I have a 1999 RX300.

Was having transmission problems a while now. A delay when going from park to reverse with a big jerk.

And a slip from 2nd gear to 3rd.

Everywhere i went to check the problem people recommended rebuilding or replacing the transmission. Dont have any warranty on vehicle so buying a new one is way too costly.

A local mechanic offered to rebuild the transmission for a 1000 dollars which i thought was a steal of deal as it included the kit and labour. He was well recognized and had successfully re-built the transmissions on these vehicle before.

Now i just got back the vehicle and it is worst. The slipping from 2nd to 3rd is way more noticeable now and it happens all the time (before it did not slip all the time) and the delay to reverse is longer.

He told me the planetary gears are ok and everything else looks great. However 2 of the shift solenoids had debris on them. The voltage on the solenoids test normal so no CEL errors at all. He says that the solenoids have become magnetized??

Also the tiptronic on the steering does not work now!

His recommendation is that i replace all the solenoids.

i dont understand any of this. I would like to know if this solution makes sense. Is he screwing me over because the cost is just rising and rising. Feeling really depressed this weekend
Please help

 

Before anyone asks what the tiptronic is, I am aware he's outside the country and he's got one of those RX300s that has a tiptronic feature.

The solenoids actually have OBD2 codes associated with them.

One thing I should ask, did they refill the transmission properly, sometimes if they underfill you can get issues as described.

I'd also make sure all the ground wires on top of the transmission were properly replaced.

 

well it seems that they added too much of the toyota ATF type 4; it was leaking and i had to take it back twice today. The guy said he will double check all connections on Monday and will do some diagnostic scans. He's pretty sure that it is the shift solenoids and i dont know any better if to trust him or not.

Will update you on what happens

 

I think it is unreasonable to expect anyone that is qualified to work on these to remove, rebuild, and reinstall one of these transmissions. The result is never going to be satisfactory.

 

Don't understand what you are trying to say here?

 

The point I was trying to make is this: In my opinion, no one who is qualified to work on these transmissions would remove, rebuild, reinstall all for $1,000; anyone who would do all that for $1,000 is most likely not qualified.