At a loss on what is wrong

[Jellin]

2011 GX460 Premium- 160k miles, So Tranmission appeared to slowly begin to poop out over the past year and half, hubs had walked it along for about 30k more miles by changing out the fluids until it started slipping really noticeably right before the holidays. We ordered a Lexus Remans transmission and after waiting patiently on the backorder list we got ours and husband swapped it out. Checked and filled all the fluid levels etc start her up and now hitting a wall with the fact we have no driving power. It will reverse pretty normally but in forward gears only does a slow idle creep but any resistance and there is no forward movement at all even with pressing on the gas. Stepping on the gas really garners no real movement of the wheels. Tried to do the ATM reset with the techstream/TIS and a mini VCI cable but it tells us it "isn't available for your vehicle" when we try..... Ordered a $570 mongoose cable which will hopefully be in tomorrow and will just try to do things with the global techstream 2 day activation. Has anyone had issues performing the Reset Memory (AT initialization) when replacing the automatic transmission assembly with the mini MVI J cables? Is there something I am missing? Hoping that getting the new cable lets us reset it and fixes the issue but not sure what to do if not.

 

[Jstawgn]

Sounds something mechanical. Is the fluid level good? That is almost like the torque converter is not engaging.
You don't need expensive cable to diagnose it. Even OBD Fusion app with vehicle specific PID can read transmission code.

 

[Jellin]

Sounds something mechanical. Is the fluid level good? That is almost like the torque converter is not engaging.
You don't need expensive cable to diagnose it. Even OBD Fusion app with vehicle specific PID can read transmissiFGlui

Fluid levels appear fine, filled to specifications in the all data. The only steps we did not complete are the initialiization that is stated is necessary after a transmission replacement.

 

[Jellin]

All other steps were done as the instructions indicated except for the final step 28 which is where the TIS tells us it is "not available for your vehicle" when we attempt

 

[BC11SVT]

All other steps were done as the instructions indicated except for the final step 28 which is where the TIS tells us it is "not available for your vehicle" when we attempt

View attachment 3891971

I'm not positive, but I would assume Techstream is just resetting the keep alive memory.
Disconnecting the battery for a while may accomplish the same thing.

If fluid level is good, the vehicle isn't in some kind if limp mode it is? Throttle behaves normally?

 

[evolute]

Any update on this?? Friend needs to replace his trans and we are doing it ourselves. I have techstream, so I hope I would be able to solve this issue with that.

 

[Jellin]

Any update on this?? Friend needs to replace his trans and we are doing it ourselves. I have techstream, so I hope I would be able to solve this issue with that.

Sorry for the late reply, we have been in the process of fighting this headache and trying to move states. We worked on it awhile got a whole lot of no where,bought 00 mongoose cable, have reset the ECM a few times, have taken some things apart such as rechecking install on park neutral switch, again running trans fluid level checks, and we are still going bit by bit as we just kind of picked back up this week after a month break from the frustration. Going to be calling the dealership shop soon to see what they think, but going to knock out a manual shift test procedue to see if that tells us anything.

 

[Jellin]

Car was losing reverse gear and slipping in 1st/2nd before transmission change
Remans dealership transmission put in with Toyota ATF fluid instilled per manufacture specs

Here's what we currently have:

Park- works fine
Reverse- wheels make a very slight movement then spin freely as if it is neutral both forwards and backwards while on jacks
Neutral- Drives, will ramp through gears like normal drive mode
Drive- works fine
S1- works fine

Spouse is going back out to try a few more things now on the list of various diagnostic checks

 

[shilly1234]

Don't ever rule out that it was DOA. Working in a shop for over 30 years, I can't tell you how many have come from the dealer dead. Every manufacturer is capable of a screw up.

