lexusk8

This tranny is a used one, came out of a '01 ES which had 45K miles on it, but was remanufactured to Lexus factory specs. The dealership by policy does not install or recommend rebuilt transmissions; that's more on the line of work for an independent transmission repair shop.

sk, we are talking about a Lexus remanufactured transmission out of a spare '01 ES, not an aftermarket warranty supplied tranny. These are 2 very different items. Where exactly can you found a Lexus reman tranny for $700?? Of course I'm aware that Lexus labor eats up a majority of the expense (I've done (2) 90K services so I know the territory). If you go back and read one of my previous posts, the dealership found the best price for a used Lexus tranny with a price tag of $1,950. Extended warranty agreed to pay roughly half of it, so I ended up covering the difference. This is the best my dealership and I could do working with the aftermarket extended warranty, so case closed. steviej, the warranty for the reman tranny is for 1 year, and includes parts and labor. Mileage is not an issue :D

To remove the plastic side moulding for the seat memory controls, unscrew the one Philips screw that's fastened behind the seat. Then there's another Philips screw fastened underneath the seat. That's where it gets a bit tricky since it's a hard reach but it can be done with a small hand mirror and a short length Philips driver. After both screws are removed, the side moulding can then be removed. Verify that all electrical connectors for the memory controls are connected properly. Try unplugging and replugging them back in and see what happens.

The steering wheel noise happens on my ES, and my loaner '01 ES as well. I accept it as a normal occurrence based on the cold weather condition. The tranny fluid flush service sounds about right, as long as this is the complete flush system (i.e. flushing the fluid from the torque converter, which takes a capacity of about 14 qts).

Well, I'm happy to announce I got my beloved ES back (after 1 month out of commission at the dealership). The used/remanufactured transmission replaced in the ES makes it feel like I'm driving a brand-new car straight from the showroom. No hesitation, no lagging, and no problems with the tranny. The dealership was also kind enough to flush the tranny fluid from the TC, and replace the tranny gasket and fluid. They also went ahead and replaced the rear main seal since I knew it was going to have to be replaced sooner or later on the ES. Although I'm out $1,200 <_< , I'm very pleased to get my car back in excellent condition. Now I can resume planning my winter mods!

Instructions for replacing the cabin filter are mentioned in your owner's manual.

I hate to say it, but with the reman tranny to be installed in my '01 ES (currently with 98,XXX miles), I may not keep the ES for as long as I had hoped for. My next Lexus may be in the RWD region (*cough* GS *cough*) ;)

steviej, I have exactly the same feelings on the '04 RX when I had one as a loaner. I think in maybe a year or two, you will see the prices of all pre-owned/certified '04 RX330's drop to probably an affordable range for most out there. On the other hand, I'm very interested in seeing the '06 RX400-h (hybrid version of the RX) in the showrooms next year :D

I like your page already. You should put a graphic on the top of the main page (like a .JPEG) that says 'ES300' so people will recognize what page it is when it loads up. I don't think people will immediately know what MJM Autosport has to do with pics of your ES300 from that web page ;)

The warranty company has informed me that remanufactured parts (new or used) will be replaced for any of the affected items in the car during the extended warranty period, and that the warranty company will pay for either all or a portion of the parts. So according to these statements as stipulated on the contract, the warranty company is not trying to screw me over, although they don't look too kindly when faced with replacing a new transmission. Bottom line is, warranty is following the terms of the contract, and there's no b*llsh*t involved. As of right now, warranty has agreed to pay $900 for a used remanufactured transmission, and I cover the difference. The dealership called me and said that from their list of vendors, they found a used tranny off of a '01 ES w/ 45K miles put in, for $1,950. After the warranty coverage, I'll be looking at an expense of $1,050 plus tax (labor paid by Heritage warranty). This is at least better than the $2,600 price tag for a reman tranny. The dealership will also throw in a 1-year/unlimited mileage warranty for the used tranny, so if anything goes wrong with the tranny during 1 year, Lexus will pay for it. That should give me some peace of mind for the time being

The dealership finally was able to speak with the warranty company today; it has been hell trying to deal with this aftermarket warranty since the start of the tranny issue. Unfortunately the news I received from the dealership was not the greatest :( : The warranty company won't pay for a brand-new, warranty covered transmission on my ES. Instead, they will pay a certain amount of $$$ towards a Lexus remanufactured transmission, and I will end up covering the difference. I know my dealership tried their hardest to fight for a new transmission in the last 3 weeks, but the reality is that it is generally a hard sell with an aftermarket warranty company. They work almost like an insurance company, one who is willing to lowball the affected item(s). At any rate, the transmission will be eventually be replaced, but not with a new one like I had hoped for I may have to suck this one up and let the dealership handle the tranny work <_< My dealership and I will come up with a firm plan for the work on my transmission within the next 2 days, so I will keep this posted.

Sylvania bulbs for my previous '96 ES. PIAA bulbs for my current '01 ES.

http://www.heritagewarranty.com

Bumping this up for an update (well, not too much). Apparently the warranty inspector guy was not fully cooperating with my dealership in the beginning of tearing down the transmission on my ES, but my dealership has informed me that the tranny is already down to just the nuts and bolts. This is one thing I absolutely don't like about those aftermarket warranty companies ; they're highly reluctant when it comes to signing and paying off vehicle repair claims. Since my transmission is involved, which is almost like the heart of the car, they really have no outs. I signed and paid the warranty contract when I purchased the car, therefore everything from the agreement must be followed by the warranty company, word for word. At any rate, it's been a little more than 2 weeks so far w/out my car, but the dealership has assured me over and over that a new transmission will be replaced. Even they hate working with this warranty company :D , but I guess that's all part of how the auto consumer business works these days. In the meantime, I've already put in more than 1,000 miles on the loaner, so as you can see I'm enjoying it

rookie03, for a decent professional paint job of the lower cladding to match the rest of the body color, expect to choke up in the range of $800 - $1000 at a reputable body shop, maybe more.

