Transmission Problems/failures with RX300 awd/fwd

[monarch]

You say reliability is your number one priority, but don't say whether you bought your RX new or used or what type and frequency of preventive maintainance service the transmission received.

[SAM-RX]

I recently bought a used 99 RX300 first thing I did replace the tranmission fluid afetr readign what you all were experiencigg.

first thing I tried the drain, i unplugged the plug and let it drain it was ok but not alot of fluid so i took the whole trabsmission pan off(18 screws, easy to take out but pain in the neck and hands :s)

after taking the pan out the filter is right there, now I knew there is fluid in the filter and on top of it, but it was not dripping alot so i took off the filter and replaced it with a new filter I bought online last week.

Well!!! AFTER TAKING THE FILTER OUT THE WHOLE FLUID RUSHD OUT! It seemed that the filter was very dirty and great I did it right on time!

Now that I tired drain and complete filter replacement I think replacign the filter every say 15000 is the best thing to do and it is cheap if you buy it online, the whole procedures took me 2 hrs most of the tiem trying to take out the 18 screws.

Hope this helps...

[lenore]

I am so sorry for you tranny experience, join the ranks of unsatisfied RX300 owners with this failure. And yes Lexus will not stand behind their product, they continue to bury their head in the sand and ignore the customers. So with that have you filed a complaint with the NHTS board online? YOU will need the Vin # on the vehicle and write up a short paragraph of the failure and how you feel. The more entries added to this government agency will give LEXUS the bad rap they deserve on the RX300 and maybe someday they will get off the dime. By the way how much did your tranny job cost?

[TunedRX300]

I recently bought a used 99 RX300 first thing I did replace the tranmission fluid afetr readign what you all were experiencigg.

first thing I tried the drain, i unplugged the plug and let it drain it was ok but not alot of fluid so i took the whole trabsmission pan off(18 screws, easy to take out but pain in the neck and hands :s)

after taking the pan out the filter is right there, now I knew there is fluid in the filter and on top of it, but it was not dripping alot so i took off the filter and replaced it with a new filter I bought online last week.

Well!!! AFTER TAKING THE FILTER OUT THE WHOLE FLUID RUSHD OUT! It seemed that the filter was very dirty and great I did it right on time!

Now that I tired drain and complete filter replacement I think replacign the filter every say 15000 is the best thing to do and it is cheap if you buy it online, the whole procedures took me 2 hrs most of the tiem trying to take out the 18 screws.

Hope this helps...

Where did you buy the filter and what is the part number? Thanks

[monarch]

AFTER TAKING THE FILTER OUT THE WHOLE FLUID RUSHD OUT! It seemed that the filter was very dirty and great I did it right on

Some fluid would rush out even if you changed your brand new filter. That's normal and not proof the filter was clogged. If the filter was clogged there would be a fluid pressure drop that would cause a delay in gear engagement when you shift from Park to Reverse or Park to Drive. The filter element is made of metal so it never wears out. The element can be cleaned up using brake cleaner and reused. Toyota has been using metal element filters since the 1960's including some of its transmissions that have a reputation of lasting over 400,000 miles.

[tmastres]

I recently bought a used 99 RX300 first thing I did replace the tranmission fluid afetr readign what you all were experiencigg.

Hi there,

How many miles were there on the RX when you got it and do you know when/if the trans fluid had ever been changed? I agree that a regular change of the fluid is a good thing but I'd say every 15k is a bit excessive. I've been on this list for a while now and even with the many stories of trans failure no-one has been able link the failures with any one particular thing, proceedure or lack thereof. I distinctly remember one story of a failure shortly after the fluid was changed so go figure? I'm really hoping that one of these days someone can make a solid conection to whats causing this.

[lenore]

AFTER TAKING THE FILTER OUT THE WHOLE FLUID RUSHD OUT! It seemed that the filter was very dirty and great I did it right on

Some fluid would rush out even if you changed your brand new filter. That's normal and not proof the filter was clogged. If the filter was clogged there would be a fluid pressure drop that would cause a delay in gear engagement when you shift from Park to Reverse or Park to Drive. The filter element is made of metal so it never wears out. The element can be cleaned up using brake cleaner and reused. Toyota has been using metal element filters since the 1960's including some of its transmissions that have a reputation of lasting over 400,000 miles.

There is a replacement filter from Lexus that is not metal, and has a toyota # sorry Monarch you are not completely correct. My original filter was as you say, but the filters since have been the filter medium paper type filters.

I recently bought a used 99 RX300 first thing I did replace the tranmission fluid afetr readign what you all were experiencigg.

