MnGs3xx

Mine is definitely the tranny or torque converter ... its has symptoms like a car that is misfiring but the rpms are steady and it happens at a certain mph

Steve2424

Have you changed your spark plugs, and tried to see if the throttle body is dirty? Misfiring is most likley associated with old spark plugs, and can even extend to O2 sensors and possibly ignition coils. The RPM's are more about the engine's condition which if the RPM's are bouncing all over the place, then that could be a MAF or ECU issue.

This seems to be an AWD issue as I haven't noticed any non-AWD owners mention experiencing this which still leads me to believe it's associated with the drive axles, or wheel bearing/hub. Members who have lowered their AWD's mentioned having symptoms like this, albeit on another topic, but the culprit was always the axles are not made for lowering, and possibly are not designed for this car to handle the AWD properly.

I don't understand how a sealed transmission unit which is supposedly not required of any maintenance through 100K miles (kinda high hopes here) as per Lexus' guidelines can fail or need replacing as some here have done in the sub-100K mile range, and yet it costs ~$5K average to replace. For $5,000 on a single unit of the car, that thing better whistle dixie and last for a longer duration than what some members here have gone through lol. My last car had 115K miles before I had to scrap it due to an accident and the transmission was still original (2001 Maxima I parted ways with in 2014), although beginning to show signs of slight slippage, but again AT 115K miles.

Kashill

Issue solved. The transmission shudder (jerking/ hesitation) we have experiencing is due to a faulty operating torque converter, not because the converter is bad, but because the trans fluid is depleted.

GOOGLE how a lock-up torque converter works (the additives in the trans fluid is paramount here). How did I prove this? I took my car to the dealer to flush my transmission immediately after experiencing this issue to rule out the trans fluid but the shudder was still there, however, I did not realized that all the dealer did was to drain and fill (3.8 qrts). I then started down the path of looking for an used low mileage trans until I saw a post from another member about the success he achieved with a trans additive by Lubegaurd. I did a little homework on the additive he used and how transmissions work and figured I did not have much to lose by draining and filling my trans a few more times and give the additive a shot but after the second drain and fill (one by the dealer and one by myself), my shudder was gone completely for over 300 miles and I tried my best to make it shudder with no luck (bad luck for that matter). So for good measure, I went ahead and did a third drain and fill. I'm now going on 200 miles since the third drain/ fill with no issue. I did not include the additive but from my homework, it is a good product and will not hurt if decide to include for good measure.

My car had 130,xxx miles when I bought it and based on the maintenance history, the trans fluid was never changed.

Bottom line, we should be draining and filling our trans at least twice a year until we figure out a way to do a true flush.

ibidu1

iTrader: (1)

Right before I read your post I was searching to see if there are rubber mounts on the front diff. I have heard of a member swapping out axles and the vibrations went away.

NJ07gs350

which one did you use 61910 I'm checking amazon?

NJ07gs350

and is there a scan tool needed? i read somewhere you have to warm it up in between 113-130 let it cool off overnight then fill???

lexuseng

My 2007 GS 350 AWD just turned 100K and I started noticing this problem. About 8K miles ago I got new tires and for the last 6 months I thought I had an out of round or unbalanced tire. I had my wheels rebalanced twice. When I told them the car feels better at 80MPH than 20MPH, they looked at me like I was crazy. Does this sound like your the way your car feels? I started thinking it was something other than poorly balanced tires just recently when it started to get worse and decided to check this forum and low and behold, it sounds like other people are experiencing the same issue. As I said to me it feels like an unbalanced tire but only between 20-30 MPH, at 40-80 the car feels great. It also happens under mild acceleration and if I accelerate hard, it goes away, if I coast it goes away. Same problem? If I change the xmission fluid, what is the correct fluid to use? It sounds like you re-fill it like you use to do manual xmissions, filling through the side opening with a pump. This post hasn't had a post in over 10 months so any new info out there?

Sodium

Yeah 100,000 miles sounds about right if you still have the original fluid

You should use Toyota AFT WS

Here is a great DIY for replacing the fluid: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...iy-w-pics.html

haromania

Posted earlier in this thread and realized I never came back to share my experience. My '07 GS350AWD had a shudder/jerking/hesitation issue at slower speeds between 3rd & 4th gear I think it was?

I bought a case of WS fluid from dealer and started the drain and fill process, letting car run for 5 minutes between each cycle to mix up the fluid nice. When I started the fluid was brown, at the end of the case it was bright red, sweet. On the last fill, I added "Dr. Transmission instant Shudder Fix", and it eliminated all hesitation issues. 100%.

Fast forward 30K later and it started again, and again I went through the same process, and again it worked, 100%

That stuff works guys, laugh at me at your own peril, I've used it successfully twice, and it beats the heck out of a new transmission. Yes it's a dirty process, who cares. It turned my car from something that drove me so crazy it pissed me off, to the car it was meant to be.

ServerTech

You AWD guys should be pulling the pan and changing the filter too. Mine needed it at 62k miles. The AWD trans uses a bigger oil pan that holds more fluid.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...er-change.html

..

Japmand

Make sure your tires are the EXACT SAME CIRCUMFERENCE or your awd transfer case (reason for hump @ your right leg) causes this surging feeling at the AWD to RWD hand off speed @ around 20mph...

And definitely do the drain/fill.

lexuseng

I bought a case of Toyota WS transmission fluid and drained and refilled until I used all 12 quarts. One drain on the AWD is almost 4 qts so it only took 3 times.I left my car ramps in the garage and went to work twice and just drove back on them for 2 days so it wasn’t much of a hassle to do this, although an electric pump to pump the quart bottles into the fill hole would have really made short work of this (if they make such a thing).Added a tube of Dr Tranny’s Instant Shudder Fix also, not sure if it was needed with the new fluid but figured I’d try it.After 100 miles, seems to have done the trick, I don’t get that bouncing feeling at 20-30 mph any more.
I was looking for a transmission cooler line that I could have disconnected to drain the transmission fluid a few quarts at a time like I did on my 2nd gen GSbut I didn’t see a transmission cooler line that ran to the radiator, at least one that was easily accessible.Maybe I’ll drop the pan next time.

wickedtaco

The Toyota dealership charged $115.45 for labor and $75.60 for the atf. The total was $191.05. Not bad for a mandatory service. Anyone else have similar charges?

Fausty

was this for a drain and filll or a flush?

Japmand

$120 labor @ Aamco (brought my own WS fluid). Drain/fill.