I have a 2007 LS 460 with about 170,000 miles on it. From the maintenance records I cannot seem to find anything saying that the transmission fluid has ever been changed due to the fact that Lexus said "you'll be fine." However, I am having some troubles with my transmission now. When accelerating at 32ish MPH to about 48 MPH when I am about around 1,200 to 1,500 RPM there is a bad rumble that goes on. It will not show these signs or anything above or below those speeds or RPM. I have played around with the S setting on the gear lever (manual shifting for lack of better words) and have found out it only does this in gears 6,7, and 8. If it does not do the rumbling all the way through the acceleration it will do it briefly when the car shifts to the next higher gear, then once in gear 8 continue with the same rumbling constantly until out of the ranges. The best way I can describe this problem is if you were driving a standard and were letting off the clutch with too little gas pedal depression. Also, on a side note, when shifting into reverse, at any temp, the car lurches very badly no matter what I do.

 

Yes the lexus says the oil is lifetime then again what they mean by lifetime is not clear the lifetime of trans or the lifetime of you driving the car . Just one week back i changed my tranny oil and filter aswell nothing bad happened to my car . Yes they say it can create problems if the trans has broken some pieces may stuck and kill your trans

P.s my car started started jerking on cold enginge while shifting from 2-3

 

I am having a VERY similar issue in my 07 LS 460. The noise only pops up between 40-50 miles an hour, and only when the car is doing this speed between 1000 - 1300 RPM. I only notice it in city driving. I can recreate the issue by finding the sweet spot and if I maintain that general speed, and more importantly the RPM then the sound / rumble will be constant. The second I go above 1300 RPM the sound disappears. Otherwise the car shifts gears fine, drives fine, has no check engine lights on, or anything of that nature.

Please, if you could, tell me what you did to solve your issue ?

EDIT:


Just following up here: A person on a different lexus forum had this same issue, and never got it fixed. After he tried having the transmission sensors replaced, having a transmission flush performed, the issue still remained. He wasnt quite clear but it sounded like he had some sort of bearings replaced too and that also didnt work. He is still driving the car after 2 years of the problem popping up, and the car is still driving exactly the same with no check engine lights, and only that rumbling sound when he hits a certain speed / rpm in city driving. Sounds like the fix to this is going to be a transmission replacement, short of anyone else coming up with something they said worked for them. There is a company called Benzeen Auto Parts that sells transmissions for the 07 LS 460 for around $900-$1400 dollars, with a 2 year parts and installation warranty as long as you use an ASE certified mechanic to do the install. I have an ASE certified mechanic here in houston (Noah Auto Care - who I never used for a lexus but have used for other vehicles and has done a good job) that will do the job for around $1,000. So I am going to go this route sometime in the future, and when it is done I will def come back let people know if it worked.

Hopefully I am not breaking any forum rules by telling where I am getting parts and labor done. Just trying to be helpful and fill in the gaps.


EDIT: Transmission drain and fills worked for me. I didnt change the filter or anything. Just did a fluid exchange of 12 quarts. I gave more details on some other posts, so you can check those out for details. But thank goodness the shutter or grumbling sound from my transmission is gone, and thanks all for the advice. Good luck.

 

Hi Thegamemhb

Can you tell me what happened with the transmission? I have the exact same problem, called Lexus and they are saying that they have to do an inspection, figure out what’s wrong, etc. They also said that a flush and drain can make matters worse, hence the inspection.
Did you get it fixed? My car also started to hesitate very recently, so I haven’t pinned down exactly what gears or RPMs that occurs. Any help world be appreciated (from anyone) please. I’m buying a house soon and money is tight right now.
thank you

 

My gear after jerking for a year started to stop working in reverse sometimes and the jerks changed to slipping of gears so i had to change the whole transmission but then again i have a little jerk on 2nd gear my mechanic even changed the emc still its there

 

Knowing the year and mileage is helpful. These transmissions are known for longevity. It could be torque converter, it could benefit from from several partial fluid changes (drain and fill vs flush), it could be ECU issue as there are some Tech bulletins about this. Lexus is correct in that there needs to be a hands on inspection, it doesn't need to be at Lexus though.

 

Sounds to me like it is a transmission shudder - happens when debri in your trans fluid gets stuck in the transmission veins. Had the same thing on my tundra (same transmission as my 460). Had the tranny fluid changed and replaced the screen. It may help by unlodging any foreign material from veins and hopefully the screen or magnet will catch it.
Also DO NOT do a transmission flush - this generally results in more issues down the road. You want a drain and refill.

 

I think the transmission issue on ls460 is fairly common as i can see many people have it . Secondly i agree not to flush because its gonna create more problems

 

I'm not confusing longevity with certain issues that can be avoided or resolved with regular maintenance.

 

This post is the best advert for changing ATF in "LIFETIME" fluid transmissions, that I have read in a long time.

I'm getting fixed to have an ATF change at the only shop I could find that would do it (most shops won't even try to change the ATF on so-called "sealed transmissions" and will just tell you it has life-time fluid even though they ought to know better!) This shop charges $175 for labor, which seems fair to me, since I know what's involved in doing it. I'm told this shop is trustworthy, even so I'm bringing my own fluid, because I don't trust the shop not to just refill my trans with the cheapest product dispensed from their dirty old 50 gallon drum of "Generic ATF".

 

There's another potential source of vibration at a particular rpm. Drive shaft vibration. There are several posts about it being a frequency based issue. You'll need to read more but I believe there are several ways to approach this issue.

 

Try a drain and fill 2 or 3 times and see what happens. I had the same issue.

 

First are you certain it's a transmission issue and not an engine problem instead? I'd ascertain that before tearing into the trans -

 

Took it to another Lexus dealer, they said that they’ve heard a flush a fool can damage further but have never seen that. They did a fluid change and the problem persists. They insist the car is driving normally, but they don’t drive the car every day like I do. I KNOW my car, every little noise. Something isn’t right. I’ve seen other posts here about Software update with Techstream. What does that involve?

 

There are TSBs for every car. (technical service bulletins) They are usually VIN dependent. Google it and you should find if it applies to your car. Or ask your dealer. It's a download from Lexus. I believe one must have professional access to programming changes.