Hello,

I just finished a long (several year) DIY rebuild of my engine in my 1994 ES300. I have everything back in the car, all wires and hoses are re-attached and the engine runs great. However, the transmission does not seem to be working. I have not yet re-attached my outer CV-Axles (not sure if this makes a difference). When I shift my engine into different gears, neither of the shafts spin. Also, when the car is in park I can spin both the right and left drive shafts by hand. I am guessing that I re-attached the transmission cable/link wrong, although it appears there is only one way to properly re-attach the cable and the tranny "seems" to rotate through the gears properly. Perhaps I did something wrong when I re-attached the transmission to the engine (I hope not). Does anyone have any ideas?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

I cannot say I've ever heard and/or seen something like this, but I would recommend completing the reassembly of the axles. It's possible that the ABS is preventing the transaxle from moving due to no speed signal. Again, this is just a blind guess, I hope somebody who knows this stuff chimes in.

 

I figured out the problem today. My Lexus manual calls for 4.7 quarts of transmission fluid ... so originally I put in 4 quarts, thinking I'd run the car for a while and then top-it-off. However, since my transmission was completely drained (not just a typical service) it needed quite a bit more than 4 quarts. After I put in the 5th quart today, it started shifting fine. It is still low on fluid, so I went out tonight and bought some more. I will top-it-off tomorrow, put the CV Axles on and drive it down the road!!!

Thanks much for your reply MrBooby.