Gear shifting issues.

[Karolina]

Hello everyone so I have a Lexus SC 430 2003 with about 229,000 miles… here we go…. So this car has been having issues with going into reverse and going into drive. In the summer it works better, it goes into drive right away but it won’t go into reverse unless you drive the car on the road. In the winter time the car has problems going into drive. The way I do it in the winter time is turn on the car and put it on drive straight away for it to work and then sit on drive gear to warm up the car. If you let it warm up for 5-10 min on park and then put it on drive, it won’t go into drive and you’ll have to wait 10-20 min while being in drive gear for it to kick in and go. The reverse is worse, it will go in reverse if it’s warmed up with driving more then 5 minutes on the road preferably hitting 60mph. If you drive in a parking lot for about 5-10 and try to park it there’s a good chance it won’t go in reverse even though it was driving on the road like 10 minutes ago. Last winter it wasn’t this bad but it’s getting worse. Also when you accelerate it, it will lag shifting into gears. It has a new Battery that’s been changed last year as well, I just heard people having transmission issues with a bad Battery. 

[The-Acre]

Have you ever had the transmission fluid replaced?  What you describe sounds like it may be problems with a shift solenoid within the transmission, sometimes this will show a warning light or a fault code. I think it needs to be seen by a transmission expert.

[m4rkw]

At that mileage it should have been serviced about 4 times, if it hasn't been then the fluid will be long depleted now, seals will be getting hard and possibly leaking. Have you checked the fluid level with the dipstick? I tend to agree with Phil, take it to a transmission specialist.

[Mihanicos]

Change the filter and the transmission oil with original parts.

Low oil level or a different transmission fluid other than the one specified by the manufacturer cause shifting problems similar to yours.

Chris.

[Boersma]

If the transmission oil never have been changed from the beginning you should only top up if necessary! In the Netherlands and Belgium Lexus advice not to change only add transmission oil when the mileage is over 100000 KM! I'm interested what Lexus UK advice?

[m4rkw]

Just now, Boersma said:

If the transmission oil never have been changed from the beginning you should only top up if necessary! In the Netherlands and Belgium Lexus advice not to change only add transmission oil when the mileage is over 100000 KM! I'm interested what Lexus UK advice?

I'm curious to know exactly where you got this information from as I believe it to be false. A proper service (drain, fill, replace filter) can never really hurt the transmission. If this was relayed by a Lexus dealer the likely reason is that they know after 100k with no servicing the chances of a transmission failure are much higher, so if someone has it serviced and then the unit fails sometime thereafter the customer might try to blame the dealer. But it won't be the service that killed the transmission, it was the 100k miles of prior lack of service.

 

[Mihanicos]

In the Lexus original repair and maintenance manuals the transmission fluid is recommended to be  changed with the filter at definite milage or time intervals  whichever comes first.

This information is under the maintenance section, of each model at lexus-tech.eu website.

Chris.

[m4rkw]

36 minutes ago, Mihanicos said:

In the Lexus original repair and maintenance manuals the transmission fluid is recommended to be  changed with the filter at definite milage or time intervals  whichever comes first.

Indeed but I suspect there isn't anything that specifically mentions what to do if the unit hasn't been serviced appropriately. Dealers may be wary of advising service on such units because they're likely to fail at any point due to the lack of service. If a customer has their transmission serviced and it then fails sometime after they might (wrongly, in my opinion) blame the dealer. Simply advising customers not to service it mitigates this risk on their part, despite it being bad advice.

[Mihanicos]

In my opinion  the dealers should follow the directives of the manufacturer.

Normally, a well serviced automatic transmission should present no issues and should last the life of the car, assuming normal use and as designed by the manufacturer.

Chris.

[m4rkw]

5 minutes ago, Mihanicos said:

In my opinion  the dealers should follow the directives of the manufacturer.

Normally, a well serviced automatic transmission should present no issues and should last the life of the car, assuming normal use and as designed by the manufacturer.

Absolutely, but the directives of the manufacturer probably don't include a provision of specifically what to do if a car comes in with 100k on the clock and no transmission service history.

[Mihanicos]

In that case, according to the codes of practise, they should carry out all maintenance work as outlined in the maintenance schedule according to the mileage registered on the clock  advising the customer accordingly.

This is standard procedure followed by reputable dealers and mechanics.

Chris.

[m4rkw]

39 minutes ago, Mihanicos said:

In that case, according to the codes of practise, they should carry out all maintenance work as outlined in the maintenance schedule according to the mileage registered on the clock  advising the customer accordingly.

This is standard procedure followed by reputable dealers and mechanics.

Chris.

Yes I agree but I think you're missing the point. If the car *hasn't* been maintained according to the schedule and the transmission has a high number of miles with the original fluid, I can understand a dealer being reluctant to service it because if it then fails sometime after they might be blamed. As long as the customer accepts that the lack of service is the cause of such an event then a service is certainly not going to harm anything and might even buy them some time, but some people may not believe this and might try to hold the dealer accountable for the failure. This might explain the advice that @Boersma apparently received.

[Boersma]

The point is when you have bought it from a Lexus dealer ( 1 month ago with 74500KM SC 430 -2007 import from Italy)with a warranty of 1 year red carpet treatment and they explain that they never change the transmission oil from cars older then... what to do, because as previous reaction someone wrote they might be blamed and repairing costs are till €3000,--. for an automatic gearbox as I remember from my IS250 F sport. In The Netherlands Lexus (Amsterdam and Breda) told that they only add oil but never change it with older cars? But when you look at YouTube (item auto-gearbox) no mechanic engineer advice to change the oil because of shifting problems.