AnthonyMtz

Hey guys I need yalls help, my o'l girl gots 178,xxx and a few days ago I felt a small jerk but never gave any thought to it, well today i was driving and all of a sudden bam! It felt like i was rear ended but nobody was behind me... so I immediately drove home (I was just down the street) and parked it, well a few hours later I drove it around the block and 1st gear was good and boom as soon as I hit 2nd it almost locked up... so I went back home (note, I checked the fluid level And color, it was dirty but was still a tad red, I had also changed it about 3 years ago but never drove over 30k within those 3 years) so I'm not sure what the heck to do here... if I get a rebuild will it last? Can I beef up the transmission since these are known to be weak... It just happened so quick... I won't be driving it anymore till I figure something out, thank's for any input guys. -Anthony

Bobster999

I would drop the pan and check the screen, if not clogged then shes done.

matts6887

yea; it sounds to me as well like your trans could be a goner. A rebuild will definitely be less $ than getting a whole new trans. If anything; since you said your fluid looked a bit dirty; I might try draining the trans and putting in new fresh fluid and see if it may resolve the issue possibly. If you try that and it doesnt resolve it; then yes your trans is probably shot.

salimshah

Maybe or maybe not. But dont put the cart before the horse here.

Start with step by step diagnosis and then look at the options. Get advice from Thomas on transmission.


Salim

AnthonyMtz

Thank you everyone!! I will try and drop the pan today and see what damage there is just another question, I know the cost may vary but how much dose a good transmission rebuild for this car run? Again thanks guys!! -Anthony

pilot2

While I did not need the service, I understand a large transmission shop in the Detroit area, that provides a lifetime warranty, charges $2800.00 to overhaul the AWD version.

It has been indicated on the forum that even though your vehicle is years and miles out of warranty, sometimes your local Lexus dealer can get a courtesy credit from Lexus toward the dealer installing a rebuilt unit with the end cost being less than 3K.

AnthonyMtz

Ok guys, pulled the pan, as soon as I opened it up there was so much metal I've never seen that much in a transmission before... also I looked in the filter and it had some metal pieces inside of it as well, and on top of all of this there was no f%#!ing magnet to collect the metal!!! So I got 2 strong ones cleaned the pan out, and dropped them in, I wonder If the bits of metal were causing the problem because they never got collected by the magnet and just being recirculated in the system... I put in some stuff for slipping, hard shifts, worn bands and a lot of other stuff. It seems to be helping, it shifts really smooth and it only jerks a bit when put into reverse sometimes, drives pretty normal now, went to autozone got the filter & gasket 19.99 5 bottles of the Castrol transmission fluid 7.39 a quart and the transmission fix 11.99 and it came out to 73$ and some change, anyways I plan to change it again in about a week...what do you guys think? Also I've never changed my differential fluid.. should I be concerned? Again thanks guy for all the advice!! ps. Here are some pictures I took it hurt a bit when I saw this.

Notice no magnet in the pan..





Here I used my flash so the metal would reflect and you can see them better.





This is the color of my fluid, it looks darker in person, but it doesn't smell burnt or anything at least to me it don't.

kalali

Hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like that transmission was never serviced. These transmissions need a drain and fill every 10K miles if anyone is planning to keep the car for several years. Costs $30 and about 20 minutes.

I suppose it was serviced at least once to explain the absence of the magnets.

AnthonyMtz

I serviced it in 2012 but don't recall there being any magnets.. and it's had alot of stop and go wear in it for sure, but i will be draining it in a week and refilling it, I'm just shocked at how dirty it can get with less than 30k from the last pan drop and filter change, but so far no more hard shifts or jerks so I'm guessing it didn't like the metal shaving's floating around..

kalali

Glad it helped. I think your transmission is a good candidate for a forward non-power fluid flush. Do a search and you'll find a real good DIY someone posted a while back.

VegasRX300

To be on the safe side, I would drop the pan again, clean the magnets and put another trans filter in.
Just draining and refilling the trans fluid will not get the metal out that was still in the trans that the new filter caught.
That's just what I'd do. Cheaper than a new or used JDM
transmission

AnthonyMtz

Thanks for all the help guys, but I'm now having a bad jerk again when downshifting from 2nd to 1st and it feels like it struggles to take off, also when reversing, luckily I've sourced out a few jdm transmissions with less than 55k on them for 1k and I've found a good mechanic to install it for 450$ and also replace my timing belt and water pump for 300$ (I'll be buying the parts) so all in all about 1,800$ for everything. I get a 90 day warranty on the transmission and 30 day warranty on the mechanics work so I think I'll just replace it, it's done me well and it's tired, it's time for it to go, although I would like to get every last mile out of it I would rather have my smooth shifting Rx back thanks again for all the feedback guys! So far Club Lexus is the best!!