MD350

After 15,000 miles with no flares, my 07 ES July 06 build now flares between 2nd and 3rd, about 400-600 RPM. I take my daughter to camp now, instead of school, and my morning route has changed. I go through the neighborhood and have a series of stop signs. I don't get the car into 4th for over a mile and have about 10 stop signs to stop at. Everytime I start off from a stop, the car flares from 2nd to 3rd. I stay in 3rd until the next stop sign. Then, the same thing again. Once I get it into 4th and get the car going, it will not flare again. But it will do it everytime I stop until I get it to 4th. It seems to be worse if I am climbing a hill.

It has happened 4 days in a row, each morning.

Any updates on this TSIB flash. If you have gotten it done, has it been successful?

remas1974

I have the same problem I had it serviced at the dealer yesterday and thye updated some software that controls the tranny, I feel no changes at all!
The worst problem though is that I discovered some problem with the transmission! Maybe your car has the same problem, if you have a slop (parking garage building) or any inclined road, put the car in drive and let it go without pushing the cas until the speed is around 12mph then press on the cas>>>>NOTHING WILL HAPPEN! I mean you will find that the transmission has disengaged and if you press more you will see that the rpm can reach 5000 without any response from the transmission! I tried this in my car and in 2 loaner cars. Just put the car in D in a road with a downward slop downward and when the speed reaches 10-12 mph press on the gas!
I don't know what I am going to do!

meadoel

Welcome to the crowd MD. That's similiar to the issues I've been having.... and I have the latest TSB.

This week I developed a new issue. Half the time I start the car.. it starts up smoothly. Half the time, the whole car shakes momentarily when I start it. It feels more like a renault than a lexus.

robob2

I live on a hill and have a fairly long drive going to the street. If I coast down the driveway, not backing down, but driving forward, when I get to the street and accelerate, the car seems to be in neutral for a moment and then will go into gear. The engine only revs a few hudred RPM before enagaging, bu it is kind of similar to your situation. It's odd that it never occurs when backing out. I wonder if it has something to do with fluid level.

MD350

Today, it did not flare. I did not have the air conditioning on, as it was cooler. I wonder if the stress of the A/C on the engine makes a difference?

As to going down a hill, I will have to try that. I never heard of that one before, but after hearing about it, I am thinking about getting rid of this car.

MD350

Last night, I had the A/C on again and it flared. Why all of the sudden is my car flaring after 15,000 trouble free miles? This is nuts!!

Basically, no matter if engine is hot or cold, it flares during every 2nd to 3rd shift until I get the car fast enought to get it into 4th. Once in 4th, the next go around is fine. If I shut the car off, then start it up again it flares again. A/C is on.

I have not heard from anyone that the TSIB has been a success. This concerns me. Any input?

onsknht

Well, sorry to hear you've finally changed your daily routine enough to expose the flare... Unfortunately, I too have yet to see a satisfied repair.

More unfortunate is as you've experienced, the right combination of startup routine finally exposed the problem... I'm even more convinced that every U660E transmission built by Toyota has the flare problem, people who are trouble free appear to either:

1. Have no clue what a flare would be
2. Drive in a manner that the flare is avoided

terrypm

[QUOTE More unfortunate is as you've experienced, the right combination of startup routine finally exposed the problem... I'm even more convinced that every U660E transmission built by Toyota has the flare problem, people who are trouble free appear to either:

1. Have no clue what a flare would be
2. Drive in a manner that the flare is avoided[/QUOTE]


Do you realy believe every Lexus transmission has this problem? Why is Lexus replacing defective transmissions with new ones that are defective also? it would be simplier to reengineer a new transmission.

MD350

Do you realy believe every Lexus transmission has this problem? Why is Lexus replacing defective transmissions with new ones that are defective also? it would be simplier to reengineer a new transmission.[/QUOTE]

I have to agree, some are worse than others and some need to be driven in a certain pattern from start up to get it to flare. But, I have yet to drive a perfect ES350 and I have driven 6 different ES's. It is a characterisitic of the car. It is a design flaw.

onsknht

Yup and every V6 Camry too!

I think a "redesign" will likely be the eventual resolution... In the meantime they'll continue to hackup cars to satisfy customers who request action and nobody knows whether ignoring the issue altogether creates a potential time-bomb.

caha14

That makes sense. But it wouldn't be the first time a manufacturer doesn't really fix a problem. Think Acura with the 2nd gen TL transmissions...

mmrfr

Have had the flare since day one, but only first start of the morning, then at about 3500 miles its first start and then last start as I started home from work. Today it was every grear change where I started from a stop-ie red light, stop sign etc. Not too bad yet-200 rpms but I'll bet it goes the way of the 1st startup 200 at first up to 600-800 now. My dealership denies any problem and Lexus corp as yet to respond to my emails or calls. Really close to going the Lawyer route. Had I bought instead of leased I would be in court now or driving something else!!!!!!!!!.

mrshyvley

I'm dealing with the flare issue too.
Is you dealer denying the problem because they claim they can't reproduce it?
If this is the case, since it's predictable when you drive it, simply videotape your tach and speedometer and show it to them.

When I tried to show it to my dealer after an oil change, it hadn't sat long enough to do it when I tried to show them.
Which is why I videotaped it, and created .wmv files of it.
Once they saw it, they were instantly convinced, and have been reasonable so far in trying to solve things for me.

Here's an example of what I did with my 2007 Camry SE V6.

http://www.ori.net/edporch/U660Eflare1.wmv

I also typed up a chronological description of when the problem started, and how things progressed as far as phone calls, who I talked to etc..
I also made a CD ROM with video of my car doing what they couldn't reproduce.
And took my camcorder in case they wanted to see the original tape I created the .wmv file from.

I just went in with the attitude that I love my car, but these things the transaxle is doing, really concern me.

I've made sure things have stayed cordial, as my complaint is with R&D at Toyota, not the dealer who gets stuck having to clean up the mess.

I now have a Toyota tech coming to my dealer this coming Tuesday.
He's already told my dealer to get a new transaxle and have it ready.

I plan to present this Toyota tech that's coming in, with a package that includes video of my car doing the slipping (flares) between gears, and I'm going to ask my dealer if I can speak to him personally.

ON THE OTHER HAND, if you've demonstrated to your dealer that you have the problem, and they refuse to address it, I'm not exactly sure what to tell you, as I haven't been down that road.