Fixing Up A Friend's Lexus?

[Rufo]

A friend I work with has a lexus es300 I believe a 93. The main issue is she is having an extremely sporadic first gear. It will just randomly pull, and lose power while in first gear but not in any other gears. This leads me to believe its the transmission, is it possible this could be fixed with a fluid change since one has never been performed on this 100k mile car? What else could cause this?

Also I hear the gauge needles going dead is a common problem, the cheapest solution would be getting some used needles from a junkyard? I mean it seems like a really bad safety issue if it takes you a minute to figure out what speed you're going because you cant find where the needle is. These needles have their own independent illumination from the other gauge lights? Simply painting the needles white would be the cheapest solution, I may do that if I can't find some at a junkyard.

Thanks a lot, I don't know much about lexuses but do know quite a bit about cars.

[jragosta]

A friend I work with has a lexus es300 I believe a 93. The main issue is she is having an extremely sporadic first gear. It will just randomly pull, and lose power while in first gear but not in any other gears. This leads me to believe its the transmission, is it possible this could be fixed with a fluid change since one has never been performed on this 100k mile car? What else could cause this?

Also I hear the gauge needles going dead is a common problem, the cheapest solution would be getting some used needles from a junkyard? I mean it seems like a really bad safety issue if it takes you a minute to figure out what speed you're going because you cant find where the needle is. These needles have their own independent illumination from the other gauge lights? Simply painting the needles white would be the cheapest solution, I may do that if I can't find some at a junkyard.

Thanks a lot, I don't know much about lexuses but do know quite a bit about cars.

I doubt if a fluid change alone will do it. If you're really, really lucky, you might do the trick by completely flushing the transmission AND CLEANING THE SCREEN.

You might see if your dealer will test drive it to give you their thoughts on what it needs. It's a long shot (they're more likely to say it needs to be disassembled and they won't know for sure until it's open), but maybe worth a try.

I don't know about the needles. Other people have commented here- so try searching the board for 'speedometer'.

[SKperformance]

Drop the pan and clean it before flushing the system

erfil with lucas tranny and amsoil

[Rufo]

So I would drain the system using the plug then drop the pan? How do you clean out the filter, just run some water through it?

[Rufo]

Pardon my lack of patience but I'm planning on doing this job on wednesday and picking up the stuff... today. I don't know what kind of fluid to use or how to clean the screen. Supposedly there's a washer I'm supposed to replace for the transmission fluid plug, I can only get that at a toyota dealer?

I'm also doing an oil change on it. The engine has 132k miles exactly, is it too late to go to synthetic? And should I use 5w30 or 10w30? Oil filter sounds like a stock one for symplicity.

I figure I'll pick up the transmission pan gasket, transmission fluid plug washer, and oil filter at a toyota dealer, and pick up some mobil 1 and atf at autozone or something.

It's a 93 es300

[KLF]

I assume I'm too late to help you, but I'll take a stab at this, given my experience with the auto tranny in my old Land Cruiser (still haven't taken delivery of my ES).

Pull the plug out of the pan, let it drain. There is a squash washer under the plug, you're supposed to replace it every time you re-install the plug, but it's not absolutely necessary.

Let it drain for awhile (longer is better), then unbolt the pan and pry it off. The filter is a removable screen, take it off, clean it by spraying it with brake cleaner (aerosol can). There's probably a magnet or two stuck to the bottom of the pan, clean these too. Wipe the bottom of the pan out, then put it all back together with new gaskets (one on the screen, one on the pan). Add the new fluid by pouring it down the dipstick tube.

If anything above is incorrect, I hope someone corrects me, as I'd like to know.

My opinion: Always buy parts from the dealer. This is especially important with Toyota/Lexus. No questions on them fitting, better quality, etc. And it's never too late to swap to synthetic fluids. Use what ever viscosity is printed in your Owner's Manual, or on the fill cap on top of the engine. All that BS about synthetic causing leaks is an urban legend.

[SKperformance]

take it to someon with a flush system a drain and fill is a waste to me especially if you are having troubles.

Using synthetic and having problems after is fine, if their are leaks being held together with a band aid of cruddy oil it will leak shortly as the gaskets will swell and seal again.