 

[BlkGX2011]

Car was losing reverse gear and slipping in 1st/2nd before transmission change
Remans dealership transmission put in with Toyota ATF fluid instilled per manufacture specs

Here's what we currently have:

Park- works fine
Reverse- wheels make a very slight movement then spin freely as if it is neutral both forwards and backwards while on jacks
Neutral- Drives, will ramp through gears like normal drive mode
Drive- works fine
S1- works fine

Spouse is going back out to try a few more things now on the list of various diagnostic checks

Jellin,

Did you ever resolve this? I am about to do the same on my 2011 Lexus GX460. I have techstream installed on a virtual machine on my laptop with VCI cable. I just tried connecting it an I am able to communicate with the vehicle but I havent tried resetting the AT memory yet.

But yeah, as mentioned before, it could be that the reman unit is probably faulty. How much ATF did you end up putting in the new transmission? I think a dry transmission needs 11.1-11.7 quarts of fluid.
Did you pin your transmission thermostat open for refilling?

 

[Jellin]

Jellin,

Did you ever resolve this? I am about to do the same on my 2011 Lexus GX460. I have techstream installed on a virtual machine on my laptop with VCI cable. I just tried connecting it an I am able to communicate with the vehicle but I havent tried resetting the AT memory yet.

But yeah, as mentioned before, it could be that the reman unit is probably faulty. How much ATF did you end up putting in the new transmission? I think a dry transmission needs 11.1-11.7 quarts of fluid.
Did you pin your transmission thermostat open for refilling?
View attachment 4017522

Just to throw out an update cause we've been busy moving and all the things. Yes we had followed the tech data meticulously the first time and even entirely undid and redid the whole install twice with the first remans unit (and that Toyota transmission fluid ain't cheap to waste!) We had called Lexus, they agreed to swap out the transmission for another unit so we pulled it back out in June waited about a month and half-2 months for the replacement to come in, drove back down to the old house crated up the transmission unit drove it 2 hours back to the dealership and swapped the units. Did notice the quality of the units seemed different on the second unit it, 1st unit had a spray paint like finish and then like some of the plastic on the sensors seemed different (shiny vs rough texture etc) the second unit the transmission like bell housing instead of spray painted was bead/sand blasted so likely came from a different remans line.

Bought another 2 days techstream pass and installed the new one in again ourselves over about a day and a half in the driveway. Plug and play no issues with the second transmission, test drove it around for a day & a 1 hour and back road trip to make sure all was good then drove it 500 miles around the middle of October to our new place the same weekend with no issues and has been fine since. Overall I guess the first remans transmission we got was just dead on arrival.
All together overall cost for us to self change the transmission:
Transmission $3115 with taxes after core charge ($1000) refunded
mongoose cable $600
Toyota ATF fluid (for 3 complete swaps) $500-$600
Garbage offbrand cable that didnt work with all features of techstream $50

I will say as much as I hated to spend the money on the mongoose cable the other cable would not let us use the full techstream features (such as the reset memory!)

 

[Jellin]

Just to throw out an update cause we've been busy moving and all the things. Yes we had followed the tech data meticulously the first time and even entirely undid and redid the whole install twice with the first remans unit (and that Toyota transmission fluid ain't cheap to waste!) We had called Lexus, they agreed to swap out the transmission for another unit so we pulled it back out in June waited about a month and half-2 months for the replacement to come in, drove back down to the old house crated up the transmission unit drove it 2 hours back to the dealership and swapped the units. Did notice the quality of the units seemed different on the second unit it, 1st unit had a spray paint like finish and then like some of the plastic on the sensors seemed different (shiny vs rough texture etc) the second unit the transmission like bell housing instead of spray painted was bead/sand blasted so likely came from a different remans line.

Bought another 2 days techstream pass and installed the new one in again ourselves over about a day and a half in the driveway. Plug and play no issues with the second transmission, test drove it around for a day & a 1 hour and back road trip to make sure all was good then drove it 500 miles around the middle of October to our new place the same weekend with no issues and has been fine since. Overall I guess the first remans transmission we got was just dead on arrival.
All together overall cost for us to self change the transmission:
Transmission $3115 with taxes after core charge ($1000) refunded
mongoose cable $600
Toyota ATF fluid (for 3 complete swaps) $500-$600
Garbage offbrand cable that didnt work with all features of techstream $50

I will say as much as I hated to spend the money on the mongoose cable the other cable would not let us use the full techstream features (such as the reset memory!)

