GX460 P2714 P0761 Ultimate Summary and Hope For A Fix Thread

[StriderWolf]

Just an FYI on a Lexus Reman Transmission cost…

If you buy online direct from Lexus, note the dealers it provides in your area as they have a discounted price vs. any Lexus dealer. In Denver, we have 3-4 Lexus dealers and 2 have a discounted pricing agreement online with Lexus. IF you buy from a discounted Lexus dealer the price is $3,300 without core charge. The closest dealer that had no online discount agreement was $5,500!!!

I called both part departments as I was confused on the price difference and later the higher one mentioned the agreement some Lexus dealers have who do more online business. At first I thought I had the wrong parts from each. But wow, $2000 is a huge swing in price.

We have been watching this thread for 2 years in hopes of a cure. We have continued to do sport mode until the transmission warms up and then drive normal. We’ve considered having a shop diagnose and fix some of the items we’ve all mentioned, but we might be past that. Additionally, a full Lexus Reman swap would be $5500-6000 vs. the smaller shop fixes that could start to be $2000-3000 and may not fix it. Once reverse or shifting between gears is an issue, we’ll finally pull the trigger on a full swap as our 2011 115k ride is absolutely flawless outside of this terrible flaw.

Cheers all and thanks to contributing to this thread so we call can learn, hope for a fix and/or get the best path for a swap.

 

[TXCOMT]

Just joined the forum…got an ‘18 GX460 for the wife on Monday with 79K miles here in the Lone Star State. What’s the most recent year model folks here have reported having tranny issues?

TXCOMT

 

[StriderWolf]

Just joined the forum…got an ‘18 GX460 for the wife on Monday with 79K miles here in the Lone Star State. What’s the most recent year model folks here have reported having tranny issues?

TXCOMT

Unsure, but a lot of 2011-13 have this issue if you watch Facebook groups when the weather dips or forums.

I don’t think there are as many reported problems 2014+. Obviously some, but no where near the 2011-13.

 

[swild]

Unsure, but a lot of 2011-13 have this issue if you watch Facebook groups when the weather dips or forums.

I don’t think there are as many reported problems 2014+. Obviously some, but no where near the 2011-13.

At what mileage do they typically see this happening?

 

[StriderWolf]

At what mileage do they typically see this happening?

I have seen as low as 76k and all the way up to 200k. A lot of folks on this thread discuss drain and fills at proper times and some ad a cooler.

 

[r2m]

Just joined the forum…got an ‘18 GX460 for the wife on Monday with 79K miles here in the Lone Star State. What’s the most recent year model folks here have reported having tranny issues?

TXCOMT

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the wife's new ride! Great choice!
Regarding your comment above, you may want to rephrase that to, "What's the lowest mileage one has had before having tranny issues?"
For myself, I'm at about 113,000 and never had an issue. I also keep an eye on my trans temperatures with an OBDII bluetooth to my phone. I can see both the torque converter and trans temperatures in real time while driving.
If you have worries, you may consider getting one. But if it's the wife's car and all she's doing is tootling around town, no long trips, or heavy trailers, I'd never worry about it.
The people who do have issues are either:

1. Never service their transmission
2. Tow to the limit... often
3. Are very heavy overlanders (Ah-hemm... I think I just referenced myself here)
4. Or all of the above.

 

[TXCOMT]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the wife's new ride! Great choice!
Regarding your comment above, you may want to rephrase that to, "What's the lowest mileage one has had before having tranny issues?"
For myself, I'm at about 113,000 and never had an issue. I also keep an eye on my trans temperatures with an OBDII bluetooth to my phone. I can see both the torque converter and trans temperatures in real time while driving.
If you have worries, you may consider getting one. But if it's the wife's car and all she's doing is tootling around town, no long trips, or heavy trailers, I'd never worry about it.
The people who do have issues are either:

1. Never service their transmission
2. Tow to the limit... often
3. Are very heavy overlanders (Ah-hemm... I think I just referenced myself here)
4. Or all of the above.

