JoelPirela

Well, after reading and reading about the noisy manual transmission on the IS, i kind of accepted the fact that the clutch engaging point suck, shifting smooth between 1st and 2nd was impossible (bobbing head syndrome) and down shifting to a stop sign was a gurgling concert. (this was since day one)... Well, I took my car to the dealer (Lexus of West Kendall) for oil change (18K miles) and told my SA about the noise, kind of comenting about it and I told him that if that was the way it is, i will accept the fact, but told him to take a look.
He called me the same day saying that the mechanic thinks there's something wrong with the transmission, some bearings or whatnot. teared up the tranny, replaced the bearing, test drove and the car was worse. Long story short, they replaced all the bearings, clutch, flywheel, transmission assembly and everything in between. Got the car yesterday and one world: WOW! I can believe I drove that car like that before. The shift between gears is precise and crisp, clutch engaging is no longer at the top of the pedal travel, launching is smooth (no more jerking!) and sound??? nothing. No more Tercel-like feel. a more refined animal. I'm smiling as I write this and really looking forward to drive back home tonight. It's a like a brand new car!
Noisy transmission is not a normal sign. Have it check it out.

I hope this helps!

Joel in miami

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

wow, I'm glad to hear that someone is happy with their MT!

Shoyuu

good news indeed and glad they fixed the problem for you

knox_sport

Joel, promise us you'll do a "long-term" update sometime in the next few months. Wondering if the "fix" holds up. Let's hope so!

rroy

iTrader: (1)

I got just over 10k miles and my MT is running great. Sucks hearing so many complaints...

Good to hear yours got taken care of.

9520G

I wish my dealer would do that for me but I'm not as lucky as you are.

isam250

iTrader: (7)

hmmm, i didnt really have any problems with mines

JoelPirela

and to think that I was getting used to it...

The only thing that I notice different is the gate spacing between gears. It feels smaller. I had problems the first time trying to get 1st into gear. The dealer really went above the call of duty. Now if they could get the @#$%&^ tinted windows right.... 4th time is a charm!

I will keep you posted.

JP

sailing217

Other than "replacing everything" was there something specific that mechanic said fixed the problem? Specific part? Was it OEM parts or a mix?

I've just learned to live with my Tercel...ah um Lexus I mean.

JoelPirela

Well, it was a lexus dealer for warranty repair. Everything was OEM and replaced from the end of the engine to the driveshaft. clutch included.

JP

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

hm......glad to know that cos I just got mine last week and I noticed a bit noise shifting from 1st to 2nd (some kind of clicking noise) and after reading all the other posts i started to worry a bit.........maybe i REALLY should have them check it out when i do the oil change @5K miles!

thanks for the info!

cheungtheg

Joel,
I've similar problem as yours. I'll quote your post and hopefully they will do the same to my car.

06LexIS

Glad to hear your car finally drives like it's supposed too.

I'm dropping off my car today and I will bring up my last tranny issue.
Since I commute far, I usually get up very early(4am), ambient temps where in the low 30's to upper 20's in norcal last month.

I started my IS250 and a weird grinding/winding noise was coming on/off. Sounded like the flywheel or clucth was rubbing some way or another, I stayed on my drive way till the car was warm. I pressed the clutch in/out, noise went away and then came back, I did this several times until the noise went away.
As long as ambient temps stay above 40*F the tranny is fine, below that, the noise is there but not as loud.
My car has 26,575 miles, the only thing the dealer keeps telling me is that they are documenting my complaints and in case a failure happens, it has been noted.
Also my dash rattle is driving me nuts, it's been repaired 3 times, this time around is the 4th..

Keep us posted as your milage increases.
Raf

contourrob

Well, I'm on my second transmission (IS250 MT) due to a grinding going into 4th gear at higher RPM's. This one was silky smooth and great for the first 12k miles..however lately (now 25k total miles since Sept 06) I've gotten the grind back and 1st to 2nd is really rough and i get the whining noise going down to a stop sign. My point is, JUST BECAUSE THEY REPLACE THE TRANNY DONT ASSUME ALL YOUR PROBLEMS ARE GONE! I was very happy with this second transmission only 2 months ago, and I'm back to where I was. The dealership is aware of my new issue, and I await their call back. lets see what happens this time.....

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

keep us posted. i guess we have to make the corporate aware of this....

have them do something about this tranny.....honda did extended their bad 98-02 tranny to 100K miles, maybe they can do the same?