Hi CL,

I posted about a month ago looking for help on locating the input speed sensor for the awd transmission. Thanks to those who helped, I finally had the chance to locate it today. But here's what I found...
A little backstory.

I took my car to Lexus of Maplewood a month ago to have them take a look because my shifting has been pretty rough and I can't go past 4th gear. I got an obd test done and the code said it was the input turbine sensor. So Lexus looked and said they wanted to charge 150 to diagnose further because it's not covered under the powetrain warranty and I declined the diagnosis. They told me it was most likely due to "chewed up wires". Didn't want to spend any money on diagnosis if the issue is just the input speed sensor. Lexus wasn't quite happy but still have my car back at no charge but it took them nearly an hour to bring it back... I don't know why. . Anyways I drove car for another day or two more after this visit but my shifting got even worse and transmission started to feel like it was slipping when I put it into drive. So I parked it for the past few weeks to not put more wear on it. I bought a new sensor and today I finally had the chance to check out the sensor and it looks like this. The wires aren't even attached to the sensor. Does it look cut or was it really worn down so much that it pulled apart? The car only has 54k miles and is only 4 years old...

I suspect that the sensor did break. That's why I was having the shifting issues beforehand. But the wires looking like this really shocks me... I don't want assume it was cut but I mean... Come on.. does this really happen to a car this new? Heck even older cars don't have wires like this. Any thoughts? The output speed sensor is literally perfect... No issues and the wires are beautiful. Idk why the input sensor wires look like this... This is the input sensor on the passenger side of the transmission. It's located right before the bell housing. Black wire housing to the left of the left of the sensor is supposed to be connected to the sensor.

A more in focus photo.

 

IMO - looks cut.

 

When you have it out, you should be able to take a close look on if it was crimped (during assembly or on purpose) or by worn. But from the pic, I lean towards a crimp, whether on purpose or not, couldn't say.

 

Those look cut to me. Hard to say and even harder to prove it was done on purpose.

 

I'd like to see a tight macro close-up picture of both wire ends - at the sensor, and also at the wiring harness.

 

No only does it look cut but it must have been recent because there is no corrosion on the copper conductors.

 

Lexus tech here. Those wires were definitely cut. Look how the 2 wires are recessed into the wiring loom. Someone would have had to pull it back and cut it for it to look like that. Plus the wires are perfectly equal length. Here's what "chewed" up wires look like. I took this a while ago while trying to diag something and found this. Plus if it was a rodent problem more than likely your insurance will cover it. But not with your issue, that was 100% cut.

 

I agree - the wires were cut...and they were cut at the same time, probably by a hand tool specifically made to cut wires instead of a knife.

But...who dunnit? And, why?

 

Closer up photo of the sensor and wire
Thanks for the replies.

*sigh, this just kinda sucks. Not saying Lexus did it for sure, but they're the only people that touch my car. I suspect that my sensor broke, that's why I was having the issue. And then Lexus may have taken a look and cut the wires to tell me that I had "chewed up wires" in order to charge me more to fix the wiring and sensor. But who knows... This is gonna be a pain to solder back together. Trying to find the transmission revolution sensor plug to see if I can get a bit more slack from the new plug to solder back. I can't imagine what the labor will cost to have anybody fix it since it's tucked away on the side of the transmission. But I don't trust anyone anymore. I never usually trust auto shops, especially when I can DIY most of the things on my car. Figured Lexus is a step up in integrity but I seriously have my doubts now. Sad to see such a great and reliable car be tripped up by shoddy business.

 

Thats just messed up... Kinda obvious Lexus did it though

 

That's a sad story to read about. Your pictures are great btw - I wish more people went into that kind of detail when sharing photos.

If you want to have Lexus replace it and fix it, perhaps you could open up a case with Lexus corporate? Definitely a very shady thing for a dealership that bears the Lexus name to do! I would love to see the specific dealership get reprimanded if they are the only ones who have touched your vehicle. If nothing else, perhaps you'll have to pay a lot less to get this fixed.

Best of luck and keep us updated,

~ Im2bz2p345

 

Instead of trying to make slack, I suggest going to the dealer buying the 2 pins with wire extensions (I believe the dealer calls them wire repair kit) and they're usually pretty long. I did that to my parking sensors when they got ripped from an accident and it worked out just fine.

 

Update:

I took the car back to Lexus of Maplewood to share with them what I found. They completely had no record of my visit last time. No record of my signing for the loaner car or them checking my car. That was really odd. The technician continued to argue that the wire looked chewed up, though he did admit that one of the two wires was cut. After hashing things out for half an hour and me threatening to report to the attorney general and Better Business Bureau, Lexus and I agreed that I would cover 125 for the fix and they would cover the remaining 250. However, when the fixed my wires, the check engine light didn't go away so they gave me a call and said they're going to diagnose my problem for free just to see what the issue was. An hour afterwards they called back telling me that there were some serious internal issues in the transmission (something wrong with the solenoids according to the technician) and that they filed a claim for the powertrain warranty to Lexus. I got a call afterwards confirming that everything would be covered under the warranty and that I'll be getting an entirely new transmission in the next few days. Today I stopped by and checked my car again since it was sitting on the Lexus lot waiting to be fixed and I saw that they did indeed fix my wire and my transmission was still really rough. Guess I'll just have to wait and see next week with the new transmission. Feeling hopeful.

 

I don't know what to say to this dealer.
​​​​​ But I would never bring my car to this dealer, or have any business relationship.

 

I won't take my car back to them. I just want to get these issues fixed without having to pay so much out of the pocket. As soon as I get the new transmission I will not be back here again.