Yep, you nailed it…my better half is literally driving a few miles to work, shop, etc., here in North Texas. No towing (even though it has a nice receiver) and no crossbars. Is a tranny flush and fill or drop and drain recommended by those who know at this point?

TXCOMT

 

[Cold Iron]

Just joined the forum…got an ‘18 GX460 for the wife on Monday with 79K miles here in the Lone Star State. What’s the most recent year model folks here have reported having tranny issues?

TXCOMT

Yep, you nailed it…my better half is literally driving a few miles to work, shop, etc., here in North Texas. No towing (even though it has a nice receiver) and no crossbars. Is a tranny flush and fill or drop and drain recommended by those who know at this point?

TXCOMT

It isn't year of make as much as miles on the tranny. Like @StriderWolf said some as low as 80K. 120K-180K seem the most common and in reality that is a lot of miles don't care who makes it. Facebook GX 460 group and Club Lexus have a lot of traffic and most don't tow or even see dirt, and have no mods they are kid haulers and grocery getters. The common theme with those failing seems to be living in the deep South where it gets very hot in the summer. With a disproportionately large number of them being in Florida and Texas.

Another common theme is I haven't seen anyone that added an external tranny cooler or do a simple drain and fill every 60K have any tranny issues. Personally I would not do a tranny flush especially with 79K on it but I would add a cooler and do a drain and fill while you're at it. Especially living in Texas. Might as well drop the pan and replace the filter while at it but it isn't much of a filter. I'm not going to drop the pan on mine for the next drain and fill which will happen every 30K from now on.

 

[Acrad]

Current extreme condition maintenance guide from Lexus shows 18 month/15k mile front/rear differential fluid changes and 60k mile AT fluid changes


Heavy loading and slow driving.. whether city, freeway crawl and definitely off road apply to most

 

[Cold Iron]

Current extreme condition maintenance guide from Lexus shows 18 month/15k mile front/rear differential fluid changes and 60k mile AT fluid changes

You made me look Acrad, and that is not a bad thing A year ago I downloaded the Lexus GX owners manual from Dubai as the Middle East market doesn't reflect marketing guidance like the North America market does. Toyota modifies guidance for NA to reflect lower Total Cost of Ownership and of course CAFE standards. Doesn't matter so much what the engineers say it should be, Scott Adams made a pretty good living with the Dilbert cartoon which reflected and made fun of marketing execs. When someone says what does Toyota\Lexus say I cringe as it is set by marketing in the US. Not the engineers that designed it.

The Middle East market doesn't have that issue so I downloaded the manual from there to see what the oil change interval really should be when I purchased my GX. Sure enough 6K OCI for normal driving and 3K OCI for extreme conditions. And yes that is using Toyota 0-20W synthetic oil. I split the difference at ~5K. Or less, never more.

In the Middle East where the Engineers are able to get the correct data published without interference from marketing the ATF should be replaced at 48K

Pretty sure when a Lexus engineer sees lifetime ATF listed for NA they pucker up hard and pull out a Dilbert poster.

 

[FloydtheQPilot]

@FloydtheQPilot - Excellent write up, thanks for adding to the group!

Curious - Once you finished this process and buttoned it back up, did the codes go away or are you still experiencing them? Thanks!

Codes didn’t clear…. Replaced the all 9 solenoids today with an aftermarket kit from Amazon ($186). Seemed to work, but waiting to see if the codes clear.

 

[FloydtheQPilot]

Id also look into adding a Magnefine filter or similar to help reduce VB wear and protect your new trans.

Solenoid replacement is fairly easy. It’s very easy to remove the solenoids. If you can change spark plugs, you can change solenoids…

 

[FloydtheQPilot]

Any update on new valve body? Seems as if there is no definite fix for this issue yet.

