gooch

Twister:
Just a 200-400 flare yesterday a couple of times. didnt seem to do it this morning but I warmed up the car a little before going down the drive. If it gets worse, I will let the forum know

MD350

On my wife's 04 Sienna with the 3.3L engine, there was hesitation during shifts. Seemed to be common among Siennas and Highlanders. There was a TSB to reprogram the ECM. Toyota called it a "flash". I had it done and the van now runs fantastic. It is like a totally different vehicle.

My point is that there may be a future TSB to reprogram the ECM to rid this flare on the ES. Hopefully, it will be a simple fix for everyone.

onsknht

It doesn't take much warm up time, try and run it without letting it warm up... Start, shift and go, you should see the spike return.

gooch

Well, the dealer came out to pick up the car again. The new tranny is flaring between 3rd and 4th (same place) between 400 and 800 rpms. dont know what the remediation will be, but I am hoping for a new es or the is250/350. the loaner is an 2006 is250 and i am not impressed with the ride that much. Would anyone trust the later models of the es350. i dont want to have to go thru this mess again and am afraid all the tranny's in this years model are going to be susceptible.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

Depending on your situation, I wonder if they would offer you a leftover 2006 GS300 or even 2007 GS 350 + some cash. Figure out alllllll of your options.

ES350Bob

gooch,

I didn't want to report on my second ES so soon but your post drew me out on the issue of these problematic transmissions.

Mine has said hello twice now since bringing it home last Tuesday and like your original post above, mildly spiking RPM. I have my eye on it and will be so disappointed if it evolves into something more. It is so new it really could be learning and having done this, but I do on some level fear it might get worse.

Unless and until Lexus changes the transmission supplier I think it is a coin toss as to whether or not it will happen on another. Mine is an 09 build month.

I am so sorry to read this is happening again to you.

I made up my mind that if issues present in this second car like the former I am going to have them take it back and go elsewhere completely after all I went through before.

dreyfus

Since most of the trannys don't have this problem you have been unlucky, but not particularly so, to have gotten two bad ones (assumming this is the case). There are a significant number of bad units out there.

If you like the car, keep with it. I'd replace my tranny twice to get a good one because I know eventually they'll get it right and I do really like the ES350.

If the hassle is too much then by all means push Lexus into either a different model or getting all your money back. If you do the latter, you'll have a tough time matching Lexus reliability from another manufacturer, in spite of your bad experience to date.

ES350Bob

I agree to a point with this above by dreyfus...if you really like the car then try again, I did that in a way because the engine on my former was toast whether Lexus would admit it or not so I am in a second one and while I did not go through an engine replacement and have it fail in order to get into the second one I still am in the second one.

I'd say this: IF your car has a very quiet engine, no diesel knocking tapping and no wind noise, then maybe go for a second transmission, or, go for a second ES but check it cold start and wind noise first, but still then do not expect it will preclude you from suffering the let down over a defect on these problematic transmissions as it could happen again.

I know exactly what it is like to really like a car but it's problems or it's manufacturer force you to feel like you have to go like something else when something else doesn't have the same appeal as the ES did in order to attract you to it in the first place. It is an awkward spot to be in.

And you have better things to do than keep taking a car in or have one taken from you in for service, major repairs no less.

Whatever makes you completely happy is the thing for you to do, whatever that is.

ES350Bob

MD,

This flare as it is called is not a software problem that can be fixed. Stop and think, would Lexus pay svc. departments all over the USA to take apart transmissions for a nuisance software issue or now REPLACE them?

When it "flares" under the hood the transmission makes sounds like a migrating Blue Whale calling to it's buddies.

It is just cozy and better PR to call it a flare, but believe me the expense to take apart a transmission would not be done if this was not just some flowery dialogue or dialogue of discounting or dialogue of limiting severity of a serious issue feel good label put on it.

gooch

thanks for all the good advice guys. the problem is, i really like this car. i got the wheels i want, an extended warranty out of the problem but am perplexed on what to do. other threads point to the fact this is not the orginal problem and no resolution has come to this one as far as lexus solving it. it really sucks to like a car so much that could be a piece of crap for the time i own it. it does have wind noise, sounds like a diesel in the mornings and has a rattle in the back by the trunk, (a problem that has been on this board). dont know what the dealer will tell me in the morning if the gm offers a new car but i am leaning towards the is350 and just give up the ride and room of the es350. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ima...lies/Peace.gif

ES350Bob

gooch,

I had no idea your car had that many issues and not knowing what to do is not at all unusual as I sure did not know what to do as I had never had this experience in any new car I had ever bought before.

You car was/is just like my former lemmonmobile, whatever you do GET OUT of the car you are in and fast.

NGG went for the IS, why not if you like them and they are nice looking. I was going to say noisier than the ES because they are a sporier car but if you had diesel and wind noise you wont care about the sportier difference in the two.

You'll know what to do when the time is right.

twister

How do you guys define a "flare"? With my original tranny, I had an engine rev up, RPM jump from 2k to 4k and it felt like car kicked in neutral for a split second. That was confirmed as 3rd-4th gear flare. Now, I have a new tranny and noticed that from a cold start I've seen a few times a spike of about 400-500 on RPM dial, while I'm doing a normal (non agressive) acceleration 2-3 minutes from a cold start. Engine doesn't revs up, RPM doesn't jump up 2,000 ticks, acceleration seems to be normal. Could it be just a gear shift? Honestly, I'm a little paranoid now

Oh, and forget about IS. I drove IS250 loaner for 2 days, and hated it. Rough drive, cramped up space, slow acceleration, very noisy.

gooch

Twister:
my "flare" is between third and fouth gears, while it is changing it seems like the trans actually slips a little and the rpm's spike from 2300 to 2800 just for a sec before shifting. It only does this on a cold start. let it warm up and it will not do it. This is the only gear it does it on.

wanderer99

Twister - I define the flare as when the trans is cold and my car goes from 3rd-4th gear. The engine revs up, the trans gets ready for the change..... and then it basically pops the car into 'neutral' for a second, allowing the revs to rise say 500-1500rpms, then engaging the next (4th) gear. This probably takes 2 seconds on average.

I also have a slur when the engine\trans is hot where it doesn't quickly engage into gear. In this car the trans will whine a little as it initiates the change at say 2000rpm, then go up to 2300rpm and finish the gear change, and then back down to say 1800rpm. It's all smooth, but you can hear what its doing (as it doesn't sound happy) and you wonder what is going on. This process takes about two seconds.

When the trans is behaving OK the changes are generally fast, well under or around 1 second.

Macklin

This is my question exactly. The very few times I have even noticed it, less than a hand full to 4500 miles, it has only 'flared' 4 - 500 rpms. I've said before, if you weren't watching for it, it could be easily missed. It's a split second kinda thing. I will say I only started watching for it after the first thread about the TSIB so I can not say for sure how many times the car has done it. I have not seen it in the last couple of weeks though.

So how much 'flare' qualifies it as a real issue??