LarryToole

I recently bought a 2008 ES350 with 125,000 miles on it. Love the car but I am having issues with the way gears were shifting. Coming from camry hybrid I use very light foot and coast a lot. In this car I get a jerk when I start from 0 and then every gear shifts later than it should and coasting feels like its always one gear lower than it should be so basically rather than rolling it simply comes to a grinding halt pretty quickly. My commute is normally bumper-to-bumper traffic and this really gets on my nerves.

Things I have done already but to no avail…

1. Changed all the plugs.
2. Cleaned Throttle body.
3. Cleaned MAF Sensor.
4. Sea foamed.
5. And last but not the least even got total Transmission flush using machines to it was a flush not partial.
6. Reset ECU

I tried driving it manually this morning in S mode and it worked as expected I was rolling and didn’t feel resistance.

Don’t know what’s next Solenoid / Torque converter / Transmission ?

But I hear some people are suggesting that it may be that my transmission fluid level may be low. Now I didn’t go under the car when they were doing it but if someone knows that ES 350’s CVT transmission has a plug on the side to check fluid level?

Is there any way to check Transmission fluid level in a Lexus ES 350 CVT Tran.?

Thanks in advance !

nevernu

maybe something here is useful

mlacomb

The ES doesn't have a CVT, it has a 6 speed transmission.

So - to go through your questions:

1. Jerk when starting from 0: Does this mean that your head goes back when accelerating lightly?
2. gear shifts later than it should: on light acceleration, what RPM is your peak on shifting gears?
3. Grinding halt - is this without brake application? I know that coming to a stop, the transmission setup in the ES350 is a little different than any other automatic I've driven. To me it feels like towards the end of the stop, it is still driving the car forward and requires more braking to get to the complete stop. I've gotten used to this behavior.

LarryToole

1.Yes
2. didn't notice that but basically if I was driving manual and I am going to the max of each gear and than shifting gear, its like that.
3. I won't say comes to a halt but say if I am at 30 mph and the moment I take my foot off the gas, it feels as if I am in 1st or 2nd gear, you will feel the drag and the car will slow down. In a slow traffic this damn irritating.

So if it's not CVT does it mean I can check the level using a dip stick or I don't know what I am talking about or may be I am confused between sealed and CVT.

mlacomb

Ah; okay so #3 I've experienced as well - almost as if it holds a gear and slows down abnormally. Probably nothing to worry about. I'd pay particular attention to #2 in the above though, if you're seriously hitting 6k RPM with light accelerator pedal, take the car to a shop....

jkayca

CTV = constant velocity transmission. No gears.

Sealed transmission just means its a sealed unit and the fluid is not meant to be changed during the normal live span of the car. These types of transmissions have gears but some like the 5th gen ES350s don't have a dipstick. I'm not sure this applies to all models with sealed transmissions.

If you drive in harsh environments or have a lot miles on it, the fluid can be changed and Toyota/Lexus do recommend doing it in these types of conditions. Dealerships have special machine to do it. If your looking for a DIY checkout this video:

LarryToole

The flush was done using a machine that takes around 20 quarts and cycles it through. And I got Reline D6 to get this job done thinking it will make it even better. But unfortunately didn't help at all, same situation. I having them check the fluid level using the plug that pan has on the side, may be the fluid level was low all along.