Iluvlexus

Here we go again. Another transmission post Is my transmission on the ropes?

2001 RX300 with 137,500K. Had some transmission service done by first owner before 68K as it has a non-stock filter. Did a pan drop with filter change and 8 quart fluid exchange at 136,500K. Black fine powder on magnets, no other metal in pan. Refilled with Toyota T-IV and 6 oz Auto-Rx.

I bought the car at 135,500K. At the time the transmission fluid was brown. Level was OK and no burnt smell. Moving the shifter thru the gears showed firm shifts into D and R. It has a few quirks which are concerning. It has a tendency to slide from first to second. This slide is quick (< 1sec) and is most obvious on gentle acceleration. It seems less evident when cold and on hard acceleration. The shift from 2nd to 3rd is firm and smooth as is that from 3rd to O.D. The other quirk is that it wants to get into O.D. as quickly as it can (good for economy) but doesn't like to get out of it. It will allow the RPMs to get out of the power range and requires an aggressive pedal stomp to get it to downshift.

My plan is to do another pan drop, filter change and fluid exchange in the next few miles. I plan to use Amsoil synthetic for this. Anything else anyone can recommend. Should I be making preliminary arrangements for the inevitable transmission rebuild?

Thanks
Scott

Lexmex

I don't know if you have AWD or not, but if you do, be also sure to change out the transfer case and rear differential, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...sfer-case.html

As far as the fluid either Amsoil or the Redline D4 (I'm using Redline now and it seems a tad smoother, but I'll have to wait a bit more to bear that out).

Keep in mind also (and I have to constantly remind myself when I think there is a quirk), that the vehicle's computer adapts to the way you drive over time, but more so in the initial stages you are driving at after disconnecting the battery cables. To this day, I have still been trying to perfect this process either for speed (when I used to go to the track) or for mpg (more so now). Best thing after disconnecting the cable is to take it easy on the car as far as acceleration. Run a combination of 50% highway, 50% off-highway for about 30 minutes (that's what my latest examination seems to show) and make sure you get above 55 mph at least once. However, keep the acceleration slow and easy even getting on to the highway. You can also try this for 15 minutes, and I have gotten that to work, too, but I'm still trying to determine the factors as to why 30 minutes is sometimes necessary (I'm leaning toward outside temperature variations, i.e., hot/cold).

I've ironically found that this helped me both in mpg and on the track.

The only thing that gave me a boost on the track in the 1/4 mile in addition to above, was doing same process, but loading down my car with passengers (my cousins and their friends when I was in Mexico), but that won't do much for helping mpg.

Also make sure to see the thread at the top, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...out-yours.html about cleaning the MAF, IACV and PCV. If hear even a ping (and I've used premium for roughly 99% of my RX300's life) out of the engine, I check to see how clean those three things are, but particularly the MAF. That can cause some jerkiness and hesitation that may not be even associated with the transmission.