P0894 and p2714 codes of death on an 80k transmission? (1 Viewer)

[maxmileage]

Ok, so, hoping, PRAYING , pleading with the powers that be that this is not the death of my Gx transmission.

Did a drain and fill on my 2014 GX with just over 79k on the clock and followed Toyota procedure precisely. Old fluid was in good shape, no stink, no black, no metal. Left it for the evening in the garage. Next morning I started up, let it idle for about thirty seconds like always, then pulled out and down the drive, out the back entrance of our community and along the little access road to the street. All normal. Turned right onto the street and started up a small hill and all of a sudden, slipping transmission. Immediately pulled over into a parking lot. No check lights flashed at all. Barely moving at this point. I turned it around and got it going back down the hill to the access road and up the the entrance of my community, then it barley made it up the hill and into the garage, slipping more and more as I pulled in.
Double checked fluid level. All good. Started it back up and dropped it in reverse. Reversed out of the garage with no issue or slipping. Into drive, and again, major slipping. Rolled back into my neighbors driveway and reversed up the hill to get back to my driveway and noticed that it was in limp mode, foot to the floor and only putting up the hill, but no slipping.
Checked codes and got a p0894 (shift solenoid malfunction in solenoid valve SLT, S1, S2, S3, S4, or SL2, or 1-2 shift valve) and p2714 (ecm detects malfunction in shift solenoid SLT (on side).

I dropped the pan and it looked good, no metal, no sludge, just the normal small amount of fines stuck to the magnets and the filter looked fine too. Bench tested all relevant solenoids and all checked good.
In the service manual it states to check fluid pressure while operating the SLT solenoid for proper function which I don’t have the ability to do in my garage. So, at the end of my capabilities in my garage, I have talked with a reputable, local shop that specializes in Japanese vehicles, mostly Toyotas, and have it scheduled to be towed there tomorrow with a diagnostic either tomorrow or Monday. The advisor I spoke with was obviously knowledgeable on our transmissions as I spoke with him and he helped to keep my hopes alive that it is something that can be fixed without having to toss the transmission. I am trying to stay positive, but as I have scoured the internet for some others in my boat, I have yet to find a happy ending.
I have driven this thing around for a few months now with ZERO issues. I have just about gotten it set up for some serious overlanding action and now this. Feeling pretty bad about it all, but trying very hard to stay positive as I really love the vehicle and have invested heavily in it. No matter what happens I will keep it. I am in too deep to give up on it if the transmission is shot. I will just have to do what is needed to get it going again and deal with it.
Hoping to hear some good news from the shop and keeping hope alive. Think good thoughts for me guys. I really don’t want to be the owner of the lowest mileage, failed Toyota transmission in history.

 

[r2m]

In your third paragraph you say you, "...dropped the pan...". Was that your engine or tranny pan? If it was your tranny pan, shouldn't it be perfectly clean with nothing stuck to the magnets since you just did a drain? I've never dealt with transmissions, I leave that to the pros, so are there magnets in the tranny for catching particulate? Or were you referring to the drain plug for the engine?

 

[maxmileage]

I

In your third paragraph you say you, "...dropped the pan...". Was that your engine or tranny pan? If it was your tranny pan, shouldn't it be perfectly clean with nothing stuck to the magnets since you just did a drain? I've never dealt with transmissions, I leave that to the pros, so are there magnets in the tranny for catching particulate? Or were you referring to the drain plug for the engine?

I dropped the transmission pan. When I removed the transmission pan it looked to me as if it had never been removed (no marks on bolt heads, clean OE gasket surface, and OE filter, also nothing in the vehicle maintenance records to show any transmission work was done). In the bottom of the pan there are a few flat magnets to collect metal flakes and fines that come off of the friction plates or any other ferrous metal to give you an idea of how much wear is happening inside. Since these are in the bottom of the pan they collect over time and unless you remove the pan there is no way to clean these magnets off. If there are big wads of metal stuck to the magnets then I would know that I had destroyed or severely worn some metal component inside the transmission. I found no such metal in my pan, only a very small amount of fine material that is normal after 80k worth of driving, and also no such material in the ATF when I did the drain and fill, which leads me to believe I have a hydraulic pressure issue rather than worn out friction plates. Which I guess is good. But, why I am not getting hydraulic pressure is what I hope the shop can answer. And also fix without having to pull the transmission. I did bench test the solenoids that control the flow of fluid and all checked good. But, I believe they act differently under pressure and at temp. I am just really hoping that it is something that can be repaired without having to rebuild the transmission. I would be VERY interested to hear from anyone who has dealt with anything like this on such a low mileage vehicle. Hell, any information at all would be welcome at this point. Tow truck arrives in 30 minutes.

