deeveeance

Just purchased my RX300 from a friend off to his permanent military post. Sweet deal, and just making sure I don't have a junker on my hands.

New to the forums, but have been reading up on my issues for the past 3 hours. Recently started having some Transmission issues, as well as flickering lights. Would they be related?

Up until today, I drove my RX around for a good 10 miles before noticing a couple of things on my drive to work:

1) When shifting from 1-> 2 and 2->3 gears, there is stuttering/hesitation that leads to jerks in the car. I revved up to entry-highway speed (~40mph) and it would rev incessantly, as if trying to actuate the next gear but failing to do so.

2) Throughout all of this, I noticed the lights (dash, dome, and head/fog/daytime) would flicker with the engine, very noticeable, even in the daytime, as the dash lights are usually pretty bright.

The problems appeared on my initial drive to work, same on my test drive shortly after work, DID NOT show up on another test drive about an hour after, when getting home, and then recently came back up, about another hour after that test drive.

I did some reading here, and other advice forums, and kept seeing transmission issues, and needing to do a filter change and ATF drain/fill. I have the stuff needed in my Amazon cart right now, as it is a common problem, and should get on that, preventative measures. I checked the Transmission Fluid level and it was clear, pink, and about an inch above the "Hot" notch on the dip-stick. Good, correct?

Continuing with the research, I also saw that many people were having issues with flickering lights and a loose/faulty ground connection... as well as some transmission issues.

Can these issues be related, and not mean I need a whole new transmission?

Where do I look for these ground connections?

Would upgrading battery/alternator/ground cables, aka "Big 3," help my issues, or should I look for that pesky ground first, and then perform upgrade if problem persists?

Thanks for any and all info, and I'm sorry for bringing up a common issue. I didn't see many posts with pictures of the cables' grounding locations, or if they are related to a faulty alternator/ground/battery and my transmission.

Australian

Sounds like a dead dying battery to me.