Worst part of the whole thing is the location of trying to do the wiring harness brackets atleast if you are like us and having to do it in your driveway on jack stands. Maybe if it was being done with a full shop lift and all it wouldnt be so terrible but man trying to get up in there in that little space was a PITA. WE had all the tools already as husband is a heavy equipment and aircraft mechanic by trade but didnt have our own shop and lift. WeE also were having to make trips back and forth between TN and Louisiana to get this done at the end. Had a weekend we drove down to just swap uninstall and drive to swap out the non-working unit and then had stored it at our old house in the empty garage until we could drive down again and spend a weekend installing it and testing it before driving it to our new house.

 

[BlkGX2011]

Hey Jellin,

I just did my transmission swap and I also have an issue where the truck isn't doing anything in Drive or Reverse. I followed the manual as best i could as well.

Did the dealership give you any problems with swapping out the transmission unit for another one by telling them you did it yourself?
I dont want them to tell me that since I did it myself that its on my dime for another unit.
Not sure how you worded it.

Also, side note, for the scanner, I used the following one ($88) with a version of Techstream I found online and it worked for viewing the Engine Data List and Reset Memory function: VXDiag VCX NANO for TOYOTA TIS Techstream V18.00.008 USB Version - https://www.vxdiagshop.com/wholesale/vxdiag-vcx-nano-for-toyota-compatible-with-sae-j2534.html

So just an alternative if anyone cares.
All on a virtual machine cause I didn't want it to mess up my base OS haha

 

[BC11SVT]

Hey Jellin,

I just did my transmission swap and I also have an issue where the truck isn't doing anything in Drive or Reverse. I followed the manual as best i could as well.

Did the dealership give you any problems with swapping out the transmission unit for another one by telling them you did it yourself?
I dont want them to tell me that since I did it myself that its on my dime for another unit.
Not sure how you worded it.

Also, side note, for the scanner, I used the following one ($88) with a version of Techstream I found online and it worked for viewing the Engine Data List and Reset Memory function: VXDiag VCX NANO for TOYOTA TIS Techstream V18.00.008 USB Version - https://www.vxdiagshop.com/wholesale/vxdiag-vcx-nano-for-toyota-compatible-with-sae-j2534.html

So just an alternative if anyone cares.
All on a virtual machine cause I didn't want it to mess up my base OS haha

See post #11. He got a defective unit, the 2nd unit was fine.

How much fluid did you add?

 

[BlkGX2011]

See post #11. He got a defective unit, the 2nd unit was fine.

How much fluid did you add?

Yeah, Im thinking that I also received a defective unit.
I added about 7 quarts of ATF WS before starting the truck, as thats all it took before overflowing at the refill plug. I turned it on a couple of times and let it idle for a couple minutes. Went back and added another 4 quarts. Then tried doing the idle control function by doing the P->R->N->D->S->D->N but never got it to do it. So just waited for the temp to get between 115-126°F and open the overflow plug. Still nothing.
Also, going back to Park made a grinding noise.

 

[thescreensavers]

Yeah, Im thinking that I also received a defective unit.
I added about 7 quarts of ATF WS before starting the truck, as thats all it took before overflowing at the refill plug. I turned it on a couple of times and let it idle for a couple minutes. Went back and added another 4 quarts. Then tried doing the idle control function by doing the P->R->N->D->S->D->N but never got it to do it. So just waited for the temp to get between 115-126°F and open the overflow plug. Still nothing.
Also, going back to Park made a grinding noise.

Sounds like more going on especially with the grinding sounds but with a fresh trans you need to work out all the air + the trans takes closer to 12 quarts. Since you got no fluid out of the overflow it's still low on oil.