I'm looking into the junk yards. May be a stupid question, but will a transmission from awd work with my fwd?

 

No, you need a FWD transmission

 

Well, you can hope and pray to get $1500 for it. When you don't, you have to decide whether to take a total loss or pay $3200 for a rebuilt transmission with a Lexus warranty. I know it hurts, but I would do the latter if the car is still in reasonably good condition. At worst, you can sell it for $5000 and get your hoped-for $1500, plus $300 extra for your inconvenience.

 

Ericks99rx, thanks, that's what I thought haha. Just wishful thinking!

Sktn77a, I found a used transmission at a local junk yard. I think I'm going to purchase it, assuming it's the right one. The guy wants $700 for it and said he'll install it for $300. If it all checks out, I'm driving straight to the dealership and trading it in afterwards lol. Wish me luck guys!

 

I have 215k miles on my RX300, and it has been running great. This morning I back out of my driveway fine but when I was leaving my daughters daycare I could not reverse it acted as if it were in neutral. I shifted to park and then again in reverse same problem, gave it a little gas it made a hard jerk but went in reverse. I drove fine to work on lunch I reversed out my parking spot just fine went and picked up lunch and this time my car again would not reverse, I gave it a little gas it sputtered a little but reversed and then drove fine on my way back to work.

Any advise???

 

Sounds just like the OP's story; his transmission appears to have been replaced.

215k out of these is great if this is your first major issue as well.

 

Make sure your transmission fluid is filled properly and is absolutely fresh red color. Our RX started exhibiting similar symptoms a couple of years ago and it stopped doing it after I started replacing the fluid every 5000 miles. No power flushing, just a drain and fill. It's DIY and costs less than an engine oil and filter change. Park the car on an incline facing down and try going up in reverse. See how the car acts. This is a good test to determine the condition of the transmission.

 

I have my mechanic coming to check it out tomorrow but looks like it may be the transmission. Had less then a mile to get home and it wouldn't drive, just stopped. I finally made it home going 4 mph.

 

Is there anything unique about rebuilding these RX (AWD) transmissions? What does it entail?

I've read lots and lots, but is now a quite confused as many folks experienced issues at many different mileage intervals.

 

After calling around (dealer estimate $5500, transmission shops $3000-$3500) my coworker recommended a guy that works with her husband and does only transmission work. I explained my problem and he said he could rebuild it $2200. He towed it to his shop took it out and part of the case was broken off and was wedged between the gears or something like that. Long story short paying $2700 for a used transmission.

 

First thing to do...drain then drop the pan, clean the magnets, replace the filter, put it all back together and refill.

My wife's car did this a few weeks ago, has been fine since doing simple maintenance on it. Admittedly, it'd been 60K miles since I put a filter in it, so this trans may merely be sensitive, 'cause I drain/refill every 20K miles.

 

[QUOTE=mckellyb;9133007]First thing to do...drain then drop the pan, clean the magnets, replace the filter, put it all back together and refill.

My wife's car did this a few weeks ago, has been fine since doing simple maintenance on it. Admittedly, it'd been 60K miles since I put a filter in it, so this trans may merely be sensitive, 'cause I drain/refill every.