Need Another Transaxle (#3)

lemon · March 28, 2012

I had my transaxle replaced under an extended warranty exactly one year ago (and 25000km). See here and have a look at the pics in my first post -

http://us.lexusowner...showtopic=69097

Please note the exact location of the pink coolant residue - I now have oil leaking from the same location on the new transaxle (see pics below)

Having had that leak, I had been checking that area occasionally, but obviously not enough. A few months after getting the new tranny, I noticed a small stain starting again at the seam that can be seen in the post above. However, since it wasn't pink, I knew it wasn't coolant and after wiping the stain off, I pretty much neglected to check again.

Fast forward to today. I was thinking that I had a one year warranty on the replacement part, so I had a look again and found this. Obviously, it's leaking oil this time, not tranny fluid. I can only guess that there is a gasket where that seam is that separates the cooling circuit from the oiling circuit and it's failed TWICE now.

Anyhow, of course the dealer looked at it today and said 'maybe it's overspray from your oil rustproofing'. Umm..no, I said, the car was sprayed in September. I've wiped the area clean after September and it's obviously oily again. "Well maybe it's coming from the engine, how do we know it's the tranny?" Umm..no. The engine is nowhere near that part of the tranny. If there is oil on the tranny, it has to be coming from the tranny, and before you come up with another excuse, directly above that oily spot is the inverter, and there is no oil of any sort in the inverter, so don't tell me it's leaking from above!!! I actually said that to them. I swear I know more about my hybrid than the dealer, which is kind of sad.

So anyway, their suggestion was to clean the area and watch it and bring it back if the leak returns. I went home, wiped, degreased and gently sprayed everything off. That oily spot was shiny like new (see the pics!!!). Went for a 15 MINUTE drive and the result can be seen in the second pic. I swear, it's unbelievable that I have to do my own troubleshooting on this thing.

The car is going back to Lexus on Monday, along with these pics. Now I'll have to battle them because I'm 5000km over the 1 year / 20000KM warranty. My own fault really, as I should have stayed on top of this when I noticed it way back in the fall last year.

And, I've said this before, but if you own an RX400h, you REALLY SHOULD check this area on your own vehicles.

cduluk · March 29, 2012

Holy CRAP... Do you think they could have assembled something incorrectly, or "knocked" something out of place doing the repair last year to cause this?

When i get my car back (mine's at Lexus because my A/C blower died) i'm definitely going to check for the stains you experienced. With the way i drive, i've gotta pay attention to the transmission.

I feel bad you're experiencing this. :unsure: I hope Lexus finds a way to cover it for you. If not, still try to at least enjoy the loaner!

lemon · March 29, 2012

Where that leak is, it's part of the NEW transmission. Not sure what they could have knocked out, when it was a complete swap out of the old and in with the new. Regardless, I've already sent an email to the service manager at the Lexus dealership regarding this (and my displeasure for having to diagnose this FOR THEM, when I already know it's the tranny leaking (especially since my first tranny leaked in the same spot)). He has responded that he will deal with my vehicle himself when I take it in on Monday morning.

It was quite funny on the phone when the service advisor kept telling me that they would have to put the vehicle up on the hoist to diagnose it, and I had to keep telling him that the leak can only be seen from above and it could be diagnosed right in the parking lot, so don't bother tying up a spot on the service schedule, I'll just show up and take 3 minutes to point out the leak.

cduluk · March 30, 2012

It really amazes me how inept the service departments are at Lexus... I'm not sure if it's because they literally "don't understand", or if they just play dumb? Nevertheless, they're the ones doing the granting of "good-will" warranties when we're stuck, so we have to play it nice... :blushing:

Let us know how it goes tomorrow, and remember, be nice!

lemon · March 30, 2012

What really irked me was that I was very specific in showing the service advisor the leak and telling him he 'would have to show the technician, because if you don't know where to look, this leak is hard to see', and then getting a call four hours later that nothing was found. Then when picked up the car and I specifically asked for the technician that had looked at my car and pointed out the leak to him he admitted he hadn't seen the leak, and told me that the service advisor had not pointed it out to him. So not only was my time wasted (without a vehicle) but a service bay and a technican were tied up looking for something that could have been pointed out by the service advisor in less than two minutes.

The other large bit of ineptness by a different service advisor was regarding warranty on the replacement tranny. I asked if I didn't indeed have a one year / 20000km warranty and the answer I got was - "no, because it was replaced under warranty, it only has warranty for the amount of time that was left on the warranty that it was replaced under." So I asked if I had a 160 000km warranty and the tranny was replaced at 159 000km, are you telling me that I would have a 1000km warranty on the replacement part. They insisted that that was the case. If I had paid for the replacement tranny, however, then it would have the 1 year / 20000km warranty.

So of course, when I got home I called Lexus Canada gave them the ridiculous answer that the dealership had given me, and even the employee at Lexus Canada was shocked at the completely wrong answer I had been given. He then confirmed that yes, replacement parts have a one year / 20000km warranty regardless of whether they were installed under warranty or paid for by the customer. Now, I don't expect perfection (though it would be nice), but the service advisor that gave me the wrong warranty information is one of the senior advisors and has been at that Lexus dealership for quite a long time. I don't expect a service advisor to know every bit of minutiae regarding every Lexus vehicle, but something as major as warranty coverage I would expect them to be well informed.

Yes, I will be nice. And it's Monday I take it in. Don't forget to let us know what was wrong with your 400h.

lenore · March 30, 2012

Good luck, a leak in the same spot is weird....could there be a poor mating surface where the tranny bolts to the engine causing stress?

lemon · March 30, 2012

Thanks. That seam where it has leaked twice now is not actually where the tranny mates to the engine. It's still part of the transmission.

Since I leaked coolant last time, and tranny fluid this time (I've been calling it oil...since that's what it is, just not engine oil), I can only assume that one half is the electric motors side (coolant for cooling) and the other side is the mechanical CVT side (tranny fluid for lubrication). There must be a gasket to prevent the two parts from leaking and from contaminating each other and it's leaked twice for me on two separate trannys.

In fact, if you look at the bottom left of the picture where the oil has been cleaned off, you can just see the top of a shiny stainless angled tube leading into the tranny. This tube is a coolant tube for the inverter and electric motors. It leads to the part of the tranny to the LEFT of the same, lending some weight to my guess that coolant is on one side and tranny fluid is on the other.

Have any of you 400h owners had a look at this spot in your own vehicles?

cduluk · March 31, 2012

Thanks. That seam where it has leaked twice now is not actually where the tranny mates to the engine. It's still part of the transmission.

Since I leaked coolant last time, and tranny fluid this time (I've been calling it oil...since that's what it is, just not engine oil), I can only assume that one half is the electric motors side (coolant for cooling) and the other side is the mechanical CVT side (tranny fluid for lubrication). There must be a gasket to prevent the two parts from leaking and from contaminating each other and it's leaked twice for me on two separate trannys.

In fact, if you look at the bottom left of the picture where the oil has been cleaned off, you can just see the top of a shiny stainless angled tube leading into the tranny. This tube is a coolant tube for the inverter and electric motors. It leads to the part of the tranny to the LEFT of the same, lending some weight to my guess that coolant is on one side and tranny fluid is on the other.

Have any of you 400h owners had a look at this spot in your own vehicles?

my god...

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=72642