I'm a newbie 2002 RX300 owner. Actually I bought it last September from a Lexus dealer in Denver. It had 82,500 on it and had just been serviced. I now have 89,000 on it.

The car had all services done by the previous owner at the dealer.

After driving it about for 5 weeks the tranny went out and I had it towed to the dealer. To their credit, they replaced it at no cost even though I had declined their extended warrentee when I bought it. (It would have been about 4 grand). It was Kuni Lexus, if anybody cares.

Question :

Is there anything I need to do to prevent this new tranny from failing prematurely? Use a different fluid? Use an additive? Use specific driving habits?

I plan on doing a flush on it every 15,000 (even though the manual says I can go something like 100K )

Thanks for this forum. It has lots of great info!

 

I would do a drain/fill every 15k using the Toyota Type IV fluid. Or,your better choice would be to go to the Amsoil,or Mobil-1 atf. And do a drain/fill maybe every 30k. Keeping an eye on the fluid condition. Oh,and don`t ever drive the RX like you stole it!! Unless you have a nice savings account. Heck, I dont even listen to my own advice,I drive her hard. And she loves every minute of it. But Never!,Ever! Abuse her when she is cold. That my friend, will cost you big time!

 

@lexus114: Yea, living in Denver I've gotten used to letting any vehicle I've had warm up. I don't necessarily let it sit idling more than a minute or two. But I take it nice and easy the first few miles - especially when cold weather hits.

I used to drive my vehicles pretty hard, but I'm an old fart now and have slowed down a lot. I save the hot shot stuff for some occasional fun on my Gold Wing or dirt bike.

I'll keep those tranny fluid recommendations in mind and decide what to do at the next 15K mark.

Thanks for the advice!

 

Having lived in Mexico City for 6 years and it was even higher than Denver in altitude, at least 7,000 feet, 8,000 feet where I lived, I would have gladly used a synthetic ATF had it been available (I now use Amsoil ATF). 15K would be the max on a drain and fill with the RX with the Toyota Type-IV fluid. I like to do a series of 3 drain and fills over the course of 3 weeks. On the last drain and fill, I'd change out the transmission filter (see the excellent DIY transmission fluid thread by TunedRX300 at the top of this forum).

One thing that I do is leave the transmission fluid dipstick stick a bit open at the top to let out heat (I do it for the oil dipstick, too). I used to do this in Mexico City, too.

Only driving habit I would really mention (and lexus114 said it) is to take it easy when you first start up the RX and wait until it is warmed up (you'll notice the vehicle won't fight you to get up into the next gear). Can take as much as 4 minutes in idle (as when I went to the 1/4 mile track), though usually about 1 to 2 minutes normal driving depending upon how cold it is.

 

It's nice to see Lexus stepping up to the plate and taking some responsibility for these failing transmissions. The good news for you is your rebuilt trans most likely has updated parts, making future failure less likely. My trans was rebuilt using upgraded parts and I can definetly tell that the fluid stays cleaner then it did since it was new. As long as it continues to stay clean, I bet the original Lexus claim of "lifetime fluid" may hold true. However there is one difference since Lexus made that claim. Your trans originally had a stainless steel mesh type filter which is no longer available. Your rebuild most likely has a paper filter. Rather than try and pick a maintenance schedule now, I would just closely monitor the condition of the fluid. As long as it stays clean (and it should), just do a drain and fill every 30K along with dropping the pan and putting a new filter in. Toyota typeT-IV trans fluid is most likely what the dealer used and I would continue with that. Here is a link to pics showing the suspect bad trans parts:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx3...failure-3.html

 

That's good to hear.
How did you know yours had updated parts? Is there some indicator on the tranny itself?

The Tech Adviser who handled my case said specifically when I asked him that they use "only new transmissions, not rebuilt". I'm not sure I believe that.

Not sure whether Lexus stepped up or if the dealer ate the cost. Kuni has an excellent reputation here in Denver - at least as much as I've heard. Like any Lexus dealer though, they're expensive, so I'll be doing as much of the maintenance myself as I can. I'm really glad I found this site.

@Lexmex: Thanks for the advice on how to do the fluid change. I'll bookmark TunedRX300's transmission fluid thread and read it when the time arrives.

@anybody:
Oh, I meant to ask earlier: Does your tranny seem noisy? Mine (the new one) seems to have sort of a whine to it. It seems to operate and shift just fine, but the I am a little concerned about the noise. I never did ask the dealer about it.

Thanks again for all the help and great advice.

 

Its rebuilt, remanufactured, whatever they want to call new. By the way a whine is not normal. Take it back and ask them to drive and listen. If there is another RX there try it and see if it whines.

 

Mine whines from first to second gear,But it always has.

 

Mine always has whined/whirled too, and always from first to second. I just chalked it up to being what they all do.

 

Thought I'd share my Acura transmission story.

Most of you may know about the glass transmissions that Honda produced earlier this decade. The V6 Accords, TLs, RLs, MDXs all had premature failure due to overheating (second gear). Well, my wife's 02 MDX tranny schit the bed last year.

Acura took it in and came back to me with a very considerate resolution considering we bought the truck used with 70k miles on it. I always had it serviced at the dealer because I knew the possibility of blowing a tranny was high. $1000 for a Honda rebuilt transmission (25% of the cost, Acura picked up the remaining 75% of the cost). The best part is the 3 year/36k warranty that was included for free. I had the truck back in two days.

I salute Lexus (and even Honda) for backing up their vehicles when there are issues with the design.

My suggestion is to have them do the flushes during the intervals you select. This way, there is a history at the dealer in the event of premature failure on the reman tranny. You'll have more negotiating power for a replacement.

 

Quote: "I salute Lexus (and even Honda) for backing up their vehicles when there are issues with the design."

Lexus/Toyota backing their vehicles,when their are issues??... Thats news to me my friend.

 

I think he meant: for backing up over the owners...

 

Oh yeah,thats what he meant.

 

BAHAHAHA. I guess I took this individual story as the norm.

LESSON LEARNED: Don't buy an RX.

 

funny you mention the Honda and MDX, I used them as a basis for my transmission when dealing with LEXUS, They dont care what Honda/Accura does. I remember the campaign for the Accura, at least they stand behind their product....The folks at my wifes work were shocked when I had to pay $4300 for the tranny, when they(Accura) owners got theirs fixed for free....