ok... after driving from Houston to Austin... got to Parmer Lane... crossed Dessau Ln ( which there was an accident in the intersection per a tow truck driver minutes before I crossed through ). As I passed through the intersection, there was loud thud, and jolt as if I hit a pothole ( what it felt like )... immediately afterwards... it felt like the transmission disengaged, then kicked back in... drove for a little bit, but the vehicle started stuttering very abruptly,... as if something was locking and prohibiting the vehicle from moving... until it came to a hault... no gears available, and couldn't push the vehicle even in neutral....

Needless to say, had to be towed to the parents house ( Christmas Eve )... got it here, and couldn't roll the vehicle off of the tow truck... so we had to shake and slide it off of the flat bed... so it's like the RX is stuck in park or something... engine runs fine... but appears some kind of thick grease like fluid ( black in color ) on the bottom of the vehicle between the front wheels, closer to the passenger side, but under the engine / oil pan I guess...

any ideas??

Did you check fluid levels under the hood to see what might be low?

checked it, looked full, and nothing out of the ordinary about the color..... didn't look burned or as if there was anything in the fluid... the stuff on the bottom looked thick like grease... kind of like that of a CV boot.... but it wasn't at the boot on the wheel... unless there's something similar near the engine!

Wow, this is the most dangerous RX300 story I have ever heard.

Doesn't like the transmission, sounds like something worse. Usually a transmission will not lock up the wheels.

Is your RX AWD? If so, it could be the transfer case.

FWD.... doesn't sound good... is there anything underneath, that if I hit any debris, could have been damaged resulting in such??

did you figure out the issue cause this was definitely something ive never heard of before

We can speculate till ....

All that is needed is an inspection from below.

Incidentally a friend or mine ran over a deflated inflatable kiddie pool on Mopac. The thing wrapped around the half-shaft and destroyed cv joint and boot.

The tow-truck driver should have looked underneath to observe before loading and unloading.

Oh, take pictures and if the cause of the failure can be traced to the prior accident, you may have a claim. Talk to your insurance agent.

Salim

Have you seen these before? Mattress

Wow.

Salim

ok, the verdict is in... appears the transmission pump failed... caused a cascade of events... gears locked up.... NEW TRANSMISSION.... so on the search for one... got it back to Houston,... ( and adventure in itself - towing it with a 97 4Runner, the brakes overheated and caught fire in Brenham... caught that and put it out, but had to have both the RX and 4Runner towed to Houston ).

The failure did coincidentally happen at the same intersection, but it wasn't by damage due to a collision from our observation.

Looks like I'll be getting one from the stealership....

Glad you are okay. Add a tranny cooler as well for additional protection, I think its only on AWD RXs standard, not the FWD models.

That may not have been evident by inspection.

Salim

Hey, Nazty-- So sorry! What a bummer, but I'm glad it didn't lock up for you at 70 mph or something. I'm glad you're ok and no one else was hurt, either. I wonder what the cost will be?

it should not be the problem of pump, but the planetary gear.

The whining noise is the pump are creating pressure on the gear, but gears do not move due to its failure.