I just did a solenoid swap using a $186 kit from amazon. Sluggish at first. Shifting all gears was sporadic (reverse was slow); like there was air in the pressure solenoid valve or somewhere in the system. After about 5-6 miles of driving and a few reverse gear tries, all seems to be shifting great. I’ll keep you posted.

 

[r2m]

Yep, you nailed it…my better half is literally driving a few miles to work, shop, etc., here in North Texas. No towing (even though it has a nice receiver) and no crossbars. Is a tranny flush and fill or drop and drain recommended by those who know at this point?

TXCOMT

With all due respect, you still didn't post the mileage on your GX.
At about 100,000 miles I did a drain and fill on my tranny from my local certified mechanic who I trust and have used for over 30 years. (note: not a Lexus dealer).
When he drained it, he stated it was kind of dark, but nothing to worry about.

 

[thescreensavers]

Yep, you nailed it…my better half is literally driving a few miles to work, shop, etc., here in North Texas. No towing (even though it has a nice receiver) and no crossbars. Is a tranny flush and fill or drop and drain recommended by those who know at this point?

TXCOMT

Maintenance is always recommended, if you ignore your maintenance then you'll just have a higher chance of failure it's easy math.

New fluid full of fresh additives will protect and function better than old worn out fluid. Use what ever process disturbs the existing debris the least, aka drain and fill or fluid exchange.

Add in a Magnefine filter for added insurance to the valve body and keep on chugging.

 

[TXCOMT]

With all due respect, you still didn't post the mileage on your GX.
At about 100,000 miles I did a drain and fill on my tranny from my local certified mechanic who I trust and have used for over 30 years. (note: not a Lexus dealer).
When he drained it, he stated it was kind of dark, but nothing to worry about.

Err, post 245 of this thread begs to differ, but I’ll repeat myself…as I stated earlier, the wife’s new-to-her rig has 79K all-Texas miles.

TXCOMT

 

[BlkGX2011]

I recently bought a 2011 Lexus GX w/ 104k miles. I bought it used, private sale. I've had it for about 2 weeks now, driven only 300 miles. And just today, got the dreaded P2714 & P0761 code. It actually shifts fine.
Its been a Texas & Arizona car its whole life. I've looked through all 13 pages on this thread. All the info I gather, I've deduced that there is no solid, conclusive single fix, except a whole transmission replacement (then ensuring to follow the 60k mile service interval).

People stated replacing the speed output sensors, valve body, solenoids, cleaned connectors/wiring, fluid change with no success (some people have gotten lucky). I think all this research and investment by others will probably save people like me some money (by not throwing money into parts). I'll be investing my money for a transmission replacement.

Sucks that the whole reason I bought the GX was for its reliability and capabilities. I had a 2010 F150 5.4l w/ 230k miles that had a clunky transmission (was told by the shop it needed a new tranny). Now here I am, in the same boat but paid a premium.

 

[r2m]

Err, post 245 of this thread begs to differ, but I’ll repeat myself…as I stated earlier, the wife’s new-to-her rig has 79K all-Texas miles.

TXCOMT

Oops! Must have missed that post.
Thanks for the reiteration!

 

[TXCOMT]

Oops! Must have missed that post.
Thanks for the reiteration!

No worries…there’s a lot to read in this thread! Heck, my question was probably answered early on, but I was a little nervous about that tranny blowing up, so I wanted to get some info ASAP.

Sooo, I think I’ll head over to the local L dealership and let them replace the fluid while I get a drive-thru lunch in one of their complimentary loaners!!!

TXCOMT

 

[bladewerk]

The issue with the valve body wearing out is explained very well here: Diagnosing Solenoid Performance Faults in A761, AB60 & A960 6-Speed Transmissions - https://www.sonnax.com/tech_resources/345-diagnosing-solenoid-performance-faults-in-a761-ab60-a960-6-speed-transmissions
My replacement OEM valve body is on the way from Toyota, with new WS fluid, I will update here after I get it installed. I tried to get the reman trans from Lexus but they are on a nationwide back order.