Every day when I drive to work in the morning, I can feel my car shifting hard. Then, when I drive on the freeway, the car's rpm stays at 2,500 RPM @ 50 MPH on cruise control, then drops down to 2,000 RPM after a minute. In the end, driving for the rest of the time the shift is smooth.

Is this normal on the RX300?

 

Shifting should be smooth. What is the status of transmission fluid? When was the last drain and fill done?

To help engine reach optimum operating temperature, RX lock outs the high gear in the morning.

Salim

 

The transmission fluid is full; its color is pink. It was recently changed.

At what temperature does the car normally shift smoothly?

 

Shifts should be smooth ideally .. specially if your idle speed is around 750 rpm .. anything higher, you will get jerky shifts (assuming there are no issues with the transmission).

As far as the overdrive lock out, it generally is enabled 1/2 way to Normal operating temp ... which is slightly less than 50% of the temp scale.

Is there something different happening or the RX is new to you? If it is new to you then try to get the service history.

Salim

 

I do not know If this would help I recently bought a 2001 RX 300 with 130,000 miles the planetary gears make noise in first gear which tells me they're about ready to go. I had Tustin transmission here in Southern Cal drop the pan and change out the filter, since then I have done drop and fills using Max life synthetic transmission fluid it's almost a year now and still holding together. Make sure you get some fiber washers for the drain plug in the transmission pan so that you don't leak around the bolt, I bought my Max life transmission fluid at Walmart 4 quarts for about $20. I did three drop and fills in the transmission it quieted down and shifts like a brand-new transmission. I do expect the planetary's too let go within the next year the one thing that Tustin transmission does is to weld the ends of the planetary's to keep them from opening thus less problems.

 

That's just how these transmissions are. Mine does that. It's very annoying but if you ask the dealership they will tell you that this is normal behavior. I'm certain that it's a flaw and hence why these transmissions are known for having so many problems.

My transmission started making a whistling/whirring super charger noise around 70K when shifting from 1st to 2nd. I took it in at 90K and the dealership said that I need to replace it. They put a refurbished unit in and it shifted even worse after that and has been doing what yours does for the past 4 or 5 years.

It has to warm up for a few minutes and then it will drive pretty normal. 1st to 2nd will probably always feel like there is a delay when shifting, almost like it is fighting against you. It might feel like it shifts twice when going from 1st to 2nd sometimes. These transmissions are noisy too. But if it starts making the high pitched whistling/whirring noise then you need to start preparing to have a transmission replacement.

 

We have silent majority who has not come out and said they have no, some or major problems with the transmission.

Then we have vocal group who has had problems and I dont blame them for being upset. Although in some cases one has to determine milage, maintenance and use. Personally I would expect 150K of trouble free milage.

We also have a group who has had no problems with the transmission.

Salim