I have a 00 RX300 AWD with 160k miles, the tranny shifts hard, no slipping, but 2 times now my wife has been driving the rx and once it went into neutral and wouldnt go into any gear, just rev up, i switch it from F-R-P etc and nothing, i put it in neutral and reved it up a couple times and put it back in gear and perfect again shifts fine. Now today she got in it and put in drive and when you press the gas it revs up to like 1000-1300 rpms and kicked into gear, not slipping, just boom would go, and would shift fine but when she would stop and try to go again same thing, also if you put in p-r-d-2-l or anything it was the same, i put it in N again rev it up a couple times and boom it works fine again, very strange. Any ideas? i have drained the fluid and added more a couple times, but havent changed the filter for awhile. so should i do that? could it be a sensor? when it shifts it shifts fine other then a little hard i guess. Is it time for a new tranny, if so i have access to some used ones, can i put a newer one in it? Or should i just put a rebuilt one in it? i have read lots of forums about the tranny issues on these but none that seem to have this problem. thanks in advance.

 

Welcome to Club Lexus!

It doesn't sound like a transmission failure.It's a good thing that it isn't slipping, that proves that it's most likely not a transmission failure. Try changing the filter just to be make sure it's not clogged though.

Are you getting any CEL's?

How are the mounts? (ie. transmission mount, engine mount) That could be causing the transmission to not engage in gear. Gear Linkage?

 

No codes, i will try the filter.

 

BTW: Be sure to use Toyota Type-IV compatible fluid.

Also, are you able to physically move the gear shifter into gear? OR, will it just not move into D.

 

And be sure to drink your ovaltine.

 

Yes the physical shifter shifts fine, i have been using toyota tranny fluid.

 

I hate to be a doomsayer but it doesn't sound good. While it may not be a catastrophic planetary gear failure, it sounds like an external linkage problem or an internal servo/valve problem.

Crossed fingers that changing the filter will fix it!

 

is there a particular whine noise coming from the driver side of your car? Cold start or accelerate?

 

Almost every RX i've seen or heard has a whine. Very faint, it's just the nature of these cars. It's almost like a whirling noise.

 

But after I replaced a new tranny, the whine noise is gone...

 

No whining noises, or other odd noises, also another question, When you let off the gas the RX slows fast alot faster then any other vehicle has done that i have. when running done the highway and you let off the gas it seems to slow fast almost like something may be binding up or something or does all RX do that.

 

I am not a expert, but if you think there is a shift problem, you may have your ECU reset. I am not sure if disconecting the battery would work, but go to dealer and ask them to reset it by a particular Toyota scan tool can definitely work. I solved my shift problem by dealer. They charged $135 for a several minutes work.

 

All RX's do that. They have lot's of engine braking power.

 

I just got a new tranny at 109,000 km's not miles so as mentioned welcome to the club.

 

drove it about 200 miles yesterday and never did the formentioned issues, but does have a weird shift everyonce and a while, NOT SLIPPING, just either a hard shift or hard down shift or something, also when your in 4 gear it seems like you almost have to floor it to get it to downshift.