bhaubold

Just bought a new 09 ES350. Only have 700 miles on it. Lately, when the car is cold, the shift from park to reverse has been harder to pull and makes a fairly loud clunk. When it's warm, all seems to be well. Anyone hear of this before. WE'll be bringing it in soon, just thought I would ask.

Thanks,

Bob

09 ES 350

jkayca

Hmmm...Sounds an awful like what tlplexus had.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es3...om-p-to-r.html

bhaubold

Sure sounds like that's what's happening on our car. I'll be taking it in next Wednesday. I'll report after. Thanks for your help,

Bob

09 ES350

SmokeyES35

well i had that i think, it would happen in the mornings, but i figured out that when i was parking on the driveway, i would put the car in park, the car would then revers a little , ( and engage a gear i think), and then I would push the brake and engage parking brake. I found that if when i would park on the driveway, keep my foot on the brake, put into park, and engage parking break, all the while still having my foot on the brake, the car wouldnt roll back. Then in the morning, I would put my foot on the brake, disengage parking brake, and then put car in reverse, there wouldnt be any more clunk, whatsoever, just something i notice in my habits of parking.

VegasIS300

iTrader: (1)

I have that clunk too, but the dealer said there's nothing that could be done for it.

bhaubold

Smokeyes35,

I see what you're saying. I'll give that a try tomorrow. It did happen twice today.

PaJaHa1

The tranny is pretty awful in this thing. Try going in reverse and rolling into neutral then drive. It's really rough- you actually have to come to a full stop for a smooth transition.

Lexanator

I ask about this on our new ES350 because it did it once to me and "they" don't know....
Let the car warm up a minute + or - and come off high idle and see if it continues...mine works fine ever since I started doing this. I'm still watching it in case high idle revs is not the cause...I hope that is all it is but it still shouldn't be that way IMO. (I'm dissapointed again with this new car....but the wife still loves it.)

Respond if this solves the problem for anyone.

carcass29

I have the same issue with mine(just bought 2 weeks ago) and was worried about it til I realized a few days later that my driveway is on a small incline.

I had my foot on the brake so the car rolled forward/backward so it adds the weight of the car on the transmission so it gives it that "clunk" sound and makes the tranny hard to shift from park to reverse.

easiest way to explain in detail is park on an extreme hill or incline....keep your foot on the brake and then shift it into park...take your foot off the brake and you'll notice the car rolls slightly til the transmission stops the car...thats all thats happening...nothing to worry about

rx300mm

I agree, after reading this thread I tried it on my driveway and it is on small incline and it was hard to move from P > R and with noise of clunk. I was concerned so I tried on flat road few times when the car was cold and no noise, just smooth move into R.

VegasIS300

iTrader: (1)

My driveway is on an incline too, and I noticed you minimize the clunk by pressing the brake extra hard.

bhaubold

We brought our car back to the dealer yesterday. They said it is normal, they all do that. Now that I'm aware of the clunk, I make sure to set the parking brake before taking my foot off the regular brake. Have to say, the car is living up to our expectations. very happy with it. One of the only cars we've bought WITHOUT a rattle. Keeping out fingers crossed.

SmokeyES35

like i said before... when parking on an incline, depress break, engage parking brake, then move from Drive to Park. When taking it out in the morning, press brake, disengage parking brake, then move from park to revers, all the while keeping your foot on the brake... you will never hear the clunk again.