My mother has a 2008 es350 with 115k on it. Today it was having transmission issues on a long road trip. At first it had trouble taking off from a start, then a flare between 3rd and 4th gear appeared, until finally it lost reverse and the VSC, Check engine, and stability control lights came on. I have read several post regarding this transmission issue, but have become a little confused with it all. After unplugging the battery cable the transmission fixed itself, so my question is if anyone knows what is wrong with her car and if it'll be pricey to fix?
Thanks so much for yalls help,

 

Transmissions are typically expensive to fix. Got any codes?

 

Not surE. I'll check when I got to her house tonight. I'll keep y'all updated. Could it be a solenoid issue?

 

I bet it's reverse solenoid malfunction.

 

is that something located in the transmission itself or something that can be changed under the car?

 

I went to check the codes, but because I had disconnected the battery the codes had cleared out and I could not get them to reappear. I did noticed some severe corrosion on the positive battery terminal, which I cleaned. I am going to check the voltage from the battery to the alternator etc at work tomorrow. Is it possible that the wrong voltage was being sent to the transmission?

 

That solenoid is located inside the transmission.

I think corosion have nothing to do with those codes.

 

Since the first issue with the trans it has been shifting and acting normally, but all drives have been relatively short with just around town driving consisting of 20 minutes or so. Today I drove moms car over an hour and just as I was arriving at my location the trans reved really high when going from a slow speed (10 mph) to a faster speed (25 mph) then when I parked I checked and had lost reverse. Still no error codes appearing. Anymore more ideas with this additional info? Thanks

 

okay guys I finally got a code. So after this latest issue all three lights flashed again and the only codes appearing was a P0500. Any idea what this is or how to fix it? Any idea on costs?

 

The TCM uses the vehicle speed signal to determine the actual gear position (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th gear). DTC P0500 is a Vehicle Speed Sensor "A" problem. So...

 

Thanks so much for your help. I hope this resolves the issue and it's not actually a tranny problem. Would this problem get worse after the car has been driven a while? It only ever appears after the car has been driven over an hour or so.

 

i hear people use the word shift flare can someone explain what this is what it means for the shift flare ?

 

im not as knowledgeable as some on the subject , but In my circumstances it is just a hard switch between the gears that acts as a flare so to speak.

 

So kind of like in the winter when its 10 degree out or lower mine would have some times where it would really rev up like i could sometimes red line before it would switch gears when driving in Auto Mode. but as soon as it got warmed up after a few miles it would be fine.
But this only happens in the winter time is this what your saying
or if this where a flare would it happen all year long no matter what the outside conditions are ?

 

Yes, I think this would qualify as a flare, but other could probably give you a better explanation.