jaycee

Dave, in general your experience in the past was the same thing that I found. Today, things appear to be quite different. The service manager is more of a "manager" than a knowledeable overseer. It's all about writing the business. You'd think that they would diagnose and expect that you're going to give them the business. Instead the goal is to get that $136.00. No fishing expeditions for me. I also noticed that all the service advisors are new since I was at this dealership a year ago. (I tend to go to my local Toyota dealer who is only 3 miles away, while Lexus is 15 miles) Edit : This may be the answer in this thread : http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-second-generation/702117-abs-problem.html

Dave, First let me correct something in the op. The symtom(s) are in fact there when stopping the car with the gearshift in neutral. I took it to the dealership today and spoke with the service manager. Firstly he said he has never heard of this type of problem before and couldn't surmise what's causing it. A "professional" would have to look at it. I asked him to take a quick test drive around the parking lot and he said no, that wouldn't help. I suggested that he would be able to help future customers if he experienced first hand what was going on. He then agreed to drive it. Afterwards he commented that it felt like the anti-lock brakes were kicking in. Of course the next step was to have it diagnosed @ $136.00, which I politely passed on. I'll have a look at the service manual and see if I can pull the fuse, or something else, to disconnect the anti-lock feature temporarily. I fthe symotom dissapears then there's the problem. Now that I know it does it in neutral, I'm inclined to think that's the culprit. Lastly, I was talking with my neighbor earlier, who has a 2000 RX300 AWD, and, lo and behold, they have exactly the same problem.

Not yet...I wanted to see if anyone else on the forum has experienced this. But, certainly my next step as I don't want to damage the tranny.

Thanks for the reponse Dave. I've read a lot re transmission shifting problems when accelerating and the applicable TSB's both here and on the "other" forum. However, they don't appear to apply to our car. All forward gears shift jusrt fine. It's just as the car does it's final downshift as it comes to a complete stop and as I mentioned, it can be felt in the brake pedal as well. I know it's not the brakes because it doesn't do it if I shift into neutral first.

I've read in the forum about transmission shift problems between certain gears with these cars but don't know if my symptom applies. 2004, AWD with 35k miles, however mostly short stop and go driving. Did a drain/refill of the tranny fluid and it didn't change the below.. When applying the brakes to come to a complete stop, there's kind of a abrupt downshift that I can even feel in the brake pedal. The car even has a last second little shake/shudder and a bit of a clunk.. Difficult to describe, so here's a short YouTube video as well. (you may have to turn up the vol to hear it) Edit : Definitely NOT tjhe transmission. Pulling the ABS fuse, the car brakes normally. Suspect the rear wheel ABS speed sensors which are virtually impossible to remove without breaking. Fronts were easy and filthy. Lexus 2004 RX330 transmission downshift when stopping - YouTube

First of all, conventional wisdom is that you should NEVER switch to synthetic if you've been using dino juice. Especially if the car is 8 yrs old.. Don't be suprised if you start getting oil leaks around gaskets..

Thank you...outstanding find.!! Although I don't see an option to dwnld the whole manual in one step.

I realize this is an old thread, however, I'd like to ask if anyone has tried the gluing the blade method discussed above ? If so, has it lasted without issues? Thanks p.s. I tied pm'ing lexkid630 and then saw he hasn't been on the forum in 2 yrs.