rlin78

Just like I thought, only a very small number of people are actually having problems with their transmission. I am posting a new message to push this poll to the top again. Currently 80% of people voted have trouble free transmission.

You may want to pull the ABS fuse and do a test run. If nothing else, this will at least eliminate the ABS as a possible cause. ← Easier said than done. Has anyone tried to pull the ABS fuse? I tried and can't get it off, I even tried a pair of plier. thanks Lexus. :chairshot:

People, I am running out of ideas. I replaced the rotors, brake pads, even the calipers, and lube the sliding bolts. I am still getting the vibration :chairshot: , kind of feels like ABS kicking in, but I don't hear the ABS pump going off. And I've also checked the wheel bearing by shaking the wheel with the tire off the ground, all 4 tires are tight. Has anyone seen anything like it? By the way, sometimes it is very smooth, but sometimes I feel the vibration, very weird :(

Good job people, as of right now, over 70% of the owners have trouble-free, at least for the transmission. I know this poll is not going to be very accurate because like Lexkid630 mention, owners here at usually here because of problems. But so far it shows that transmission problems are not that common

West, the whole point is to flush out the old ATF and replace it with new, right? I used my method and was able to replace most of the fluid in the Torque Converter. I don't expect to collect the $1000, just thought I would get a laugh out of it.

Ok, a lot of discussion on the failure of RX300 transmission. I am here to find out if it is just a few people having transmission problem or a large number of RX300 owners. I have a Rx300 AWD with about 97k Miles and have not experienced any problems. Please specify if you have performed ATF fluid change as well, pick (Not sure) if you don't know you have a 2WD or AWD RX300.

Ok, here's what I did it to get more than 4 quarts of ATF. Drain the ATF from the 2 drain plugs (Tranmission and differential drains) and refill. Then you disconnect the hose that's going to the ATF cooler. Now start your engine, have someone ready to pour more ATF. ATF will start to flow out as soon as the engine starts. Wait till about 2 quarts of ATF pours out, shut down the engine. Pour more ATF into it and start the engine again, shift through all gears and continue to pour more ATF until the ATF coming out of the cooler hose is bright red fresh looking ATF. It took about 10 quarts for me. Shut down the engine and fill ATF to full. Drive around and recheck ATF level. Everyone has been saying the transmission takes about 16 quarts, I wasn't able to verify that. Now can I collect my $1000 now? :)

My 99 Rx300 AWD has 97k miles. Even though I only got it 6 months ago, but as far as I know, the transmission is original. The previous owner had all maintenance documents from 56k miles, no mention of replacing transmission. Fluid was a little dark, but didn't smell burnt. I flushed it with Amsoil ATF about a month ago. No change in shifting, but it is still very smooth and feels new(knocking on wood). I probably wouldn't have gotten the RX if I knew the all the transmission problems, but so far it's been ok. I think I saw a few people with over 120K miles on their AWD RX300, I know I am not the only one with a higher mileage RX300 without any transmission problems.

Maybe the battery is dying? Does your clock reset to 12:00? This is a sign of dead battery.

My car's got 98k Miles, the vibration feels like something rubbing against the brakes, almost feels like ABS kicking in. Rotors are OEM slotted rotors. sometimes it is perfectly smooth and sometimes it feels like a train, running out of ideas.

After replacing my pads and rotors, I am still getting vibrations from the brakes. I was told that I should try the calipers. Since they are at $260 a pop, I am thinking of getting them rebuilt or reman. I can get reman at partsamerica.com for about $50, but I am worry about the quality of these reman. So am I better off rebuild my own using a rebuild kit for about $30 or getting the reman?

newlexusparts.com is actually Park Place Lexus, 1025 Preston Road, Plano,Texas. I have purchased many parts from them as well as irontoad.com which is actually Thomson Lexus, 50 Swamp Road, Doylestown, PA. Irontoad will get you just about any part if you do a request but what I like about newlexusparts.com is they have just about every Lexus part available listed with prices on the site. ← So you are actually getting parts that are made by Lexus/Toyota if you order from newlexusparts.com?

You are right, I don't trust newlexusparts.com, and their site is very slow at times. irontoad.com offers genuine toyota parts at a good price. you can also pick up an oem TPS at partsamerica.com for about $30

What do you use to lube the bolts? Anti-seize?

Does anyone know if the Toyota dealerships carry the PVC valve for the Rx300? And what's the part number? I tried to get a PVC valve from Advance Autopart, what a mistake, it doesn't fit. The closest Lexus Dealership is about 1 hour away... Thanks!

Ok, it was striped, I took it to a mechanic, he had to put it on the lift and hammered the hex socket in there. I gave him 5 bucks for that since he said I didn't have to pay him. :D I looked at the plug that came out, I don't think it was possible for me to do it myself without a lift. I got a new plug to replace it too, works great. :P

Not quite sure where you are going with this. I was able to push the pistons back, so it's not stuck, right? <_< They were easy to push back too....

My Rx300 has this weird pulse/vibration that I can't pinpoint. At first I thought it was the ABS because it feels like ABS motor pulsing the brakes, then since it happened more and more often and even at very slow (2-3 MPH), I know it is not the ABS. it feels like something is scratching the rotor a few times a second. So I thought it just be something uneven on the surface of the rotors that's scratching the brakes. I replaced the brake pads and rotors thinking the problem would go away, but instead, it is still there. Sometimes I get very smooth braking, sometimes I get the pulse, does anyone know why and most importantly, how to fix the problem.

Thanks for all your suggestions, I will try to loosen the plug this weekend by tapping the hex socket. I will keep everyone posted on how it turns out. I really hope it is not striped. I just ordered a new set of filler plug and the drain plug, I think it is like $5 and $3 for each, shipping killed it though, something like 7 bucks. I ordered them from irontoad.com

I think it's stripped. I used a craftsman 10 mm Hex socket with 2 extension, do you have any better way of getting to the plug? B) Well, Is it officially stripped ? ←

I strip the 10 MM hext hole. And no, I didn't drain the gear oil. :whistles:

Ok, aside from the poor location lexus engineers picked for the rear differential filler plug and overtightening it, what's done is done. Anyway, I was going to change my rear differential fluid today, but when I tried to loosen the filler plug, I strip the filler plug :chairshot: , what should I do now? I know I could curse at the engineers that designed it and the factory that overtighten it all day, but what else can be done? Thanks for your inputs!

Try replace the battery, let us know how it works out

I think you can only get Amsoil online. It is not too expensive compare to Type T-IV fluid. As long as Amsoil ATF can protect the tranmission better, I think it is totoally worth it. Can more people post their experience about Amsoil in their transmission?

This is not another one of those discussions about the reliability of the RX300 AWD transmission, so please don't post it if you don't have any experience with the Amsoil univerisal ATF in your Rx300. My 1999 RX300 has got 93 k miles, I want to change the transmission fluid on it. Since it has already passed the warranty period, I would like to put amsoil ATF in it because Toyota' is asking an arm and a leg for their T-IV ATF . Amsoil's websiate claims that their ATF can be used to substitute the Toyota Type T-IV fluid. I am just wondering, does anyone has any REAL WORLD experience with the Asmoil ATF in the RX300? Oh, I plan to do a DIY flush of the ATF as well. Basically, just drain and refill. then disconnect the transmission cooler lines and pump the ATF out while adding it on the filler. :whistles: Thanks!