Doublebase

Very cool, thanks. I never really knew anything about Soichero, but I'm interested in reading up on him now. As a company they've lost a little steam, but historically they are just so innovative.

Wandl

Wow great article! I'm on Jalopnik often and (there's so much awesome stuff there) missed this article..

Devh

One last thing before we get away from this topic. In the early 70s there was a big clean air movement in America and there were congressional hearings on the matter. All of the major automobile manufactures were called to testify if they can meet a new standard. The industry testified that it was impossible with current technology using catalytic converters. Congress then asked is there anyone here that can meet this standard and Honda stood up and said " we can do" in his broken English. He shocked the industry and then embarrassed it with CVCC.

It is the arrogance of the Americans accusing the Japaneses for being copy cats rather then innovators yet we promote guys like Carol Shelby for taking a car that was not his and performing a big block V8 swap, then parade him around like an iconic symbol who ends up selling out to snake oil additive companies like Zmax.

Doublebase

And they're pretty much the last ones to jump aboard some of the latest "technologies". They'll wait...figure it out...improve it, then put it in their cars. Direct injection comes to mind - they waited. And coil over plug, once again they stuck with the distributors until they made theirs reliable. Meanwhile a company like VW/Audi loves to roll out their stuff...have it fail repeatedly on the customer and then stand up there and say...WE ARE THE FIRST!!! While we pay for their mistakes.

Devh

They cant even say that anymore . Toyota has not only pioneered new technology they have proven it to be reliable because of better testing standards. They have to work thrice as hard because of the unfounded stigma placed on them. On the flip side there is a whole generation of ricers that have a JDM fetish for all the wrong reasons.

Wandl

thanks to that jalopnik article I may be spending 4th of july weekend scouring the dallas area for an old CRX to toy around with...

kylefoster

Have had the same hesitation problem talked about on this thread for the last 4 years. Took my 07 LS460L to Park Place Lexus this week for some work due to a recall. Told them about the problem and asked to have it checked out. Service Manager tells me it's a common issue of a gasket going bad allowing transmission fluid to leak into the tranny electronics module. They checked it out and told me that's exactly what it was and was repaired under extended warranty. The car shifts smoother than ever before and so far have had absolutely none of the hesitation issues.

7milesout

Doublebase - Me having worked DIRECTLY for Toyota at their technical center in Michigan as a design engineer and liaison for the 483N (RX330), I will comment that your post is Much more accurate than others. And it's not because they cannot pioneer, but they are smart businessmen. They evaluate the value to a customer of every technology that comes along. If they deem it of value they will optimize it before adopting it.

An example comes to mind. While working there, about monthly or so various vendors would come in to demonstrate their wares. One in particular that stood out to me was the rear axle steering system for trucks. I wanna say it was Delphi, but don't remember for sure. The technical center had a nice area for vendors to set up fancy displays. All the engieers were welcomed down to experience. Sometimes it was great fun, other times it was only good for the chocolate chip cookies. Delphi was pushing for the adoption of the 4 wheel steering in the Tundra.

It was interesting. But in the end, the Japanese consensus was the same as mine. No actual benefit to the customer. GM carried that junk for a couple or a few years and then they dropped it.


7milesout

7milesout

Now that certainly sounds like a plausible cause. This sounds helpful. Would you be willing to share the cost of the repair? I don't have this problem (yet) but I think the group here will be very interested.

On edit - the hesitation in this thread seems to be related to an engine oil change. I don't see a correlation.

Doublebase

Really? I'd be interested in hearing more about that...I've never heard of any issues with the tranny. Was it an expensive or involved repair?

Doublebase

I remember that steering system, it was the GMC Dennali pickup.

kylefoster

Any of you who continue to think after discussing this issue for more than 4 years that an oil change causes hesitation issues can keep trolling this thread for another 4 years...

For those of you who care...the parts for the transmission gasket repair that seems to have fixed the hesitation issue were $158 and the labor was $354. Park Place called it a Leaking Transmission Harness issue. They replaced Transmission Wire, part no. 82125-50060, Transmission Gasket, part no. 35168-50010.

Devh

So do you think that your remedy is the only solution for all those that have hesitation on acceleration?
Do you believe that hesitation on acceleration is always related to a transmission issue only?
Do you believe that those that change the engine oil and noticed hesitation on acceleration magically caused the transmission to malfunction.
I went back a few pages to see my thoughts in regard to the OPs problem and I clearly stated that it could be a transmission problem. There are many other posters for which hesitation on acceleration had many causes and remedies which were discussed on this thread and I don't see how that is trolling. Maybe it wasn't specific for one cause but it doesn't mean that our discussions are incorrect.

Doublebase

Glad you got your car fix, but I'm still shocked at what Lexus charges for repairs. I can buy that wiring harness online for $25 bucks and that gasket is only a transmission pan gasket that can be had for $30. I know exactly where that wire is, it hangs right in the fluid when you pull the pan off...you can't miss it. It has a O ring around the plug that screws into the valve body.

Thanks for posting...I might just replace mine next time I have the pan off.

7milesout

I did say I don't SEE a correlation. That doesn't mean there is not one. Just I don't see it. Most on here post that this hesitation directly follows an oil change. The cause you mentioned sounds real, I believe you. But how can the oil change affect the transmission? Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it might. I don't know. It could be that owner's who are more intimate with their vehicle just notice more right after they work on it. And then notice the hesitation more. I wouldn't know. Just speculation on my part because I haven't experienced this.