over 30. illogical thinking ? I have valid concerns over the quality of my car. I don't see this as being something juvenile if that is what you are implying. True, I have just joined CL, but have been a lurker for quite some time now.

 

Also, your transmission is not the exact same as his, are you aware of that? His is a four speed tranny and yours is a five speed.

Common symptoms for a transmission shifting erratic, slipping or not shifting at all regardless of the make could be due to external sensors like the throttle position sensor, vehicle speed sensor or output speed sensor. They quite often go bad, causing these symptoms. Have his mechanic run a scanner first to see if a sensor is causing the problem.

 

In all the time I have been reading and following Lexus, driving their cars, meeting owners, talking to Lexus mechanics, everyone, I have heard of one trans rebuild on an SC on E-bay, and your pal's car. That's it. Not a lot of buzz about bad transmissions, considering that Lexus sold 55,000 LS's in 91, and nearly as many over the next two years.
That's all I know of, two cars.
Nothing in this world is 100%. Nothing.
Everything breaks one day.
But the stats here show these cars to be about the best there is. And some will break early. Most will not.
Get over it.

 

My friend is about to have a rebuilt tranny put in tomorrow afternoon, but if you think that it may be a sensor, I can recommend that he have that checked out beforehand. I know he tried to drive it today, and it would not even move. 2 days ago if ran perfectly and now it doesn't even shift into any gear. It makes no sense to me that this could go like this all of a sudden. I'm trying to help him out in this and trying to save him some money. Would a sensor cause the car to not move at all or just cause shifting problems ?

 

I have a 91 LS with 170k on it. My car is so quiet , I can only hear tire noise with the windows down. My tranny shifts very smoothly with no probs. My uncle has a 92 LS with 150K and he just had to get an alternator yesterday. Both cars were maintained. Mine, luckily, was owned by a doctor who took it to the dealer for ALL service and problems. So, I consider that a testimony to Lexus reliability. I've been saved.....hallelujah!!!!

 

When the guy first pulled the pan, was there actual tranny parts debris or just tranny fluid sludge?

If it were only sludge, it may warrant more diagnostics before swapping it out. If it were parts debris then it's over for this tranny. Pulling the pan again will tell you a lot.

It does sound like tranny problems with the Lexus are infrequent. And since the car was serviced regularly, it's probably just bad luck.

glenmore
1991 MBZ 300CE
1990 LS 400

 

Glen, from what i know there was both sludge and some debris in the filter and it looked pretty dirty. I spoke to my friend this morning and he's going to have the diagnostics run before doing anything drastic. But from what he is telling me, it's not looking good. Thanks for your input. I'll post what happened as soon as I hear back from him.