Hi there,

How many miles were there on the RX when you got it and do you know when/if the trans fluid had ever been changed? I agree that a regular change of the fluid is a good thing but I'd say every 15k is a bit excessive. I've been on this list for a while now and even with the many stories of trans failure no-one has been able link the failures with any one particular thing, proceedure or lack thereof. I distinctly remember one story of a failure shortly after the fluid was changed so go figure? I'm really hoping that one of these days someone can make a solid conection to whats causing this.

I agree, I wish A tranny shop or Lexus (ha , ha, ha don't bet on it) would tell us why they are failing prematurely. And dont listen to Monarch about proper service would have prevented this. Mine and many others were properly serviced and still failed. Quite frankly serviced more than most other transmission out there. Lexus is not willing to buckle or stand by their product. HAVE YOU FILED YOUR COMPLAINT WITH THE NHTS BOARD ON THE INTERNET TODAY????????????

[bluestu]

I guarantee that only a handful of car owners ever have their transmissions serviced. There's no way that a AWD transmission is going to make it to 100k without changing the fluid. I don't mean just draining three or four qts. and refilling either. That makes absolutely no sense at all knowing that the transaxle in an RX300 holds over 9qts. of fluid. I've always had mine flushed out every 15k using synthetic fluid. I have almost 100k on both of my RXs without any sign of transmission failure. I will agree that the RX300 transmission is probably more susceptable to failure simply because it is an AWD and is a fairly heavy car. All the more reason to have all the fluid changed more frequently. Common sense will take you a lot farther than ignorance.

[tealboy]

my 2002 rx300 awd has 41k miles and runs beatifully. i test drove a number of used RX's and the tranny's had noticeable delay's and were not as smooth as i expected from lexus. however, mine has proven to be very smooth, surprisingly so, based on my previous test drives. I am concerned about whether the tranny will last a long as i want it to (100k) based on what i have read. i rarely ever need the benefit of awd, but i wanted it. probably asking for trouble but then again, only a percentage of them fail. When i purchased this one, a decision making factor was past service, all of which was done by lexus with records to prove it. the tranny was also serviced at 29k miles, which some may say is not soon enough, but it fits lexus recommendation.

[tmastres]

Obviously there a lot of opinions on the subject and apparently more than one right answer. I've only changed my trans fluid once in 90k and (knock wood) mine runs fine. I just had my mech. do the the timing belt replacement and asked him about flushing the trans. he checked it out and reccommended I wait until a future service because it looks fine trans and fluid. 15k service intervals for ATF is a bit often IMHO, 30k maybe, but as I've saiud before its looking more and more like the fluid service and condition is not the culprit in these Lexus trans failures.

[rcheong]

You say reliability is your number one priority, but don't say whether you bought your RX new or used or what type and frequency of preventive maintainance service the transmission received.

My 1999 RX300 AWD was bought new, and serviced at the prescribed intervals at the dealership. Until now I wasn't taking note of specifically what type of transmission maintenance they were doing, but as an example, in January of this year, they flushed the transmission fluid (according to the service records I received).

[rcheong]

Ok Monarch, I kind of agree with you on the shift solenoids, When I dropped the Valve body assembly on my tranny, there was metal debris, which in turn could clogg the shift solenoid plungers. The real problem is gear or bearing failure caused by poor design which contaminates the rest of the tranny and causes a slow or rapid death. I agree wholeheartedly that the maintenance position is not the failure of these trannys but a poor design, whether it be computer controlled or hardware or both. Have you filed your complaint with the NHTS board today Lexus RX300 owners???? This is the new band wagon if you want LExus to stand behind their product. Because as far as they are concerned it is a dead product and not worth their bother to support you the customer unless you want to pay $4300 to $5400 to fix it yourself. Yea Ha......

I had to replace the shift solenoids as part of the transmission rebuild that was required on my 1999 RX300 AWD that was regularly maintained by the dealership since my original purchase (new).

[rcheong]

I am so sorry for you tranny experience, join the ranks of unsatisfied RX300 owners with this failure. And yes Lexus will not stand behind their product, they continue to bury their head in the sand and ignore the customers. So with that have you filed a complaint with the NHTS board online? YOU will need the Vin # on the vehicle and write up a short paragraph of the failure and how you feel. The more entries added to this government agency will give LEXUS the bad rap they deserve on the RX300 and maybe someday they will get off the dime. By the way how much did your tranny job cost?

The transmission rebuild was over $4,200.

