ajpES250

Hi, all. New to the group.
1991 Lexus ES250 (<100k).
Transmission fluid is blackish.
Car just lost reverse a couple of weeks ago; been looking for the source of the problem.
Purchased (3) solenoids - coming this week. Will try to swap out to see if fixes the issue.
Anything (else) I should be looking out for?

Thanks in advance!

Aaron

LeX2K

Lack of fluid changes tends to cook the clutch plates reverse is the first to go. Try dumping in 1-2 bottles of Lucas Transmission Fix if it works your clutches will need to be replaced.

ajpES250

Thanks! I will try that.

One other thing I was looking into was purchasing a used/rebuilt transmission. Found two sources - one for c. $800; and another for c. $300 - but they told me it wouldn't fit my VIN because I needed what he called a hybrid transmission for this vehicle. Never heard of that.

Car uses a A540E transmission - are there two types of these - let's say, "regular" and "hybrid"? What's the difference?

Thanks, again!

Aaron

LeX2K

Hybrid? Now sure what they mean by that your car is very far from any form of "hybrid". Technically up to 1991 is a direct fit after that the A540E was updated for the 3VZ engine. In theory the 1992-1993 tranny could be made to work in your car but I can't verify that. If possible find a transmission shop to do a rebuild since the only thing that generally goes bad is the clutch discs wear out. Otherwise you could end up putting in a bad transmission, even if it has a warranty that doesn't help much when you have to pull the unit again.

ajpES250

Thanks, again! Aaron

ajpES250

Removed 114 oz. of fluid, and dumped in 48 oz. of Lucas + balance of Toyota-label transmission fluid. No change on the Reverse gear. Am questioning whether 1) Reserve is completely cooked or 2) The solenoid is bad. Will try replacing the solenoids later this week....hoping that because the Lucas treatment didn't work that it's just the solenoids.

The fluid I removed was black, black, black. Ugh!

Sad this transmission has gone like this before 100k miles.

Thanks!

Aaron

LeX2K

Bad solenoid is a long shot but maybe you'll get lucky. I'm betting the fluid was never changed, on Lucas it will fix slipping clutch plates but won't work if there is no friction material left.

Oro

Black (very black as you describe) fluid is usually contaminated with clutch material IME. A few things you can do to diagnose:

a) pull the pan and see if there's friction material in it.
b) do a line pressure test.
c) drop test

For that, you just need a pressure gauge and adapter to the test port. I don't know this transmission in detail, but if you hunt you can find out about that.

Drop test is just putting a drop of the fluid from the end of the dipstick on a paper towel and watching it migrate as it absorbs. Will show color of fluid more accurately and presence of debris material in most cases.