Your receipt indicates that the valve cover gasket has been replaced, which tends to be one of the more common sources of oil leaks in the '92-'96 ES. I believe that gasket is located under the valve cover of the engine, and it is not too expensive to replace. Another source is the rear main seal, which can be very expensive to replace from the dealership (in the range of $800 or more). I'm not exactly sure where the rear main seal can be found under your car, but the answer can probably be found by doing a search for "rear main seal". Hope this helps.

I remember switching to DIY oil change several months ago after taking the ES to the Toyota dealership for numerous oil changes. I've always wondered what it's like to change my own oil, and I'm glad I made the right move. Nothing feels better than doing your own job and doing it right the first time :) Congrats to you on your first ever oil change. If you haven't done it yet, take a look under your car and spot for any oil leaks on the ground. If you find just a few oil drops at most, do not panic. This should disappear after a few days with your new oil. I believe this is a normal observation when one changes his own oil. Just make sure you tighten the oil drain plug pretty good (not overtighten) ;)

catfish, open up the trunk (of course). Look behind the trunk lid and you should see 2 "doors" from the trunk lining with velcro pieces as "locks" for those doors. Open up those doors and you will see bulb sockets for the trunk lid bulbs in your ES. The bulbs are removed by untwisting the sockets and pulling the bulbs out from the sockets. That's it! It cannot get any simpler than that :)

As someone in life has mentioned, "No news is good news" :D ;) Seriously I have yet to hear a word from my service advisor regarding the tranny work and the warranty authorization for the work. Like I said before, I had already given the warranty company a heads-up on the deal with my car, so they can't forget me now. The dealership will definitely contact me as soon as a representative from the warranty company shows up and verifies the work to be done, whenever that will be. It may take some time since the warranty company is based out of Missouri, and they may have to gather up all the paperwork. In the meantime, it looks I'll have my loaner ES for this entire weekend. Good time to put more miles into it with no worries (except for a defective fuel gauge)

Hey lextildeath, I tried to send you a PM but it says that your mailbox is either full or inactive. So I sent the message to your email address. Please check it and respond. I'd love to have a mini ES get-together in our town before the snow falls in :)

Yes it was used as a business/corporate car before I purchased it. Lots of highway miles were put into it (as noted by the numerous rock chips on the hood and bumper), but maybe the car also underwent a tremendous amount of stop-and-go traffic. Disregarding the tranny issue, I'm at least happy that the car doesn't have any oil sludge problems as sometimes seen in other ES.

Just an update folks. I had the car towed yesterday to the dealership since I concluded that it was unsafe to drive after stalling when the gear is in 'R' or 'D'. Luckily the service advisor I know pretty well was at the dealership at the time of the towing, so he has made it a point to work with me and the tranny issues on the ES. I gave him my extended warranty info and the list of issues to look at, including the malfunctioned shift solenoids, tranny fluid and filter, and as a side, the rear main seal. Without waiting, they have given me a free '01 ES loaner (Graphite Gray Pearl on black interior... one of the most attractive color combos made for the ES) :D Onto today's status, service told me that the ES is rendered undriveable at their facility, so it seems that the transmission on my 3-year old car is pretty much gone! :cries: I called up the warranty myself to make sure they're able to cover ALL the tranny work, and they said that as long as they can verify at the dealership that the tranny is defective, everything will be repaired at no charge. That may most likely mean a new transmission. We'll have to see tomorrow when the warranty adjuster comes over to the dealership..

Excellent DIY tip terrick. This could very well benefit us '97-'01 ES owners :)

Lexusfreak (as I mentioned to you earlier from chat), I'm fairly positive that parts of the transmission system should be replaced by extended warranty. The tranny fluid service done 22K miles ago was a "drain-and-fill" method, and so it wasn't the complete flush. I don't think the tranny filter has ever been touched. SW03ES, I could not pull up any history of service done to the ES prior to the purchase, so I have no way of knowing how many times the tranny fluid had been replaced (if any) before I bought the ES. For peace of mind, I may opt to have the dealership do a complete tranny flush system on my ES (in addition to replacing the solenoids), and also change out the tranny filter. We'll have to see tomorrow <_<

I went to Autozone today to have the error codes scanned. It turns out I've received the following codes: P0765 (2x) - Shift Solenoid D Malfunction P0770 - Shift Solenoid E Malfunction Why the hell these solenoids suddenly go bad after not even 100K miles?! This is highly inexcusable for a Lexus :chairshot: Sorry for the venting. It seems that the transmission solenoids would have to be replaced by the dealership tomorrow (that is, if I'm able to drive my car down there). My car is already deemed unsafe to drive since I can't go any faster than 40 mph w/out keeping the revs under 3K RPM, and when I put the car into 'P' and shift into either 'R' or 'D', the car just stalls :( Very dangerous if I'm stuck in the middle of a busy parking lot, and I would have to turn the car off, then back on in order to get the car can get properly in gear. Since Lexus service is gonna get under the transmission to access the solenoids, I may have to tell them to check the filter and see if it's clogged up.