enycetony

Hey CL! Long time since I've asked for maintenance help... That just goes to show you how reliable these cars are..

So here goes! Recently I purchased an LS430 shell w/ blown motor and had an engine swap done. Engine came out of my old LS430 that the girlfriend crashed.... Overall the swap didn't go too bad, there are some minor things that I need to have checked out.... However, I recently ran into an issue with the transmission. When you start the car, it will engage perfectly fine into gear. After about 30 or so seconds, it no longer engages into gear. You can shift all you want but it feels like it's stuck in neutral or park. Sometimes it feels like neutral because the car will slowly move unless I hit the brake....

Currently, I'm not too sure what the issue might be. I've spent a lot of money trying to revive my LS430 and I'm almost at the point where I feel like I should just get another car altogether... Anyone have any suggestions?

Trans fluid is Toyota type iv and I made sure to fill it after the swap. After the swap, the transmission was bone dry....
Not sure if there's anything else worth mentioning. The motor and trans came from my other ls430 which drove strong. I don't believe the trans is completely shot but I really don't know what to think right now.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

enycetony

unable to edit the title as i spelled transmission wrong....

StanVanDam

Plug in TechStream, check for DTCs and look at your live data. An improperly-functioning neutral start switch aka transmission lever position sensor will throw a DTC and may cause the car to not go into gear properly. There is probably a failsafe operation for this sensor, which could be park or neutral.

There are also many other transmission-related DTCs and live data you can use to help narrow down your problem. It is rare but possible that your ECM is damaged, which could cause similar problems. You need to start with some DTCs and follow the troubleshooting flowcharts - this usually works out better than guessing at the problem and throwing parts at it. Replacing the ECM is suggested only after following specific steps prior, and these steps vary depending on the DTC.

enycetony

A small update to this thread. I took the car to my local mechanic who is just a few blocks away. On the way to him the transmission did start to hesitate after I hit a stop sign; had to give the car about 6000rpm for it to go. Transmission ended up doing what it's been doing and wouldn't engage anymore... Shut the car off, waited about 30 seconds, restarted and drove the car to my local mechanic. Unfortunately my mechanic didn't really know what to make of the issue. He said it's either an oil pressure issue or a solenoid issue. He recommended that I take it to a transmission shop which might be able to diagnose it further.. I could buy the toyota techstream device but currently there are no codes except VSC OFF. Not sure why the VSC OFF light came on either...