JRA2000TL

When I read your statement that Toyota uses a machine, that kind of bothers me. Only drain and fills are recommended. With mine being done at Lexus, I hope they didn't flush. The RO just says "customer requests transmission fluid change" or something along those lines. Mine has had an unusual shift a time or 2, but I think that's over-paranoia. It drives fine--nice and smooth, probably just hit the gas at a certain speed right when it was supposed to shift; 2nd gear shifts seem to be a little harsher on most cars I've driven. Definitely no noticeable other issues after the service. I'm 99% sure I asked the advisor if they did a drain and fill. I always specify no flush. Lexus typically won't or doesn't want do service transmissions. I got that speech, along with "I'll do it if you want me to". Either way, I'd specify no flush, drain and fill only, and make sure they have/use Techstream for the process.

Nyaa

Well, I had the dealer do a drain and fill, not a flush.

I made it 35 mi from the dealer and now I'm in a parking lot waiting for a tow truck to take me back to the dealer. Everything was fine and then all of a sudden the car had no propulsion, it just revved like it was in neutral. I stopped the car put in park and back and drive and it moved forward enough for me to pull in a parking lot.

This just happened out of nowhere. It seemed like it was driving totally fine. I can't see any fluid dripping when I look under the car. Everything looks nice and clean.

Globally, Lexus advises you change your fluid every 60,000 mi, just not in the US from what I understand.

I just did a drain and fill. I'm only at 72,000. I should be safe so I can only assume they messed up. I can't imagine doing a drain and fill just over 60k is going to introduce problems from old sediment getting moved around and everything. It wasn't a flush after all. Surely the transmission isn't that worn out that it was so dependent on all the old material.

Sitting here in the car right now, with it off of course, I hear a lot of clanking in the transmission. It's the sound you hear metal make when it cools off. And I mean a lot. Sometimes dozens of clanks in a row. I've never heard any vehicle clink that much after turning it off.

I didn't get any warning lights btw

Gerf

I hope you don't have anything like "customer requested service" on the repair order, How much fluid did you get charged for? Did they have the vehicle overnight so it could cool down before starting the service? There are a lot of questions to be asked.

If that is the transmission crackling because it's cooling down then it is likely pooched.

yyymmm31

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There shouldn't be an issue for you to have the drain and fill of transmission fluid at 72K miles. The symptom you described is lacking or insufficiency of transmission fluid in the transmission. Since you drove off the dealer site without problem for 35 miles, it is highly likely that either the drain plug or the level checking plug somehow fell off, resulting in the fluid leaking out.
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Nyaa

That's what I'm thinking with my limited knowledge. I should have noticed the problem immediately if this was due to dependence on old material, right?

So I guess I'm "hoping" I'm low on fluid. Hopefully the transmission isn't fried. I was on a road that is normally quite fun for vigorous driving but I was driving really gentle just to make sure everything went smoothly. When this happened I could not just leave the car where it was. Like I said, it's a road that's good for vigorous driving so it isn't safe to sit where I was. I would say I limped it half a mile after I experience problems and I managed to pull in a parking lot.

But now, let's say when I get it to the dealer they find the fluid was low. That would mean it is either an error on their part or a faulty drain plug and or crush ring? Does the transmission use a crush ring on the drain plug like on the oil pan and differential?

I've never dealt with a situation like this before. So if it is a faulty part that caused this, is that on Toyota? Is that the dealership's responsibility? Obviously, if they messed up, they need to own up to this.
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Let's say they fill it with fluid and it feels fine. Is that enough? Should I demand that they pay to have the transmission checked for damage by a specialist or at least the Lexus dealer?

Any advice would be appreciated. Like I said, I've never had a situation where I took the car back from a dealer or a mechanic and something seemingly catastrophic happened.

EDIT: I just thought of something! When it happened I just hit the bottom of a hill between another hill that goes up. Immediately upon hitting the level part between hills, it felt like I dropped into neutral.

