1999 RX300: Car starts and runs fine and is sitting in a parking lot, but won't budge even in neutral, and it's needed for work tomorrow:

When shifting, you can hear a change in engine load like normal, but you can't feel a shift. It seems like the transmission is locked in park. When revving the engine with the shifter in park, it revs normally; when revving the engine with the shifter in any other gear, it builds normally but falls fast.

Revving the engine in gear does not help, rocking the car in any gear does not help. Attempting to pull the car a little did not help. There is tranny fluid on the stick.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance!!

 

How much? Is it full? Remember, you have to check it hot and cold.

 

We checked it cold, and it's full...

 

I just did a search on here,and this happened to some of our members.The outcome was a transmission rebuild.If your fortunate enough to have a good,honest transmission shop near you,it may not need a total rebuild.They wont know for sure until they get in their.

 

If you cant roll the RX in neutral, then jammed brakes or transmission problems are the only 2 things.

Salim

 

Try bypassing the tranny interlock. I don't have the owner's manual handy nor have I ever done it, but you pry open a small plastic tab near the shift and do something in it. Look it up in the manual.

 

The shift lever interlock bypass just allows you to move the shift lever from park. He can already do this.

 

Not quite, it allows you to shift out of park without stepping on the brake. Just in case the tranny itself thinks the brake isn't applied. This might actually put the tranny in gears and get the vehicle going - it's a long shot, of course.

 

But he is already stepping on the brake and shifting out of park, so their is nothing to be gained by opening the bypass cover.
It just doesn't make sense to try and overide something that is already working.

 

We have to wait for Frankdom to update us. To me it seemed that he was able to rove the stick through different position but the transmission seems stuck

Salim

 

Re-read his message. He shifted out of park, but the tranny appeared to be still stuck in it. It's a long shot, but worth a try given the urgency.

If you have another idea, kindly offer it to Frankdorn.

 

Not quite sure about this. I have know a few people who when the tranny went dead, they reported exactly the symptoms mentioned.

Another possibility is the park/neutral switch that is on the front of the transmission.

 

It's not even a longshot. The cable from the brake comes up to the shift lever and prevents it from being moved. Once the lever is moved then it in turn moves the trans. Using the bypass allows you to move the lever without depressing the brake. But he is already moving the lever.
I do remember someone having a similiar problem in the past. He couldn't move in reverse and when in neutral the trans was locked , so it couldn't be pushed. He cleaned and swapped the sensors and the problem was fixed. I remembered this one because I thought it was unusual for the sensors to lock the trans when in neutral. I tried a search but couldn't come up with the exact discussion.

 

I think this is it: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=367088

 

I had this issue on my wife RX and it was the tranny. The good thing, it was still under warranty. Does your car move when the engine is cold and when it reaches some temperature it just stop moving? I didn't have a problem shifting gear when it happened.