My car was sitting in driveway for few month. The battery was dead. I jump started it. The car started successfully. Howvere the RPM in parking was 4500 which is unusual. When I tried to put it in Reverse or Drive, the shift lever moved to these positions. The rpm dropped down to 1000-2000 range. But the car will not move forward and backward. I am sure something went wrong because of the dead Battery. I never had any transmission issues. Here is what I did:

1. I checked all the fuses. The fuse 38 (OBD) on on the driver side fusebox was bad. Changed the fuse and restarted the car. No improvement
2. I checked all other fuses under the hood. They all look good.
3. I found the shift interlock button under the small plate next to shift lever. I pressed that to unlock. No success. How do I unlock it so that when in gear, it moves forward or backward. It is as if it is in Parking when it is in-fact in Reverse or Drive.
4. I reset the ECU by pulling the EFI fuses and leaving ythem out for 3 minutes and then putting them back in. Did not solve the problem.


Anybody has any idea how to resolve this issue?

 

Disconnect the battery for about 30 minutes.

Check the fuses again

The safety interlock prevents moving out of Park. It seems you can move out of park once you apply the bakes, so that is not an issue.

Make sure you are on flat area and move the gear to "N". See if you can push to roll the vehicle.

Check all fluid levels.

Salim

 

Check the parking brake. Don't ask me how I know this.

 

i did what you said. put it in Neutral. tried to roll it. it does not move. parking break is off by the way. the car does not move forward or backward. it is on a slope.

 

I'm sorry to hear this. It seems to me that the shift interlock release button would bypass anything electronic holding the car in park. If I understand you correctly, the shift lever did actually move (to N, for example), as opposed to being frozen in P position? I would be inclined to jack up one end at a time (only the front, if fwd) to see if one wheel rotates freely in neutral (possibly indicating brakes locked up on one wheel), or if both are stuck.

 

If it is on an incline, you have to be careful as the vehicle may decide to roll any-time.

AWD or FWD?

Chalk the other three wheels and lift one at a time with transmission in "N". They should all turn freely [the driven wheels may require a slight more force].

You can try back and forth movement.

Salim

 

I had to log on with Google acct . Our car is kinda doing the same thing. It's giving us the p0500 code but changed all sensors. U replied Salim to our post n we still have not figured it out. Our car goes into park but makes. Grinding sound and it doesn't go in any gear. It does roll back n forth when in n. It tries to go backwards n forward but it's not like catching. We are wondering if Jack up n do the tires as suggested here what would that mean if didn't move freely. We can see the gear turning looking down the hole I'm sensor A. We are sure it's not the transmission even tho it sounds like it. We got no check engine or warning light. Now we have check engine vsc and code p0500 sensor A. UgggBeen researching daily as cannot afford to have it fixed sik husband has to do it as it's our only vehicle and NVR had any issues or any warning lights beforehand. We did use the cruise control just minutes before this happened and we had not used it in years. Any ideas anyone and did this Lexus get figured out? Thank you

 

Free rolling check is suggested to ensure the wheels are not being locked by brakes or some other mechanical defect. If the wheels are locked then an auto-trans will not be able to move it as the torque convertor will provide the slip.

Apparently you are convinced that the transmission is good and the computer is preventing any movement. That is counter to my understanding as the code you are getting can be ignored and imho the vehicle should move forward and reverse, even if this code is present.

I am not an expert and just an enthusiast. That is why I urge that a competent mechanic should check your vehicle. I would suggest that you describe the symptoms and let the mechanic diagnose the problem.

I hope things work out in your favor [you need a break], but situation seems beyond what folks can do for you remotely. Alternative is to give it few more days and see if some one can come up with a fix for you.

Salim
You can try disconnecting the battery for about 20 mins and see if the code disappear. I think it will not be set till you actually manage to drive the vehicle.

PS: The OBDII codes are not a comprehensive error source. Mechanics/dealer have additional dedicated equipment for say brakes and transmission. OBDII codes are predominantly there for emission related reporting [mandated by the government].

 

I purchased a 2002 RX 300 AWD at auction, and it has transmission problems. The gears shift, but the car won't move. I discovered the transmission fluid is low/empty. Does the RX 300 have a fail-safe when fluid is low ? Will this cause the gears to lock? The Carfax report shows the transmission was rebuilt in 2021. Should I refill the fluid and try again?

 

Fill the fluid and evaluate. Nothing else you can do until you do that.

The fluid is checked with the engine running, after shifting through gears.

 

At this stage it is hard to make a guess, if the transmission was run dry/extremely-low.

You can fill once and test it and then drain and fill the second time after a week to see if you get shiny [metal] fluid out.

Are there tell tail signs of what happened to the fluid ... leaks etc.

Salim

 

Will do. Should I try to drain and change filter first ? Or just add ATF , since none is showing on the stick ? I just reached out the shop that did the transmission, and they said they did an upgrade kit on it and changed the torque converter. I also see the ABS Light on the dash - would this cause the issue too ? When I pulled the CEL it was a P1155 code - which is the AF Senor. Thanks !

 

Will do. Should I try to drain and change filter first ? Or just add ATF , since none is showing on the stick ? I just reached out the shop that did the transmission, and they said they did an upgrade kit on it and changed the torque converter. I also see the ABS Light on the dash - would this cause the issue too ? When I pulled the CEL it was a P1155 code - which is the AF Senor. Thanks !

 

Since there’s nothing in the pan, you aren’t going to be draining anything out.

If someone was in there in ‘21, the filter is not likely the issue. They don’t clog, they are there to catch large debris. You can track down the o2 sensor code and ABS light separately; it’s not all one problem.

 

Put in a little at a time so you don't overfill it. Make sure you warm the vehicle up well and shift through the gears, check and recheck as each addition circulates and warms up. Try not to overfill it, but get fluid in it and see what it will do.