 

[Acrad]

Do you know the service history of your vehicle? This would be a first at that mileage I have heard of that wasn't a dark color.

Just makes me think a previous fluid replacement service was done.

What fluid did you use?

 

[maxmileage]

Do you know the service history of your vehicle? This would be a first at that mileage I have heard of that wasn't a dark color.

Just makes me think a previous fluid replacement service was done.

What fluid did you use?

I got a pretty complete service history at purchase. No signs of any transmission work or issues. No major repairs that I could find, and no signs of any work done. It doesn’t look like the factory tow hitch has ever even been used. It has performed flawlessly since I purchased it until this. I have definitely not abused it at all. Fluid looked and smelled good when I drained it. Filled it with WS purchased from the Toyota service department following official procedure.
Have you heard of one going out this early at all? I am just sick to my stomach about it. I know if it is toast that it is a one in a million type thing, but damn, I’d do not want to be the one. Just holding out hope that the shop will find a solution that I can stomach.
Should find out by Monday what the verdict is. It’s at the shop and in the cue for diagnostic.

 

[Acrad]

Only one I recall going out this early was caused by radiator failure that introduced coolant into the AT fluid. I am aware this failure is common on other makes... this is an anomaly failure on 460.

Was it a service history that appeared to be "all" at Lexus?

Or were there gaps where services could have been performed as well outside of tracking?

 

[r2m]

Should find out by Monday what the verdict is. It’s at the shop and in the cue for diagnostic.

Kind of a double whammy suck, since it's also a weekend, 2 more days without your rig.

 

[maxmileage]

Not

Only one I recall going out this early was caused by radiator failure that introduced coolant into the AT fluid. I am aware this failure is common on other makes... this is an anomaly failure on 460.

Was it a service history that appeared to be "all" at Lexus?

Or were there gaps where services could have been performed as well outside of tracking?

Not all service was done at Lexus. But it did seem to get taken care of. All services at lexus until warranty expired. Services for oil changes after were from a few oil change places. But no Jiffy lubes or sketchy stuff that i could glean. They did go back to lexus for tie rods and a few other little things at some point around 60k, i think i remeber that right (the history is currently in the glove box and the vehicle is at the shop). But that was the only real "Work" that was documented. Also, I have been over this thing every which way during the last few months and it didn't seem to me that it had been touched other than the tie rods and oil changes. They even kept the drive shaft lubed up. 1 owner, No Mods, older lady, I think a Grandma due to the baby seat imprints in the back seats and grandma perfume smell. I got it after she traded it in for a Lincoln.
You never can know all of it though, it very well could of had something done somewhere that was off. But, there was nothing that would indicate a catastrophic transmission failure coming like this, suddenly, zero warning. still hoping for a good outcome.

 

[maxmileage]

Kind of a double whammy suck, since it's also a weekend, 2 more days without your rig.

yep, bummed for sure.

 

[Toyoland66]

I’m not familiar with the 460 transmission but am with the A750 so wondering if the procedure is similar with a overflow plug that you pull when the transmission is at temp which will give you the final fill level?

When you do that the engine needs to be running, otherwise the level of fluid in the pan will be too full and you will drain too much fluid leaving it under full when running.

 

[Acrad]

A760 is the same for overflow procedure

OP…sorry..don’t have anymore to add..seems like a freak failure that was coincidentally right at fluid drain/fill…I’m no expert but many state if AT went after a fluid change it was close to failure anyway

This still doesn‘t explain early failure and unfortunately do not have explanation for failure.