[lenore]

So goes another happy dealership with $4200 in their pockets, and another satisfied customer. So the saga goes on and someday consumers organizations will recognize the rediculous failure rates for a Luxuary auto with a crappy tranny. HAVE YOU FILED YOUR COMPLAINT WITH THE NHTS BOARD ON THE INTERNET TODAY ABOUT THE RX300 TRANMISSION???????????????????????????????????????????

[lenore]

Probably a good idea to replace the solenoids as they may have been contaminated in the plunger bore with metal debris and scratched the surfaces which could make them hang up. I am so sorry to hear that you have joined the ranks of tranny failure customers.

[monarch]

My 1999 RX300 AWD was bought new, and serviced at the prescribed intervals at the dealership. Until now I wasn't taking note of specifically what type of transmission maintenance they were doing, but as an example, in January of this year, they flushed the transmission fluid (according to the service records I received).

In January your RX's odometer had somewhere between 70,000 - 75,000 miles. If your RX didn't have it's first transmission oil change until 70,000 miles then the fluid could have deteriorated back around 30,000 miles meaning that for the past 40,000-45,000 miles you were driving around on deteriorated fluid. No transmission in the world can survive very long if it is lubricated by deteriorated fluid.

If you want to convince everyone here the transmission has a design defect - in other words convince everyone the transmission would have failed even if you had changed the fluid every 15,000 or 30,000 miles - then please provide the proof the fluid was changed back around 15-30,000 miles. One way you can get the proof for free is to give your Lexus dealer your Vehicle ID number and request a printout of your RX's service history. Then post a photo here of the service receipt that shows transmission fluid was changed every 15,000 - 30,000 miles and if it was just a partial or complete fluid change (the receipt would show the number of quarts of new fluid you paid for)

With regard to your new transmission, how do you plan to care for it? The same failure could happen all over again if you don't change at least part of the fluid every 15-30,000 miles, personally verify the shop uses only Toyota Type T-IV fluid and personally verify the transmission fluid level is correct after the shop changes the fluid.

I agree with Bluestu when he wrote: "It's not a design flaw, but a service flaw. Just because it says Lexus, made by Toyota, doesn't mean it is maintenance free. Most transmissions will fail if you don't replace all the fluid on a regular basis."

An additional problem is that many owners fail to realize the service intervals prescribed in the Scheduled Maintenance Guide of ALL carmakers are merely the minimum frequency intervals required to keep the 70,000 mile powertrain warranty in effect. But for optimum mechanical component life, more frequent service intervals are necessary.

[tmhtmh]

My 1999 RX300 AWD was bought new, and serviced at the prescribed intervals at the dealership. Until now I wasn't taking note of specifically what type of transmission maintenance they were doing, but as an example, in January of this year, they flushed the transmission fluid (according to the service records I received).

An additional problem is that many owners fail to realize the service intervals prescribed in the Scheduled Maintenance Guide of ALL carmakers are merely the minimum frequency intervals required to keep the 70,000 mile powertrain warranty in effect. But for optimum mechanical component life, more frequent service intervals are necessary.

Good grief!!!!!! Monarch, even you had to chuckle when you posted THIS little bit of wisdom! This sounds like the 1970s U.S. made cars "designed NOT to last!"

Please let us know the page in the owner's manual of our $40,000 vehicle where you saw that service information. I must have missed it. I DID NOT miss where it said the Tranny fluid doesn't need to be changed at all under normal conditions!

Again, for those that don't know, Monarch is a shill for Toyota/Lexus and his posts ALWAYS blame the owner for the design flaw we ALL (including Monarch) know exists in this vehicle's tranny design. Oh, and btw, MANY tranny failures in the RX300 were to vehicles with tranny fluid changed at 30k intervals - that's why Monarch now says "15k", which, as we ALL KNOW is totally unheard of for a tranny fluid change interval!

[lenore]

Yes I agree, and Bluestu is incorrect also, there is diffinetly as design weakness, and if Lexus knew this and did not prescribe 15k tranny fluid changes then they should be held liable. I would surely have liked to know that I would have to service the tranny at 15k intervals when I bought my Lexus in November of 1998. That might have made me think twice. But the book indeed does not require that. I will get the book out of my wifes car tonight and give the exact requirements. HAVE YOU FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE NHTS BOARD ON THE INTERNET TODAY?????????????

[jgr7]

Could it be that this is a material defect that is only showing up on a small number of RXs? They could have got a bad batch of friction plates or bad pressure switches, or something. It would be nice if someone could put there finger on just what is the common thing on the failures.