To me that further indicates this is a low fluid issue as the pull of gravity slushed the fluid and there wasn't enough to go around to maintain proper lubrication/hydraulic pressure.

yyymmm31

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The drain plug and level check plug both use the same crush gasket, which is made from aluminum and requires only 15 lbf*ft of torque. Some DIYers tend to over toque the drain and level plugs (for fear of fluid leaks) while some dealer techs tend to under torque the plugs (for fear of stripping the threads). In terms of damage to the transmission due to insufficient transmission fluid, I would think that the torque converter and the transmission fluid pump (its location is just next to the torque converter) are the most vulnerable transmission components to be impacted. The AA80E transmission on LS460 is very solid mechanically. I would doubt that driving with low transmission fluid for 35 miles will do severe damage to the transmission gear box per se. If it turns out that the problem is due to lack of transmission fluid, you may make demand for the dealer to replace the torque converter (approximately $1000 new OE) and the front pump (approximately $380 new OE) for peace of mind or give you some warranty on the transmission. On the other hand, there have been quite a few reports by DIYers that they under filled the transmission fluid and drove their car for some distance before finding out the problem They refilled the transmission fluid to proper level without future problems.
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Nyaa

Well my appointment was at 8:00 a.m. I dropped the car off about 7:15. They called me around 10:00 to tell me the car was done. They said they let the car cool down and encouraged me to be early to leave it if I could. They told me they use Tech Stream to monitor the temperature.

The total cost was $259.81.

And yes, it does say "Customer requests just a drain and fill."
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​​​EDIT: Is it safe for me to turn on the car so I can raise the ride height to high? I would like to give the car as much extra clearance as possible when it gets loaded onto the flatbed.

Gerf

You are about to find out if the place you took it is a dealer or a stealer, good luck.

Striker223

They likely underfilled it due to using the temp an ES/corolla uses or didn't care at all and and just refilled it hot or without checking temp. It's supposed to be at 103* F if you want dead center of the temp range.......

I've done 9 of these now without issues not counting my own that has been done 3 times and my sequoia that was also fine 3 times and is the same procedure. Plus about 3 GSs as well a 5 tundras and countless Camry/ESs

Heck I have a Camry tomorrow, point being that I've never once had one have anything but an improvement or no negative change at the very worst. I suspect the dealer didn't do the procedures correctly.

Gerf

Doing drain n fills on Toyota/Lexus WS transmissions aren't that complicated and just requires that you pay attention to what you're doing, it's a job that some shops and techs have a hard time making money on so it's not pushed as a service. Maybe these days the senior techs in the oil change rack have had this added to their duties lol.

Pre world standard fluid, around 2004 a transmission service at most dealers in Canada was a drain n fill...granted there was an easily accessed dipstick but that's what the overflow tube is in a different location. It makes me wonder why some licensed red seal techs have problems with this, however a license is the minimum requirement and if some techs seldom do this you can expect problems.

DJWLDW

Nyaa

I hope it all works out well for you.

Dennis

Nyaa

Well, I sat with the car for 7 hours on Friday. AAA kept telling me somebody was on the way and they never showed. I was told six or seven times someone would be there in an hour, a different company every time and no one ever showed. Probably going to drop AAA after this. Their service has really gone downhill in the last year or two. I'm just going to pay for the tow out of pocket and hope they will reimburse me.

It's supposed to get towed to the dealer in a few hours now by a company I found.

I need to know though, can I start the car to raise the ride height for towing? I called the dealer to ask and couldn't get a straight answer...


​​​​​Thank you for all the input everyone. I'm still hoping for a good outcome which would be either no damage has been done or if damage has been done, they will buy me a new transmission and accept responsibility.

Gerf

Unlike what you were told earlier if you had a leak for any reason you would've seen oil under your car when you stopped, it doesn't just drain out and leave the underside of the car dry. Your car has a cover under the trans that has a foam liner that would be saturated and would be dripping for a long time.
It only takes a few minutes for the car to get to Height High and it probably couldn't make this worse but at normal height there's still lots of clearance for it to be winched onto a deck truck.

Gerf

If this was the dealer that did the work and didn't want to arrange for the towing themselves after you explained the situation I would be concerned.

Nyaa

@Gerf Thank you and I am...