acerx300

Hey folks, I have a question. When I first start my '02 Rx w/54k miles and it's cold, I notice that as I put it in drive and then proceed to drive, it will change gears just fine as I speed up. BUT, as I slow down, it will almost always slightly clunk, jerk, bang or (however you want to call it) into 1st gear from 2nd @10-15 mph. Please tell me that this is normal and that I'm worring too much.


This issue always goes away once the vehicle is warm @15 min. or so.


I hope you guys can chime in on this as I have tried to search for this specific issue with no luck.

Carver

My '01 with 53K doesn't do that at all. Does that CA stand for California or Canada?

Lexmex

Unfortunately, this is normal. This is partially related to emissions and also to help the fluids warm up. I generally need 4 minutes to get the vehicle warmed up at the track from a cold start, but that is in park not while driving.

Slywun

Ditto here. Typically let it warm up before driving, which seems to remedy the issue. I have the AWD not sure if the 2WD has the same issue.

parula

I've never noticed any such thing on my FWDs, always very smooth shifting at any temp. or stage of warmup.

Carver

Must be an AWD peculiarity.

acerx300

California buddy, notably Los Angeles, where we're freezing our asses off @ 60F

Anyways, mine does this only when the engines cold and the jolts are ever so slight but still noticeable.

BTW guys, mine is FWD.

Thanks for the info and reassurance.

parula

Please tell me there aren't tranns. issues with the FWDs !

Lexmex

When I start up my RX in the morning and get it out on the road, and then slow down after speeding up it will downshift more abruptly than when the vehicle is fully warmed up. Now, I have AWD and sometimes in this process I get a clunk or two. This has been going on ever since I got my vehicle used almost 5 years ago and despite countless fluid changes.

Lexusprime

So far, mine has no problems at 69K. One peculiar thing tho,when I wait for my wife in the supermarket for about 30 min or more at Park position, I hear rumbling (for about 4 sec) in the tranny but I guess it is normal coz it doesnt affect any shifting on the track. Maybe it mixes the fluid inside automatically when it gets hot. But overall, no tranny performance issues. Mine's FWD too.

rau39

I have a 2001 RX300. Hesitated when shifted to reverse. Took it to dealer, was told the filter was blocked and although they've seen worse at 90000 miles, they had to tell me they saw metal shavings. Should I be thinking of getting rid of the car or take a chance that it will go for a while

Lexmex

What kind of metal shavings?

Were they chunks or small threads stuck to the magnets.

Was the color of the fluid silvery/pinkish or just plain dark?

Fern

Hey Rau39,
I notice this is your first post.

If your vehicle is a 2001 model, how could you feel the trani issue alone is enough to replace the vehicle.

I have a 1999 and can say that my trani after a professional overhaul shifts and performs better than it did when I purchased it at 70,000 km.

Trani's can be overhauled and when done properly can last at least as long as when they came out of the factory, new...

The trani in the rx whether the u140e in the fwd or the u140f in highlander, rav4 and rx300 awd are well built and designed to last the long haul when properly serviced.

What I find concerning is the variations of service requirements for similar vehicles ie: some manuals will say lifetime fluid and others (like mine) say drain and fill every 30,000km...

Any thoughts? Production changes, filter media differences in the trani pan?