Transmission/Clutch issues

[mgx111]

So quite a bit ago I've bought what it seemed to be quite perfect condition late 2009 IS 220D.

Little did I know about how many problems this car was going to give me..

 

I do have:

• Horrible clunking noises when shifting 1st<-->2nd <--> 3rd
• Clutch drag (or so it seems), as when i press in the clutch and try to go in gear, there is a knock and car creeps forward/backward (depending if i try to put 1st or reverse) If I wait around 2 or 3 seconds after pressing in the clutch, the shift is smooth
• When engaging the clutch at least a little faster (without driving like a granny), there seems to be a huge knock from the back of the car, as if all the torque goes down at once.
• Juddering and struggling on 1st/reverse gear until the engine warms up

However I did get the whole clutch, release bearing, dual mass flywheel(!! and that thing cost a fortune), clutch master and slave cylinder's replaced with brand new, and after that:

• Juddering until the engine warms up is gone, overall amount of vibrations has been decreased by alot.

But! All the first three issues above are still there and the same, and I'm completely out of ideas what could it be.

Also:

• When driving in 6th gear and resuming cruise control, I can feel knock/thump from the back of the car, similar to knock when engaging clutch.

 

[Shahpor]

Welcome Michael,

It certainly sounds like something is moving that shouldn't be.  If you read my previous posts you will have seen that my juddering problems turned out to be engine mounts.

When idling, does the engine move around at all?  A certain amount of vibration is normal, but if it is visibly shaking around then that doesn't sound right.

Also, who did the installation of your clutch/flywheel?  The reason I ask is that if the car moves forward in gear with the clutch pedal fully depressed, there are very few things that can cause it and they are all clutch (and clutch hydraulic) related.

I can't be certain on the Lexus, but on other cars I have had, if you remove the gearbox and driveshaft, the shaft need to be pre-loaded before it is all bolted back together.  If not, then it can cause shock loads to be transmitted.  Same goes if the shaft is out of balance.

Is it possible to get a video showing some of the problems in action? 

[mgx111]

1 hour ago, Shahpor said:

Welcome Michael,

It certainly sounds like something is moving that shouldn't be.  If you read my previous posts you will have seen that my juddering problems turned out to be engine mounts.

When idling, does the engine move around at all?  A certain amount of vibration is normal, but if it is visibly shaking around then that doesn't sound right.

Also, who did the installation of your clutch/flywheel?  The reason I ask is that if the car moves forward in gear with the clutch pedal fully depressed, there are very few things that can cause it and they are all clutch (and clutch hydraulic) related.

I can't be certain on the Lexus, but on other cars I have had, if you remove the gearbox and driveshaft, the shaft need to be pre-loaded before it is all bolted back together.  If not, then it can cause shock loads to be transmitted.  Same goes if the shaft is out of balance.

Is it possible to get a video showing some of the problems in action? 

Engine doesn't seem to move much, if at all, when idle.

As for the clutch, thats the most confusing part, considering everything related to it has been replaced with brand new OEM parts.

After that, clutch was bled two times and fluid topped up,  with no success.

Installation was done by reputable independant car repair shop that I have been servicing two of my previous non lexus cars in the past.

I have pictures of how my old clutch/flywheel looked before the replacement, and while it looks like it has some wear, it wasnt completely shot. All those issues however have persisted after changing the clutch&flywheel and this was the first time car had a clutch job done (before it was periodically serviced in a lexus dealership with no major part replacements)

 

As for the noises, I have managed to find videos describing the noises I have posted by other users on here, one of them is:

Mine had the same exact noise, it happens when you are in 1st/reverse/2nd/3rd (the higher the gear, the weaker the noise) gear and press in the clutch. However, after driving the car for a month, these noises have got way much more violent than in this video, to the point where when it happens, I can feel something heavy shaking under the car and a huge shock load can be felt by holding hand on the shifter.

 

I will try to get it on the camera

[mgx111]

Here are the pictures of old clutch/flywheel, also drive shaft (which was not replaced):

Also, initially pressing/releasing accelerator pedal when in gear (does not happen in neutral), causes rev needle to shake, followed by a barely hearable clunk:

[mgx111]

Here are the videos of clunks that happen after pressing in the clutch:

First gear:

Reverse gear:

The violent shock going through drivetrain is felt exactly when the first clunk happens (and there are three clunks each time after pressing in the clutch), other gears have same noise, but noticeably less loud (on 4th+ gear is barely audible).

Previously there was just the sound of these clunks with no shock to the drivetrain, however it has been getting progressively worser and the amount of times when first clunk is followed by a huge drivetrain shock has been increased to the point where it happens at least 2 out of 10 times clutch is being pressed in.

[Shahpor]

That is quite strange.  Have you checked the diff for play and possibly replace the fluid?

Since it is something rotational it must be somewhere in the drivetrain, so if it was me I would get it on a ramp and have a good look/shake of the components to see if any has some slack.  Something like gearbox mounts/centre drive shaft mount/diff mount would be my first port of call.

Unfortunately, without trying these things first, it is going to be very hard to diagnose.

I don't think it is clutch or anything to do with the flywheel install since those typically judder under load.