Lex3486 Posted January 16, 2004 Posted January 16, 2004 Well, tonight my transmission died I'm pretty sure. It appears to be stuck in one gear, or to have major clutch issues; actually, it's probably both. I just fixed the head gaskets; I can't believe now I'm gonna have to put more time and money into this thing. Once I fix it this time, I'm seriously thinkin it's outta here, b/c I can't afford this stuff in the sense of time or money. Think I'll try my luck on a earlier model burgandy SC300 with a 5 speed B)
SW03ES Posted January 16, 2004 Posted January 16, 2004 What kind of maintenance has been done, and how do you drive the car (hard etc)?
SKperformance Posted January 16, 2004 Posted January 16, 2004 dman you should have fixed the damn tranny while the engine was out as it makes it much easier to acess rather than using an engine /motor support just to have to put the car on a hoist to drop the sub frame to get the tranny out from the bottom
Lex3486 Posted January 16, 2004 Author Posted January 16, 2004 Well, I don't think I'd neccesarily call my driving "hard" but you wouldn't call it "grandpa" either...actually lately being that I've just rebuilt the engine and the tranny's been actin strange, I've gone really really easy on it. But most of the time, I guess a good word to describe my driving would be..."enthusiastic" But with proper maintenance, which I strive hard to keep up with, I shouldn't be having problems like I have had with this car at 130k miles...my 92 had close to 150k miles and to the very day I totalled it, it was an awesome car. Sure it had some wear and tear on it; tranny wasn't silky smooth and we had to do valve cover gaskets, but it was NOWHERE near as bad as this car has been. Oh well, I guess that's just the joys (or annoyances) of owning older cars; sometimes they need some special attention. And to sk, I didn't pull the motor when I did the head gaskets, but I forsee a motor pullin in the near future I don't think me and my pops are gonna take this one on ourselves though; I think we're gonna give in and let someone else take this one, b/c neither of us have a CLUE about automatic transmissions.
Lex3486 Posted January 17, 2004 Author Posted January 17, 2004 Bought the car in May of '03, approx. 125k miles. Now has 132800. Have done all regular maintenance (i.e. oil change every 3k, air filter change, valve cover gaskets, new spark plugs, new radiator, supposed to have new timing belt...looked pretty good when we removed it while workin on the head gaskets, replaced transmission filter the last time it froze up like this, probalby less than 500 miles back, new transmission fluid) I don't have a clue as to why it's actin up so bad; it's not as if the car has been abused and neglected. Maybe it's just a lemon...? <_<
adam1991 Posted January 17, 2004 Posted January 17, 2004 I got my 94 as a Christmas gift, with 125K on the clock. The transmission must have been well on its way out (nobody knew) because with the first really cold snap two weeks later, there it went. Aamco rebuilt it for $2350, and that included EVERYTHING--torque converter, valve assembly, everything. It's really brand new, and it drives like it, too. Now that the tranny is new, I see how strong the motor is and I think it's ready to go.
Lex3486 Posted January 18, 2004 Author Posted January 18, 2004 Yeah, well we're not about to spend 2k on this car. I'm hopin I can find some po-dunk hole in the wall transmission shop around here that will rebuild it for cheap, and possibly me and my dad will remove it and "deliver" it ourselves, b/c if we don't, then thats another hundred or more to have it towed to a shop. Last night, the Land Cruiser broke a fan belt and started overheating <_< We're just not havin much luck with cars lately; at least the 96 ES is still goin strong ;) (knock on wood)
JPI Posted January 18, 2004 Posted January 18, 2004 2k something for a rebuilt tranny? That is some crazy price. I can get the tranny rebuilt for $800. www.jpimportz.org
monarch Posted January 18, 2004 Posted January 18, 2004 Well, tonight my transmission died I'm pretty sure. It appears to be stuck in one gear, or to have major clutch issues; actually, it's probably both. I just fixed the head gaskets; I can't believe now I'm gonna have to put more time and money into this thing. Once I fix it this time, I'm seriously thinkin it's outta here, b/c I can't afford this stuff in the sense of time or money. Think I'll try my luck on a earlier model burgandy SC300 with a 5 speed B) I know on Toyota truck auomatics the shift control solenoids need to be replaced roughly every 125K-200K miles to fix shifting wiierdness issues. Many owners wrongly assume they need a new transmission when all they need are new solenoids. Transmission does not have to be removed to replace the solenoids. In your case, since the prior owner replaced the radiator, that is a hint the owner overheated the motor and probably the transmission
Lex3486 Posted January 18, 2004 Author Posted January 18, 2004 Actually, I replaced the radiator and it wasn't overheating when it broke; I just smelled the antifreeze from where it had a hairline crack on the top. The overheating due to the head gaskets I suppose coulda hurt it, but I don't hardly think it shoulda crapped out completely b/c I never drove it for long periods of time when it got hot. Anyhow, I'll check into it myself but I was just wondering if anyone here had had any experience b4 I went off searchin. Keep the suggestions comin though!
