely do that and if you find any write it down and report back.

omr

Could I go to the dealership even without warranty and have them check it? And
what if there's no trouble code showing up?

lex_rx

My dealer charges 60 bucks to diagnose including a test drive. Check with yours.

lexus997

My local dealer wants $80 just to read engine codes! That is excessive to me since I know that it takes less than 10 minutes to do it .......... really less than 5. But, they charge what they charge.


As mentioned, check with your dealer to see what they will charge ........ or take it to an auto parts store that will do it for free ........ or buy a code reader for $60 that you own ......... but definitely report back what you find.

omr

So the wind noise never went away, but the "jumping" slowly dwindled down over the months. Dealer told me to put in Drygas (claimed they never heard the wind noise).

THEN, yesterday I'm on the highway and a BIGGER jerk happened while accelerating a bit. Biggest one ever and it sounded like something "fell off" my car but I didn't see anything. I pulled off the highway and the jerking was severe this time. When I got out, the driver side wheel had steam and brownish fluid shooting out of it. It appears that this was transmission fluid.

It was towed to the Lexus dealership. Waiting game now.

WTF happened?

nedogre20

I have a 2004 RX330 with 133k miles and have done the routine maintenance and have never had an issue. Your issues sound like the transmission is on its way out if its shooting transmission fluid all over the place. Post back once you figure out the problem. Thanks

omr

Apparently the transmission is "cracked" at 77K miles. $5-6K to replace. Always took to the dealer for service, bought an extended warranty in 2012 that was only good for 2 years, so guess that's gone now.

Called corporate office to tell them I asked same dealer to check transmission earlier this year but they said there was nothing wrong with transmission and that it didn't need looking at. What can I do here? It's my only car.

nedogre20

That sounds like a bunch of horse $&%#! If it was me, I would get a second opinion for sure. The stealership once told me my previous rx300 stalled because the idle air control valve needed to be replaced and couldn't be cleaned so I told them not to touch it. I towed it back to my house and cleaned the IACV and it started right up. They wanted $700 to replace it instead of a few bucks to clean it. That's not the only bad experience I've had there. IMO, I would definitely get a 2nd opinion if Lexus corporate doesn't help in any way possible. Just my 2 cents. Keep us informed

NVAKeith

iTrader: (1)

I would request goodwill assistance from corporate based on low miles and your dealer service history.

I did that recently and they covered parts cost for replacing transfer case. I had more miles than you (94k) but was also just a few months out of warranty.

omr

I contacted corporate Lexus yesterday. They say someone will get back to me by Monday to work with the dealer and myself. I'm super pissed off for many reasons. If they don't offer 100% goodwill for full transmission replacement, then what should I do next? Is there a way to file a class action lawsuit?

As I mentioned earlier, I repeatedly asked the dealership to check out the transmission months ago and they refused. They said the transmission on a car with low mileage should last another 30000 miles at least. I almost got killed on the highway when it went out, they put me in serious danger. Not to mention the humiliation of standing on the side of the road for 2 hours waiting for a tow while I had a cold.

litzdog911

[QUOTE=omr;9194864... Is there a way to file a class action lawsuit?

....[/QUOTE]

You'll be much better off working with Lexus Corporate than threaten class action lawsuits. Keep us posted.

NVAKeith

iTrader: (1)

Class action suggests there is a large group of people with the same complaint as you...

My 2 cents:

From your description, your complaint with the dealer is that they didn't diagnose your concern on previous service visits. Make sure you have copies of the work orders stating your concern and their response. To file suit against the dealer, you will likely need to have the transmission disected by a third party to see one what failed and whether the noise you were hearing was related to the failing part. That investigative report would be the basis for your suit against the dealer. Probably not worth your time or $ to go through that since there wasn't any bodily harm caused by the failure.

Your best bet, as you've done, is to politely request assistance from corporate to goodwill the repair, and if needed, to supply the prior work orders suggesting it was an undiagnosed failure in the making. If the first documented complaint was while the car was under warranty then you have a viable reason for demanding 100% goodwill assistance. Otherwise anything you get is a gift. Lexus works directly with your servicing dealer for goodwill repairs so it's in your best interest to be polite (but firm) with all parties involved.

In the future, after multiple service visits with no resolution it's time to find another dealer service department. I've had to do that with other makes of cars while under warranty.