Lexus RX300 1999 3L AWD automatic 4 gears

What happened:
I was driving down the highway in normal traffic. Normally in 4-speed 2000 rpm - 80km/h, 3000 rpm - 100km/h. RPMs started to go up, then the box shifts to 3 or 2. The oil temperature gauge in the box lit up. Stopped, and checked the level (a little smoke came from the hole), and there was little oil. Stopped, cooled down, drove 5 km to the gas station, and filled the oil. Drove 20 km to the mechanic. Lifted and saw that the iron that goes from the transfer case to the box was screwed on badly, was not installed Security plug and it came off. Poured out the fluid from the transfer case, there was little oil in the box - poured another 2 liters. Put it back in. The car goes but...

What a problem:
- In any gear except P goes forward. P works as it should. D, 2, L too. N goes forward (1 gear). R sometimes works like neutral, sometimes goes forward.
- There is a kick when shifting from second to third gear. If you accelerate and release the gas pedal, it shifts by itself without problems.
- N with the engine on goes forward. With the engine off the car can be pulled, but you have to put in more effort than usual

I've been looking around the forums searching for people with my same issue and have found some related but it seems people just disappear and never state whether it was fixed or how they fixed the issue. I'm hoping it's something that I'm just missing that than can be fixed without having to tear this transmission apart or having to replace it
Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated

 

Hello,

To me it sounds like something in the shifter linkage came loose, causing it to not go into gear properly. To see if that's the case, go under the Hood and unscrew the Shifter Cable, it should be pretty easy to track. Then clock All the wheels and pull the Parking Brake as far as it will go, next start up the Engine and try moving the Shifter Linkage under the hood, see if the gears will engage properly.

With that, considering the distance driven with little fluid in the Transmission, it may end up being a little too late to salvage it unfortunately. Try it and see what happens at least..

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Please rewrite your post. You can see things and the readers have to guess which fluid level you checked? What is the screwed up iron.

Does the cluster show the gear position your shifter is in? If yes the cable issue is unlikely.

Does the engine idle and respond to gas pedal [in Park]?

Since you visited a mechanic, what was his diagnosis?

Just reading the "what a problem" para, I would suggest visit a transmission shop.

Salim

 

Visited a mechanic

I don't know what this part is called, it connects the transfer case to the transmission. The wrong connection caused fluid to leak out of the transmission


Yeah, it's not a cable problem

Yes

Mechanic's verdict: Friction package disks stuck together, need transmission repair.

 

I think the next stop would be a transmission shop or a mechanic who can swap out transmissions. .. that is if you think the RX is worth getting repaired. The lowest number I have seen is 2.5k and all the way up to 6K [again folks laugh at me when I say 25c for cup of coffee .. stale info in the times of rapidly increasing costs]

Salim

 

Thank you for your suggestions, Salim. I'm from Costa Rica. Here labor will cost about $900 + $400 in parts. I love this car, I'm gonna fix it.

And sorry if anything is wrong in the text, this is my first post on this forum.

 

Hi Dr Quack,

Welcome to Club Lexus!

I hope for your success.

 

Welcome to Club Lexus and my critique was only to get proper information exchanged and I want to assure you that we are here to help or try to help. There is tremendous power in group sourcing. If you look back at many of my posts, they often miss critical information and the almighty spell checker minces the words too. My suggestion is to just write away and let the others comeback and ask for more information.

$400 in parts seems like some one is going to open up the trans and fix it and put it back. Please investigate into more stronger planet gear [there are more than one] and have them installed as well. I hope you have access to competent transmission repair shop. Here in mainland owners typically do a swap with refurbished or imported low milage working transmission. Please read the posts and there are plenty to read from.

My colleague at last place of work was from Costa Rico and he had pictures of jungle in his office. Hope to visit one of these days.

Salim