2001 Rx-300 Awd Transmission Problem

[OpenTracRacer]

I put this in the endless transmission thread but I think it's starting to get ignored.

My wife reported problems with her 2001 RX-300 AWD to me yesterday. She said that the car wouldn't go in reverse yesterday morning and made some clunking sounds. After a few moments it clunked again and started work. It also continued to make some clunks while backing up. Later, it stalled at a stop light (which it's never done before). It did it again in the afternoon after sitting for a while. I tried it later last night and it was working fine but it's not going to be driven until I address this.

The car has about 90,000 miles. I recently (1,000 to 3,000 miles ago) drained the transmission fluid, replaced the filter with a Toyota original and refilled with Toyota ATF.

From what I've read, this sounds like the death knell for the transmission. It's been 100% trouble free until now. Anyone care to comment on what steps to take next?

Thanks!

[RX in NC]

You've apparently read the transmission threads, so you know that there isn't much new that any of us who've been through this can tell you. Failure may be imminent for you, or it may not be. AWD fails much more frequently than FWD in these transmissions. You've changed the fluid and if you replaced the filter, you also dropped the pan. What did you see? Did you do the work yourself or did you pay a shop to do this? If you paid a shop, did they show you the old fluid and were there any metal shavings in it, and are you positive that Toyota Type T-IV fluid was used and not some generic formula mixed up by Jiffy Lube? Have you actually checked your fluid level and condition with the dipstick? What is it showing? If your fluid level is very low, problems such as those you've described can occur....

I would take the vehicle, give my vehicle to my wife for the time being, and drive it myself over the next few days to see if conditions worsen. If they do, then you know that your transmission is about to die. Just make certain that you have AAA or another decent towing service on stand-by because you may need them. Oh, and I certainly wouldn't leave town with the vehicle, nor drive at high speeds on the freeway....

[lenore]

As RX in NC said you need to have the pan dropped and investigate for metal shavings ect. Also change or clean the transmission filter if it is the mesh style. There are things like the speed sensors which could be pulled and cleaned to see if they are a problem....these are the cheap and free tasks. this is one of the best posts for showing the transaxle plug which also should be drained on AWD. Please, do not have the transmission flushed.....Just a drain and fill with dropping the pan to see whats going on inside....A flush will certainly cause its death....especially if there are metal filings as they will fly through the valve body assembly and mess the pistons valves up....

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-g...ter-change.html

[OpenTracRacer]

Just got back in town. I tried the car again and of course, it's working perfectly. The fluid level seems fine but it's black. I'm going to take that as a bad sign since it was recently changed.

I'll work on dropping the pan this week.

[code58]

Just got back in town. I tried the car again and of course, it's working perfectly. The fluid level seems fine but it's black. I'm going to take that as a bad sign since it was recently changed.

I'll work on dropping the pan this week.

If you drained the pan and replaced that fluid to full once you put the pan back on (which you had to take off to change the filter), you changed less than half of the fluid. I am a firm believer in changing all of it at once but there are MANY here that are happy with the "fluid change" about 3 times. As Lenore asked, were there metal shavings in the pan when you had it off?

[OpenTracRacer]

Well well... time flies when you're having fun. It seems I was getting my service visits on this thing mixed up. The transmission drain/fill and filter change was done in May of 2007. That's 22,000 miles ago. Not that long, but way more than 2,000-3,000 miles!

The filter was clogged. That's a bad sign but also the likely source of the problem. It has a new filter, cleaned speed sensors and a fresh fill of Toyota ATF. The fluid is still more red than black but the only way around that is a flush and I'm not even going to try. I guess we'll see what happens.

Thanks for all the feedback!