Jeff

[lenore]

Maybe we could contact some transmissions shops and find out if they have gone through the RX300 AWD and see what they can input, would be nice to know whom LExus uses for the rebuilds, since they do not repair them. I know my tranny had a catostrophic failure with lots of metal debris, but I was crusing on vacation to UTAH (Salt Lake City) and had been driving about 75 mph. The tranny fluid had just been changed with no indication of debris before the trip, by the way it was the third tranny fluid change in 90k miles. HAVE YOU CONTACTED YOUR NHTS BOARD TODAY TO COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR EARLY FAILURE?????

[bluestu]

Obviously, the RX300 transmission runs hotter than normal and is pulling a lot of weight for a 220hp vehicle. I've seen posts from other owners stating that their fluid appeared dark and burnt smelling. That indicates to me that the fluid had lost viscosity and should have been changed at an earlier time. The synthetic fluid that is used is supposed to withstand higher temps. and longer durations. Why does Toyota use an additive with their drain and fill service? They told me that it helps revitalize the fluid that is trapped in the torque converter and doesn't get drained out. Sacramento is very hot region. Maybe the higher than average temps. helped contribute to your premature transmission failure?

[tmhtmh]

Why does Toyota use an additive with their drain and fill service? They told me that it helps revitalize the fluid that is trapped in the torque converter and doesn't get drained out.

You know, I recently had my fluid flushed at toyota and they mentioned the additive but I didn't inquire any further. What is it? Is it used as a "flush assist" or is it added after the flush and stays in the fluid? How long have they done this? Is it used on all flushes or just for certain vehicles?

I was planning on using Auto-RX in my tranny soon, but I wonder if Toyota added something that is supposed to function in a similar fashion.

[lenore]

I will call toyota today and find out about the additive, I have heard nothing about this before, Do they sell it over the counter at the Toyota dealerships? Some one on the site uses Amsoil tranny fluid, But I cant remember who. My last addition on the car is going to be a cooling fan on the aux tranny cooler. I have already added the extra transmission filter (screw on type) and it has caused no changes in the car other than I know the fluid is being filtered properly. It also adds about a quart of fluid to the system. The filter is about the size of a PH8 filter.

[RX in NC]

My wife's 2000 RX300 AWD vehicle's transmission failure under warranty at about 48,000 miles is well-documented here on this site, and I've also heard nothing from Toyota/Lexus about any additive to go along with using Type T-IV fluid. Assuming that it doesn't void your warranty (for those of you who are still under warranty), it may be worth trying although I remain quite skeptical that it would make much difference. I continue to believe that there are design flaws and/or material quality flaws inside these transmissions. Climate may or may not be an issue, and stop-and-go driving may or may not be an issue in accelerating these flaws and failures. It gets pretty hot here in central North Carolina during the summer months, but my wife does a lot of steady highway driving and is one of the most conservative drivers you'll ever meet. I would guess that her transmission has been as babied as any other RX300 driver you could find. And YES, monarch, our transmission fluid has been drained-and-filled every 30,000 miles since the vehicle rolled off the assembly line, using the proper quantity of T-IV fluid each time (just under 5 quarts).

I will say that our rebuilt transmission has performed adequately since it was installed at 48,000 miles (the vehicle is now approaching 110,000 miles). I've continued to change the fluid every 30,000 miles, and the condition of the fluid being drained has remained fairly clean with minimal metallic debris on the tip of the front differential drain plug. But neither of our two transmissions has ever shifted as smoothly as a vehicle that originally stickered for close to $40,000 should. The current transmission shifts better than the original one did, but my 1999 Dodge Ram pick-up (about 43,500 miles), still with its original factory fill of Chrysler ATF+3 fluid looking, smelling, and tasting absolutely pristine, shifts far smoother than the RX does or ever did. Sad, but oh so very true....

Lenore, please keep us posted on what you find out about the T-IV additive from Toyota. At nearly 110,000 miles I have very little to lose by giving it a try. My goal is to keep this albatross running for another 20,000 to 30,000 miles before I'm finally willing to cave into my wife's pressure to swallow the depreciation and break out the checkbook so she can get her next vehicle and I can get some peace and quiet around here....

[lenore]

Well called two Toyota dealerships, they both use an additive to the Type IV called Granitize conditioner. Went on the web, it says it improves fluid oxidation and stability extending fluid life. Both dealerships only had it in bulk, but the Granitize site shows smaller consummer containers. So what gives, why is Toyota, at least two dealers in my area useing this product when changing Type IV????? The product is AD-31 transmission conditioner made by Granitize.