ahtisham

I have RX300 2002 model,
I'm was facing issue that sometimes car won't shift the gear from 3rd to 4th, after I notice this only happens after 10-15 min (when engine is warmed up & heat gauge above 1).
I decided to change transmission oil & filter, but the problem is still there.

If this happened with anyone else or anybody know about regarding, kindly help
Thanks

Australian

Only when the transmission temperature is hot the coolant sensor needs to heat up before will it go into 4th gear all the reving cold won't make it change.

ahtisham

the problem occurs when engine is warmed up

salimshah

Let us know if you have CEL on. Is the CEL engine light lit during bulb test [first time you move the key from ACC to run]. If the bulb is popped you may like to have the codes read at an auto store.

For normal operating temp, you have to drive the vehicle till the temp gauge shows 40-60%.

Is the vehicle new to you? Has anything happened recently?

Salim

ahtisham

Thanks Salim for your valuable time and concern,
I'll check that

greystroke

My RX recently went into "safe" mode after throwing some codes. I decided to drop the valve body and clean everything up and while apart I replaced two servos and cleaned the peach fuzz from the magnets. I think the servos were good since the old ones seemed to work fine after I cleaned them. After completion it shifts better than ever. I have 187000 plus I have flat towed behind a mortorhome for about 45000 that does not register on the speedometer. So your servos may be sticking a little. You have 5 of them.

Margate330

Just curious what process you used to clean them since I've heard about mixed results doing that.

Also, how difficult was the valve body removal and replace and did any springs or ***** jump out and give a heart attack like I seen in some videos on other cars. haha

Would love to hear more about this story...

greystroke

Haha is right! Watched all the videos available, Studied my repair manual and found quite a bit on the internet in the form of manuals etc. So I knew beforehand. So I removed the pan, removed the filter and disconnected the electronics which consisted of 5 solenoids and one temp sensor. My repair manual showed 3 different size bolts so I removed them and kept each size in separate containers. Also I kept tack of which hole was which size.
I cleaned the garage floor before in case parts flew. I laid a soft mat under the tranny just in case. When I removed the last bolt nothing could have prepared me for what happened. I misjudged which side the pistons and springs were on so when the last bolt was removed the valve body did a powerful flip before landing on the mat. Found the check valve back by the rear tires.
So I took the valve body to the bench. Drained it as good as I could. Removed all five solenoids. Used compressed air and ATF to clean while applying 12Volts on/off. I initially suspected the D solenoid so It was a bit mushy before cleaning but seamed to work well after cleaning. But I had ordered before the B and D solenoid so I used the new ones and kept the old ones since they checked good after cleaning.
There is no way I could put those springs back in place by just holding them. First thing I did was make a wood stand to go on the Lexus jack so I would not have to hold the valve body. The second thing I did was to cut some thin sheathing and bend it to hold pistons and springs in place. Then I put an electrical wire in the the check valve hole to keep the valve from falling out while raising the valve body in place.


I raised the body up to the tranny and compressed the springs by using a long bolt into a medium hole at the piston area. Started the other bolts. When the body was 1/4 to 1/2 inch of closure. I pulled the sheathing and the checkvalve wire and continued to close up. Rest was easy

maxSteel

Well, that sounds painful. But if my tranny was shot I would try it anyway.
At best it would fix my problem, at worst I still need a new tranny.

greystroke

Exactly. I just finished getting 2500 in work done so it quit a few days later. Worth a shot seven though I never worked on an automatic.

Margate330

Hi greystroke, nice pics and detail.

Did your rework and new selenoids not fix the shifting problem even though you proved a bad selenoid or two?
What happened for $2,500 if you like to tell us?

greystroke

Since I had the new solenoid's I put them in rather than the old ones. Was not going to do it twice so I really never really know if the old ones were good after cleaning but one of the old ones was sticking and now it is not.
Too numerous to mention all the worked done prior to tranny failure but included timing belt with all the old items removed, valve cover gaskets, Front end work including ball joints and arms. Host of other things. Ready to be a TOAD again and great second car. I might mention that the tranny was extremely clean inside with only peach fuzz on the magnets. What a great tranny!

Margate330

Oh ok I think I understand now, thank you.

I thought you were saying you did all that work and had to spend $2,500 to redo it with tranny rebuild or something.
Reason your fix is great news is I've seen so many threads and posts with shifting problems but never a successful selenoid fix except yours, at least none that I've seen.

Just wondering one more thing, were the codes you mentioned meaningful in a way that led you to the selenoids or did you go on a hunch on how it was shifting?
PS- also seen many posts in the RX330 forum due to shifting problems and many of us suspect it's sometimes valve body selenoids failing and not needing a full tranny rebuild and wondering if regular tranny fluid services can prevent this.

I'm a big fan of regular tranny services- not flushing but dropping the pan to look for metal chunks and early warning signs of failure and refill with fluid.

greystroke

First I hope I haven't hyjack the OP's thread and I hope info I posted is helping him understand that the tranny is complicated and many different problems can happen from bands, gears. solenoids, computer, etc. I am not any where near an expert and just telling what happened to me and what I did.
That said, the first problem I noticed hard shifting. When I got back home after a short trip I checked the codes and they indicated the D or B solenoid. I cleared the codes thinking I will wait and see if they come back. That was wrong, Should have let them alone. Went back out for a test drive after resetting the computer by lifting battery cables. On the drive It stayed in one gear, would not shift. The only way to get it in reverse was to stop the engine and restart and go straight to reverse. To go back forward i had to restart and go straight to drive. Did not know at that time that the computer put me in "Limp" or "failsafe" mode where it would let me drive home or to the shop. It did this to save the tranny. Hence I came to the conclusion that it might be one of the five solenoids and dropped the valve body.
As far as finding chunks in the pan you may not be able to see them because if a band or gear breaks it will just fall on top of the Valve body and not make it's way to the pan. There were no chunks on top of my valve body.
Hoped this has answered the question and helped the OP. Just remember it only takes a small particle to cause sticking of the solenoids.