Vols4life

Hello All! Having what appears to be a transmission issue with my 08 460. I have done a lot of forum research the past few days and I really couldn't find a whole lot of information on transmission problems, mostly brake actuator and control arm issues. Anyway, I bought the car about a year ago from the original owner (92 year old guy). The car had 150k miles on it as he drove back and forth to Destin FL from Chattanooga TN on a monthly basis. PERFECT 100% dealer serviced on time everytime. Checked the lexus drivers service history and he never missed a service. Anyway I took a new job recently and have been having to drive in very slow traffic after work, a lot of stop and go. My transmission doesn't seem to like it at. Feels very jerky and sometimes will rev slightly between 2nd and 3rd gear before sliding into the gear. Also having some clunky downshifts when coming to a stop. My question is, should I do the transmission fluid exchange at the dealer? It has 165k miles on it now and according to the service the fluid hasn't ever been changed. The car had been driven on the highway pretty much its whole life up to 150k so that's my reasoning why I'm thinking about doing a fluid exchange with the high-ish miles, or is this just semi normal behavior for the Aisin 8 speed? I haven't had any issues up until the last month of driving in very heavy slow traffic. Do you guys think the fluid exchange would help or make things worse?

DrMikeinPD

I'd have the fluid changed if it were my car, but I'm basing this on experience with my 2006 Sienna 5-speed. I can tell when the Sienna needs new ATF, because it gets more clunky and slow to engage the next gear. This happens after 60,000 miles like clockwork. I've had to change fluid at 60K, 120K and 180K. Each time, the transmission operates like new again. The fluid doesn't get very dark, so I'm assuming there is some viscosity breakdown going on.

Hopefully one of our LS460 owners can provide info that fits your situation more closely.

It sure irritates me that our cars don't have transmission dipsticks any more. Last week I paid a mechanic to check my ATF level after I found a small amount of ATF on the garage floor. He said the level was good, fortunately. Not sure why some fluid was lost for a short time - there has been no further leakage. One good thing was that the dripped fluid looked very clean, as the previous owner had the ATF changed at around 75K and the car is up to 103K now.

JLAWS

I was going to say that you just drive a little more aggressive than the previous owner but you've had it for a year and the computer should have figured out how you drive by now. Go to a Lexus or Toyota dealer and get a 3 qt transmission fluid flush and filter change. I believe it is around $300 to do. They also check your fluid levels during the process after refill. Things you can immediate do is to check your air filters and make sure your intake throttle body is clean.

ALK

Yep maybe resetting TCM using Techstream. I did it and it helped me . The relearning procedure is attached.

JPauwels

The slight rev between 2nd and 3rd gear is normal if it's only happening on the first acceleration after a cold start. There's another thread on this issue and it's a very common thing with this transmission. I was worried about that when I first got my car too, but was happy to hear of a lot of others having the same experience.

Clunky downshifts and jerky acceleration are not normal though, so I concur with the other suggestions already mentioned in this thread. A fluid drain and refill may help, but I'd recommend not doing a flush. I've heard horror stories of flushes causing major problems with these transmissions and the Lexus dealer will probably not recommend a flush either.

Vols4life

Thanks everyone, I'm actually headed to the dealer tomorrow morning for an unrelated braking issue. Ill have them do that 3 quart flush and filter and see if that helps while the car is there anyway. I'll see if they can reset the TCM while its there too.

Vols4life

It's been doing the 2nd to 3rd when cold since I have had the car. This clunkyness and overall just strange behavior is a recent development.

Vols4life

Is this a complete system flush? If I ask them to do this I hope they know what I mean haha

ALK

By flush means drain the fluid on its own . Then refilling it .

rick3242

If you do a transmission fluid change I would recommend that you do not flush it, instead do a drain and fill. Flushes seem to introduce a whole other list of problems.

JLAWS

I meant transmission pan "drain" and fill of course.

DavidinCT

Thanks for this. I had a drip and drain done and I had the software updated in my car.. It's not as smooth as before. I am betting this will help out. I figured pulling the battery would reset this but, it clearly says in that doc that it will not.

Crossing fingers on this one but, It's never been reset, even from the past owner...

Maybe I'll try this tonight...

ALK

Yep , I think they made this learning procedure to ensure all gears go smoothly.

Vols4life

Got the car back today. Brakes are fixed finally, original actuator still hanging on! Transmission is shifting much better. They did a drain and fill and reset the TCM while it was there. Seems to have fixed my issues!

DavidinCT

Riddle me this... I have version 12.X.X.X, I tried it tonight but, I cant find the setting for the reset. What version are they talking about i the document that you have ?

I went to Powertrain tab, and selected ECT and it just shows the live settings...

Any idea, I would really like to try this reset if it will work...

Edit:
So I rolled back from version 12..X.X.X and re-installed 9.10.037. After connecting, I saw the option for Reset Memory... This must be a older dock

So I tried, hitting the start button once... It just kind of an on state with no extras on, also tried hitting the start button 2X, this is putting the accessories on (assuming accessory mode), and ALSO with the car running...

No matter what I try. when I try to run "Reset Memory" I get the following error...

"Reset Memory has failed. Reset Memory is not available for this vehicle"

As I had my ECU updated, could it be I am on a too old version, or is it a possible problem with my cable(I've had this cable for years, it has worked fine on my 3 last LS models) ?

I REALLY want to try this, do I need to visit a dealer or but, is there another way to run this? What type of cable and version of software where people running to be able to do this ?

ANY idea ?