Hello everyone! First I would like to say this forum is pretty awesome! I definitely ended up purchasing my 2000 LS400 last week because of all the good stuff I found on here and because they are pretty sweet looking haha

Despite my new found joy, I encountered a very troublesome issue with a short out of city trip (about 400 miles round trip) to discover a bit of steam/smoke coming from my hood when I returned home. I saw some red oil on the ground and noticed the tune of the vehicle had changed at cruising speed. It now has a droaning/ pusle-ating (sp?) sound at 55+ mph. When I check the tranny dipstick at cold and warm temps the fluid comes up to the 'HOT' level. I haven't noticed a difference in shifting to this point, but it would appear something is not right with the transmission

My best guess is that the transmission is overheating, but why I have no idea! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

the transmission fluid should be always checked when hot, that is the far more accurate measurement

and if tranny fluid is at same level hot & cold, then you are not reading the dipstick correctly

the noise and red fluid on the ground is more likely to be the power steering system (which uses transmission fluid) - when have you checked its level?

 

Yes... check the PS pump... turn the wheel when vehicle is started and see if it changes. The PS and the tranny use the same fluid... and the radiator fluid should be red also, as I think about the steam/smoke... what did the smoke smell like?

 

I will take a look at the lines around the power steering pump when I get home from work. Thanks for the help! I will post something in regards to my findings soon then.

 

they're similar, but not the same.

sounds like your trans may have been massively overfilled causing excess to overflow out the dipstick, provided you're reading it correctly. Rare though.

 

don't just check the lines for leaks, check the fluid level in the reservoir, I have a feeling it is quite low and you are hearing the PS pump complaining!