betoxyz

My 1996 Lexus ES300 has a slow start. When I make a complete stop and push on the gas again my car jerks. It feels like it skips first gear and goes straight to second. It is very sluggish from the start but after it picks up speed it is just find. What could be the reason for this. Could it be that the transmission is going out. The car has 129k miles. I removed some of the transmission fluid and replaced what it with fresh transmission fluid. Should I do a complete transmission flush. It does not give out any codes. HAs anyone else experience this same issue and what did you do to solve it? Thanks.

Arsenii

Hello,

Try starting driving with the shifter in the L position, which would lock out all but the 1st gear and see if you will be able to start smoothly. You can also try performing a Manual Shift Test - disconnect the pigtail from the Solenoids on the Transmission and go for a ride. In that case, the ECU won't be able to make any corrections, so you will be in charge of switching gears with your Shift Lever. Those tests will ensure if the car is fully capable of starting from 1st and shifting into other gears; if the car will behave as before, then you have some mechanical issue within the transmission; if, on the other hand, it would behave as normal, then you need to look for an electrical issue. For that case, you will need an OBD2 scanner with an ability to read Engine Live Data - connect it and go for a ride, looking for any parameters that stand out.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

betoxyz

The check engine light cam eon and it says "Shift Solenoid A" Code P0753. Should I replace it or is t a deeper problem than that.

Arsenii

You found your problem sir, without that solenoid, the car starts off in 3rd gear. Before going out spending money for that solenoid though, you need to make sure that it is indeed bad - below is a pinout for the connector on the transmission, check the resistance between Pin 3 and Ground, you should get about 11-15 ohms, if not, the solenoid has to be replaced. If the resistance is okay, then you will need to check the wiring from the transmission to the ECU.



Hope this helps and best of luck!