silvertn35

OK so I just had my transmission serviced at LEXUS OF NASHVILLE in Nashville TN 4 days ago. They recommended a flush. The transmission was perfectly fine when I purchased the car 6 days ago. I drove the car from Georgia to TN without any issues what so ever. I took it to LEXUS OF NASHVILLE and asked what their recommendation was on a transmission service and for them to give the overall car a look for any issues I should address. The car had 100, 500 miles on it when I took it to them. I waited at the dealership for them to perform their recommended transmission flush which took exactly 2 hours . I even spoke to a mechanic about it and he assured me it would be very beneficial and would not create any issues. So I've put 150 miles on the RX since the flush and when the trans is cold it feels to be slipping and doesn't shift when it should, the RPM's climb before the transmission actually shifts. If you give it a good amount of throttle it shifts pretty hard and at a stop when shifting from P or N to R or D it lurches pretty heavily. Keep in mind the transmission never did any of these things before I took it to be serviced. I called the dealership today and they say that I will have a hard time proving that it was not doing that before I brought the car to be serviced and after they check it out tomorrow they will let me know what the issue is. They already told me I will probably get stuck with the bill which I refuse to do. And I feel absolutely ridiculous because I did a lot of research before I took it in and had a feeling this would happen. They asked me to bring in any record I could of this happening to other RX300's. So I need you guys to help me find information. If your transmission has failed please list how,why and your location here. I am going to print out all of the information I get between now and tomorrow. I am going to hand the information I collect to the service manager myself. Thanks

salimshah

Just be careful what information you give. You could be digging a hole for yourself.

Although things can fail any time, there could be a hidden (to you) defect in the transmission.

Salim

silvertn35

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/lex...mments/page-3/

just found this, and salimshah what exactly do you mean?

maxSteel

My RX300 has always delayed upshifting when cold. Dealer told me it is on purpose, they keep the rpm's high until the engine is warm. Upshifting is normal after a couple of minutes.

99rx

iTrader: (6)

This has been discussed so many times before. All i can say is im sorry you didn't listen to all the other Rx owners and not do the transmission flush. All the dealers want to do is rape your wallet till it dies. They don't care about the well being of the car and owner. Sorry bout your bad luck.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

First of all, don't assume the worst. After about 40,000 miles, my RX300 started shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear more slowly and I thought there was a problem. The dealer said "they do that when they are cold". It didn't feel right to me but it's done this ever since and its still going strong. Let them take a look at it and give them a chance to check it out and fix anything that needs to be done. Try not to be agressive or defensive - it might be something small that may or may not have been there when you picked up the car. The seller could have warmed it up expecially for you so you wouldn't notice this!

EDIT: You might want to point out to them that most Lexus and Toyota dealers haven't been recommending transmission flushes for 2-3 years and ask them if they will do a courtesy drain and fill to get rid of anything the flush might have dislodged.

salimshah

Let me caution you that my reaction may be out of proportion. I would suggest first listen to what they say and then formulate your response.

Salim

silvertn35

What do you guys recommend I do as far as me maintaining the transmission. I already know Lexus is not going to do anything and the transmission only acts up when it's cold. I was thinking maybe in 10-15k miles switching to a synthetic fluid and replacing the filter

salimshah

I have 150K+ miles on FWD. When it is < 45 F the 3rd gear is locked out till the driven temp gauge moves above the C. Then the overdrive is locked out till the temp gauge moves to 1st mark. I have never tried to force shift the transmission out of what ever the auto is trying to do. This is "expected" behaviour and should not be termed as "acting-up".

The jerk/bump is sharply accentuated by idle rpm being too high. So keep an eye on that.

Salim

Nad1370

Didn't you just made this thread ?

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...n-failure.html


When the temperature of the ATF or engine coolant is low,
shifts will be performed based on the shift points for low fluid temperature.

Lexmex

For up to about 4 minutes (if you just sit there in P with the vehicle on), the tranny needs time to warm up or it won't get out of first. This is to protect the tranny, let the all fluids (not just tranny fluid) warm up, and there are also some emissions related reasons for this (another reason for the two precats on the exhaust piping).

Since I went to synthetic ATF 2 years ago, I notice this warm up period is more pronounced because the synthetic ATF stays cooler longer and as you may recall I ditched my windshield wiper fluid reservoir to enable the tranny cooler to perform even better.

Thing about flushes that I'd like to see Lexus do is also remove the filter and clean out the magnets, not just do a flush.

I only recommend a flush if the fluids is silvery and/or pinkish with what I like to call tranny sludge. I had this issue once 6 years ago and on a trip to Florida from Mexico I had a flush performed and the vehicle felt great. However, at that time my tranny still had the metal filter (I went to a paper filter later on).

During that warm up period it can be annoying, because I don't seem to be able to go above 30 mph and stay under 3000 rpms and find myself sometimes being the slowpoke in traffic.

When you have fresh fluid, it's obviously going to take a bit longer to warm up than older fluid.

Are you experiencing something else after the vehicle has warmed up?

lexus114

I bought My 330 @ a Volvo dealer,and more than likely thats where it will be serviced. Lexus service doesnt seem to be very owner friendly! As far as your situation goes,are you able to drop the pan,and clean the screen? or if a paper filter is on it,replace the filter? It`s not a hard job to do at all. plus you can see if their are chunks of debris on the bottom of the pan.(tell tale sign of future trans failure)

knocker

Here is a great article that probably pertains on what happened to you:
http://www.amsoil.com/lit/filter_man_council01.pdf
The screen is the culprit.

hypervish

Out of curiosity, did you go to the dealership? If so, what did they tell you?

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

Honda, apparently, specifically recommend AGAINST transmission flushes now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=der5-2S_P1Q

You might want to check with Lexus Corporate (don't mention your experience, just ask if transmission flushes are recommended) and keep their response in your back pocket in case you need it in the future.