The transmission on my rx just went out. I feel it's an electric issue because the transmission was rebuilt 6yrs ago by previous owner, who I know. It has no forward or reverse at all, put it in those and you hear a low whine, no power from putting your foot on the gas either. It's not scraping, and neutral and park have perfect sounding engine. It was being driven, turned a corner and it just let go no power to wheels. Its awd and I feel like its something to do with the electric solenoids handling the hydraulic system in transmission. I can't find any fuses or relays for tranny, any help would be appreciated.

 

Try disconnecting the battery and see if you get lucky and it comes back to life. Next step would be to drop the pan and see what the filter looks like.

 

If you think that it is electrical, then get a scanner that can read the transmission code from the TCU (transmission control unit)

 

Disconnect the Shift solenoid connector on the trans.
Should be right by the PRNDL switch

This takes all electrical components off the trans leaving you with just line pressure to shift the trans.

If you still cant move, its something mechanical in the tranny.

 

I will try solenoid disconnect first, then battery, then pan drop as I was planning to do that anyway. Thanks guys. 😀

 

Did you find the solution? I'm right about to tackle the same problem myself. Mine actually moves currently, but freaks out once in a while. I also have a hard shift from gears 1 to 2. Please let us know how you resolve the issue. Thanks

 

I tried all things suggested and, unfortunately, nothing worked. I had trouble finding a remanufactured transmission, so I had to go local rebuild with a highly recommended shop. Jasper doesn't even make a transmission for the awd rx300. I found 1 for 2,450 at an online place, not including installation. Rebuild was 3,000, no brainer. Good luck and thanks for the help guys!! 😀

 

High possibility there is a loss of pressure in one or more of the circuits common in these toyota transmissions. Contact Sonnax if the symptoms you have can be solved with their zip kit or if it is another cause. https://www.sonnax.com/parts/3047-zip-kit

 

Unfortunately a rebuilt trans can mean a lot of things. I've come to find that the re builders tend to only replace what's absolutely necessary to maximize their profit. We had to stop using a re builder at my shop because we kept having to pull multiple vehicles transmissions 3 and 4 times and sending it back to the guy until he finally replaced the valve bodies too. Then they worked fine. You may have great clutch packs, but not a new pump, or a cheap pump that has already failed, or any number of things gone wrong because of the method of rebuild. I'm at a point that I'm not even sure whats better anymore, a junk yard swap, or a rebuild. And I'm not kidding about that. I've had multiple transmission specialists here in southern Cali of all placed let me down. Leaks, failure to go into a gear, solenoids left out, damaged cases. You are at the mercy of whatever schmuck slaps it together.

If it is cost effective (still debating on this), I believe the only cure is to order a complete rebuild kit yourself, I'm talking valve body, torque converter, solenoids if not included in the valve body, clutch packs, seals, pumps, The Works, send it with the transmission, and request the old parts back so you can see that the entire parts list you sent was in fact installed. But then if there is a failure, you dont get the warranty because you provided the parts.. however the odds of a failure doing it right is low... hard to know what to do.

I'm just sick of it because I'm the heavy line tech at my shop and I get bent over pulling the same transmission over and over.

 

Did the rebuild fix your issue? Mine has done the same thing and I'm trying to decide if it is worth it to fix or just scrap the car. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. I've already changed the fluids and the trans filter and it did not help.