I have a 1999 Lexus ES300, transmission, U140E
The problems followed like this:
First I noticed a "whining" noise coming from my car no matter what gear I was in, and only when i pressed on the gas. Also while I was stopped with the foot on the brakes in Drive, i heard a weird noise like a fan hitting something really fast.

A couple weeks later the whining noise and fan noise goes away, but now when I'm in Drive idling it sounds like gears are rubbing together or something, a lot of metal clunking noises.
I did 2 drain and refills after this, and a new gasket and transmission filter. Problem is still there. There was quite a bit of metal in the pan.

Now my car can not stop at all. It doesn't stutter until i'm stopping from 5 to 0, if I completely stop, the car dies. Putting it in Neutral or Park and it does just fine. It shifts fine through all the gears, I just can't stop. It only stutters when I'm coming to a stop, if I leave from a stop or almost stop, it jerks a bit but thats most because I'm giving it more gas than I should to make sure it doesn't die.

The only codes I have are pending, never confirmed. P0420, which is normal and has came off and on for over a year now. And p0770 which is new and says its "shift solenoid E". I've been doing all the research I can, and I read that the torque converter could be causing shift solenoid E. I don't want to replace the transmission because of how expensive it is, so hopefully its not that.

I have to put it in neutral when I stop, and give it a little gas then put it in drive just to make my car go. I took it to a transmission shop for a free diagnosis, all they did was run their computer (which i already did) and told me the codes, which did not help at all of course. My dad says its most likely the torque converter based on what I told him. But before I go through all the trouble of replacing it, I'd figure I would get some more opinions.

 

What difference does it make if it's a converter or anything else? The transmission still has to come out. I would recommend a rebuild.

 

wait .. you've got chunks of metal in your Auto trans fluid and resistance building the gearbox and your more worried about the converter than the gearbox ?

I think you've leaped a bit logically.

 

I can't imagine driving your car like this is any good for the trans. Even if it is the torque converter, you could definitely be damaging it much farther. Just by giving it gas before shifting it into drive puts extra stress on the torque converter. It sounds like it's going to need to be pulled and examined outside of the car to determine what needs to be fixed internally.

 

The difference is the amount of money, a really big difference.

Luckily I'm just driving it to and from work right now, and the only time I have to stop is when I get to work and home.


Guess I'll take it to another shop for a free diagnosis before I do the rebuild.


Another good question is where should I buy the rebuild at?
Currently looking at
http://autotransparts.com/cart.php?m..._detail&p=1292
also
http://www.hollanderparts.com/used-a...--u140e-trans/
Is a lot cheaper, however, my guess is its a gamble.

 

given a choice between the two I'd pay for the rebuilt transmission because the used ones are really not that much cheaper. But if you've got a supplier near you that charges say about $1000, that's probably quite reasonable.