SW03ES Posted January 19, 2004 Posted January 19, 2004 I don't have a clue as to why it's actin up so bad; it's not as if the car has been abused and neglected. Maybe it's just a lemon...? <_< Do you have all the maintenance records for the first 125,000 miles? Thats the problem with buying any car with that much mileage, thats a lifetime of use and abuse the likes of which you have no idea. Lexus hold up much better to abuse than other cars, and just because the car LOOKS pampered doesn't mean it was. Hardly can be called a lemon at this point ;) Now if it had 4500 miles on it and you'd had it the whole time, that would be different... 125,000 miles is...8 tranny flushes if you do it every 15k, 4 if every 30, even 2 if every 60...
Lex3486 Posted January 20, 2004 Author Posted January 20, 2004 Had it towed to a transmission shop today; they're gonna estimate it once they've torn it apart, but they guessed $900 if everything that could possibly break was broken, and $250 for labor either way, so I guess that's better than it could be. As for service records, nothin past the last routine maintenance done at Lexus of Knoxville in like 1997, so...but I don't think the car was abused but who knows. I know I'll take good care of it b/c it's the only thing I've got right now, and after this, it'll be good as new the way I see it, so B)
Lex3486 Posted January 24, 2004 Author Posted January 24, 2004 Well the car was supposed to be done today, but nothing ever goes according to plan...they first off ordered the wrong torque converter (it was originally gonna be done yesterday, but that happened) and then today when they got it back together and drove it, it began to do the same exact thing that it was doing the day it was towed to the shop, so now it must be torn completely apart again and everything must be replaced once again b/c it apparently tears everything they replaced up when it does whatever it's doin wrong. I just hope they don't try to make us pay more b/c of their screwup... <_<
SW03ES Posted January 24, 2004 Posted January 24, 2004 Sounds like you have my luck. That kinda crap always happens to me too...
Lex3486 Posted January 29, 2004 Author Posted January 29, 2004 Well, my car is fixed for the SECOND time now; they drove it and it works, so I go to pick it up tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Lex3486 Posted January 31, 2004 Author Posted January 31, 2004 Well, I picked it up and drove it for about 25 miles no complaints, but soon thereafter it started actin up just as it did before. Needless to say it's goin back in the morning. So much for good luck... <_<
Lex3486 Posted February 9, 2004 Author Posted February 9, 2004 Well today marks about a month that the shop has had my car. I'm beginning to possibly suspect that I may have a problem with the transmission ECU rather than the hardware in the transmission itself. Anyone had any experience with this?
SKperformance Posted February 10, 2004 Posted February 10, 2004 just for kicks i was thinking about your problem today and thought maybe it is the speed sensor or the throttle cable to the trannny not being in the right position
Lex3486 Posted February 10, 2004 Author Posted February 10, 2004 Well I would assume that if it were a speed sensor, that it would trigger the warning light. There is a pretty good possibility of it being the cable though...oh well, if it was, I may never know b/c the shop's pulling the whole tranny out again today and sorting back through it. It's now got a new valve body in it and that didn't fix it, so really there's not too many more components that they haven't replaced in there. Maybe they'll figure it out the third time they drop it <_< Seems to me like if you did this for a living, that you wouldn't have so much trouble fixing one...
Lex3486 Posted February 14, 2004 Author Posted February 14, 2004 Well it may actually finally be fixed :D Got it back yesterday and so far no complaints. About time!
piggyncsu Posted February 14, 2004 Posted February 14, 2004 *hugs* when thens go wrong, they REALLY go wrong. at some point though, all will be well and your ES will be cruising again ;)
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