OpenTracRacer

Well well... time flies when you're having fun. It seems I was getting my service visits on this thing mixed up. The transmission drain/fill and filter change was done in May of 2007. That's 22,000 miles ago. Not that long, but way more than 2,000-3,000 miles! The filter was clogged. That's a bad sign but also the likely source of the problem. It has a new filter, cleaned speed sensors and a fresh fill of Toyota ATF. The fluid is still more red than black but the only way around that is a flush and I'm not even going to try. I guess we'll see what happens. Thanks for all the feedback!

Just got back in town. I tried the car again and of course, it's working perfectly. The fluid level seems fine but it's black. I'm going to take that as a bad sign since it was recently changed. I'll work on dropping the pan this week.

I put this in the endless transmission thread but I think it's starting to get ignored. My wife reported problems with her 2001 RX-300 AWD to me yesterday. She said that the car wouldn't go in reverse yesterday morning and made some clunking sounds. After a few moments it clunked again and started work. It also continued to make some clunks while backing up. Later, it stalled at a stop light (which it's never done before). It did it again in the afternoon after sitting for a while. I tried it later last night and it was working fine but it's not going to be driven until I address this. The car has about 90,000 miles. I recently (1,000 to 3,000 miles ago) drained the transmission fluid, replaced the filter with a Toyota original and refilled with Toyota ATF. From what I've read, this sounds like the death knell for the transmission. It's been 100% trouble free until now. Anyone care to comment on what steps to take next? Thanks!

Oh drat! Just got a call from my wife. She reported that the car wouldn't go in reverse this morning and made some clunking sounds. After a few moments it clunked again and started work. It also continued to make some clunks while backing up. Later, it stalled at a stop light (which it's never done before). It's a 2001 (bought in July of that year) RX-300 with about 90,000 miles. I recently (1,000 to 3,000 miles ago) drained the transmission fluid, replaced the filter with a Toyota original and refilled with Toyota ATF. From what I've read, this sounds like the death knell for the transmission. It's been 100% trouble free until now. Anyone care to comment on what steps to take next? Thanks!