jimkca

Help. My transission on my 2002 RX300 was making a whinning noise for about 2 weeks that seemed to be getting worse. Then suddenly the car slipped back & forth between gears & lost power. I was able to get the car back home. At home I changed the fluid and filter. I was able to exchange a full 7 quarts (pan, transfer case, cooler lines). The filter seemed to be all clogged up with fine carbon like sludge. There was also a fair amount of sludge in the pan with a few small metal chips. I cleaned everything out. Today I drove 60 miles to Lexus dealer for a transmission exam & possible replacement. Suprisingly no problems during the drive & the funny whinning sound was gone. The dealer was not able to replicate or detect any transmission shifting problems.

Question: Should I have transmission replaced (cost: $4200) or should I continue frequent transmission service and just wait for more significant gear slipping? Any chance with frequent service I can get another year or two out of the transmission?

Sorry, I know this topic has been addressed in the past, but I was not able to find a similiar situation.

carguy07

No idea how long it will last, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Keep driving and do a few drain and fills to get it cleaned out good. I would consider changing the filter again after you put some more miles on it (or just wait and see if the symptoms come back and do it then).

kalali

^^^^^ Sound advice. You dodged a bullet but never ever let the transmission fluid get that dirty again. I've been replacing the transmission fluid every 10K miles without exception in our '03 for the past 120K miles. It costs < $25 and takes < 20 minutes. Its a no brainer.

jimkca

Thank you both for your sage advice!! Plan to drain & fill fluid in a month if car holds up. When would you suggest replacing filter again? They are relatively cheap ($23) & wouldn't mind just dropping the pan again in a month & changing out..

AnthonyMtz

I had a terrible shift and clunk in my 02 Rx and I changed the fluid and filter added a bottle of lucus stop slip, drove about 2k miles drained it (was still dirty) drove 2k more miles drained again changed filter (had a black tint to fluid) filled it and added another bottle of lucus stop slip, the after about 3-4k miles I did it again and had another bottle of lucus and now to this day I have zero issues and it shifts very smooth, I'm planning on doing it again, it's been 6k on this fluid, I scored the fluid from advanced auto parts for 4$ a quart so my transmission is pretty health, now the reason I use Lucas alot is because it help with worn bands, helps renew old fluid, and has outstanding friction and wear protection and can help return a harsh and hard shifting transmission to buttery smooth shifting

jimkca

Thanks for sharing your experience. I was considering using Lucus but wasn't sure what kind of experience others were having with their RX transmissions. I will try it and report back.

imorandin

Hi @Banshee365 . Did you solve your problem for good? I'm having the same issue with my Volvo 960 that has the same transmission. What do you recommend me doing? thanks.

salimshah

Welcome to ClubLexus.

You referred member Banshee365 but that member has no posts in this thread. Was that your intention or just a mistake/error. Let me know how I or other mods can help move your post. You have the edit capability and can always repost in another thread.

Salim