aquanuke

If you do a search pearlpower documented fitting of his Optima. I think it did need a little work something like the posts are the wrong way and leads needed extending.

camillian

I just replace the battery in my 06 with only 6000mi. I keep it in the garage mostly and I guess I should have hooked up that trickle thing or what ever it is they reccomend when the car sits for long periods of time. Anyway I was surprised to see the battery that came from factory was a Panasonic? The new one I got from the dealer says Lexus Premium on it. I guess they are the same just different badging.

tfischer

CSSC:
The optima battery has been discussed here at great length.
Do a search and you will get lots of information.

1NICESC430

This July will mark eight years that I've had my 2002 which, at about 20,000 miles, still has its original battery. To keep the battery charged, I attach a Battery Tender when I put the car away during the winter months. I'll be putting the car on the road this coming week - hope I don't have to eat my words.

On this forum over the years, I've noticed that battery problems seem to plague some owners but are virtually nonexistent among others. I've been lucky - wood, wood, where's the wood around here ...

cssc

tfischer:

Thanks for the info on the Optima battery. After doing the research, I decided to stick with a Lexus battery (made in Germany)...makes it easier to change out.

So far no problems with the trans.

sdhedrick

Hi. I took my car out of the garage today to wash it (I reverse out of my garage). After cleaning it I went to drive it back into the garage and when I put the car in forward, it would not move. If I gave it a scary amount of gas, it would creep forward. Tested each forward gear and same thing. Reverse was fine, but I did notice that after creeping forward, when I put the car into reverse it "engaged" the gear very hard.. almost as if I was giving it a little gas when I put it into gear (even though I wasn't).

Of course, I started freaking out and immediately started research. And as usual, you folks that post here on club lexus come to the rescue.

Like others on here, I would never have thought a weak battery would have anything to do with the transmission working as it was.

Anyway, the thing I didn't mention is that when I went to clean my car this morning, the battery was dead and the car would not start. I'm not sure if I left a light on or something, but I used a starter to get it started and then let it run for about 30 minutes while I cleaned it. I shut the car off and it still would not start (although, got closer to starting).

Anyway, I'm pretty certain now that this is the issue and not my transmission. So, this will be my 3rd battery swap now since I've had the car. (put about 50k on it).

barncat

If you can get a battery with a 3 year warrenty it may be the way to go. I had a trickle leak in a Saab awhile back and got about 3 batteries before they refused to give me any more! Then I just went to another Auto Parts store with a warrenty.

BayAreaLex

I had this exact issue that OP describes when I left my lights on and weakened the battery.

avr

Hopefully someone can advise me with my new to me sc430.

Just purchased a 2002 sc430 with 176,000 miles from a local wholesale dealer. has full lexus dealer service history. so figured it should be good til 300k miles.

Test drove it 2 times, seemed to drive pretty great overall shifted smoothly, might need some suspension parts in near future..

Problem - car drove home fine, but next day, car went into reverse, but then when put into drive would not go, but was able to get it to work after putting back in reverse then down to drive a few times.

NOW, the car will not go into DRIVE, only reverse. acts like it is in neutral when in Drive. tried all forward gears, same issue, engine just revs.

I was hoping battery, so ran to pop in a new battery, DID NOT FIX it. same problem still will not go into drive, only reverse.

Checked the transmission fluid as best I could, looked really HIGH.

DEALER told me they changed the transmission fluid and put new filter in very recently before i purchased it. said it was the only thing their mechanic failed during inspection.

so of course i had to fly out of town on business yesterday, but need to deal with this now. dealer is about 30 miles from where it is broke down...

Any help or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

LexBrett

Go to jiffy lube and have them flush your ATF fluid. Ask them to put in TWO bottles of Lucas transmission fix. Should cost no more than $150 total. It worked for me. These transmissions need to be clean. Whatever you do, don't listen to what the dealer tells you. They are bad people. If you are short on time, or don't believe me, just buy one bottle of Lucas as put it in you ATF through dipstick. Your problems should go away with just that bottle. Lucas stop leak really works. Get it at walmart.

leaderpvp

I have experienced this slip until i killed the trany completely. I am currently doing the gearbox rebuild
I was on trip 200 miles away from home and tranny began to show signs... We barely reached home. The behavior was following:
Tranny engages into D, if you kick down - slips right away.
Figured out that i have to push throttle very slightly until i reach optimal driving speed.
Still time to time (once per ~10miles) tranny begun to slip, then we stopped, shut down the engine, re-ignite - tranny engages again like nothing happened.
The cause is burnt oil, which lost its lubrication properties.
Happened to us after driving 100 miles on a high heat (110F in shade), under sun was even hotter + road is very hot which reflects heat under the car (car itself is lowered, means less air enters under the car, and all components closer to very hot asphalt).
The second cauz, is that in my sc400, tranny oil cooler is inside radiator, which is very unhealthy for gearbox.
Altogether brought its consequences...

How you diagnose:
get the tranny dipstick and smell the oil, it will have burnt odor (might be slight or heavy).
tranny shifts not consistent, means under full throttle may shift on 2-3-4k rpm than going to 6k+, etc.
gearbox begins to slip, shutdown car, ignite, shift in D - engages and drives. this might re-occur often.
--
How to prevent:
Immediately replace oil(with proper for the gearbox)
inspect oil filter(replace if needed)
inspect magnets(if there is much debris, this could signal that tranny clutch packs already damaged)
inspect solenoids, if they are ok, or full of debris (possibly clean them)
recommended install external tranny oil cooler
recommended install tranny oil temperature gauge (to be on the safe side and always monitor the temp)
recommended to improve line pressure for much faster oil circulation, which will also help to keep oil relatively cool.
---
Inspect it before you damage the clutches and so on, cauz if you do - the fix will be very expensive and still, will include all of the above.
if you will destroy it, you will have all of the above + tear down gearbox, replace all the gaskets, replace clutch packs and probably solenoids (at least). this job may run you high cost in any shop.
You are warned now.

Bgw70

This is why i change my fluid every 12k-15k miles and only $18. Should never have a problem.

changing the transmission fluid is easier than changing the oil because you don't need to change the filter...unless you have the problem above.

The above applies to the 2002-2005.

I believe the 2006-2010 have a drain plug and removable threaded fill cap, but no dipstick. Is that correct?

leaderpvp

Changing oil often does not mean you are on the safe side. everytime oil overheats, you may not even feel it, until your tranny in condition that requires to act.
At least External Oil cooler is the way to go, better to have increased line pressure as well.
I would tell, if i knew it before, i was going external cooler and tranny oil temp gauge to monitor it, and if still not enough, would go for increasing line pressure.
Who knew it will happen...

Bgw70

Here is the procedure to Change the fluid in 2006-2010 transmission, certainly more involved but not that difficult. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/att...sion-steps.pdf
i changed the fluid in a 2010 Camry and the transmission was designed the same. I did it like this, removed one of the transmission lines from the cooler and drained 2qts, refilled 2qts. Repeated these steps until the fluid came out clear red.
25k miles later and no issues.

Bgw70

Not here to argue. We all maintain our cars the way we see fit. External coolers help in towing, high heat conditions and racing.

i just believe in 3k oil changes and 12k-15k tranny fluid changes.

Hope all goes well with your car. BTW, what year is your SC430?