I have seen a number try solenoid replacement but can’t recall that generally fixing. It seems like major torque converter failure ends up being the cause and requiring AT replacement.

 

[maxmileage]

I’m not familiar with the 460 transmission but am with the A750 so wondering if the procedure is similar with a overflow plug that you pull when the transmission is at temp which will give you the final fill level?

When you do that the engine needs to be running, otherwise the level of fluid in the pan will be too full and you will drain too much fluid leaving it under full when running.

Yep, that’s how it goes. Gotta pin the thermostat for the cooler too.

 

[maxmileage]

A760 is the same for overflow procedure

OP…sorry..don’t have anymore to add..seems like a freak failure that was coincidentally right at fluid drain/fill…I’m no expert but many state if AT went after a fluid change it was close to failure anyway

This still doesn‘t explain early failure and unfortunately do not have explanation for failure.

Thanks man. just got a call from the shop and they are gonna drop the pan and go through the wiring and valve body. So, hoping for a bad connection or a blockage somewhere that can be rectified. I am gonna check out of all of this for the weekend and try to get this off my mind. I’ll check back in with more on Monday/Tuesday.

 

[Acrad]

OP: You have probably already seen the FSM as you are looking at solenoids but for others here is troubleshooting for those codes

https://lexusgxor.com/_media/general:p0894.pdf

 

[maxmileage]

Well, it’s toast.
Guys at the shop tested all solenoids, wiring, and valve body. All good. Analysis of fluid shows massive amount of friction material present. I checked my sample here again in a small jar with a bright light behind it and can concur, massive amount of friction material. Looks like liquid glitter. I didn’t notice it before because I wasn’t really looking for it. I was looking for metal flakes. Chunks stuck to the magnets and burnt fluid. This stuff is super fine and much easier to see in the extra clean fresh fluid that I put in after I dropped the trans pan. Whatever, maybe I just didn’t want to see it. I don’t know anymore. Doesn’t really matter now anyway. It’s over.
I am pretty gutted, even though I had been preparing myself for this, it hurts. I have put so much sweat and money and time into this thing over the past few months to get it built up for my dream overland rig that this makes it extra painful. My heart is hurting, not to mention my wallet. Already spent so much on this rig that I can’t give up on it even if I wanted to(and I don’t).

I am trying not to blame myself for this happening. I know I didn’t cause the damage, but I did buy the vehicle. I tried, like we all do, to find the Gx in the best condition I could, with service records and 1 owner, low miles and no signs of abuse. It felt solid and I felt good about it. But, even with all that, it’s a machine that can break at any moment. That’s the nature of machines I guess. Everybody gotta lose sometime.

Trying not to let this shake my faith in the reliability of these trucks. This is an anomaly for sure. I hate that it happened to me. The irony is I moved on from a Jeep GC to the GX because of reliability issues with Jeep. I still think this GX is gonna be more reliable overall, as crazy as that sounds right now.

Another rub is that my wife has already taken the month of October off for us to travel in the new rig. She is starting a new job and thought this would be the perfect time to go on a huge overlanding trip. It was perfect. Was.

Gonna move forward with repairs ASAP to try and scrape something out of my wife’s time off. Got a reman from Lexus ordered today (1yr/12k warranty) and should have it by this time next week, installed by the end of next week/early following week if all goes as planned. Not gonna discuss pricing as that is just something I don’t like to do. Anyone can look it up anyway. The install work is being reasonably priced and I have faith in the guys doing it that it will be done right. So, that’s good enough.

I have some music gear that I am reluctantly selling, a Tepui rtt, some power tools, maybe a kidney, hell, anything I can find of value really, to help fund the repairs.

The bright side is that today is mine and the wife’s anniversary, and she isn’t even going to leave me over all of this. She’s the best. She really is great and has helped me to not blame myself and kept me from jumping off the roof for this happening. Still feel very responsible for this jam we are in and don’t know how not to really.

We are lucky enough to be able to afford this financial hit, not easy at all but we can do it. At least we don’t have kids to feed, cause they would be hungry for a while.

Anyway, ugh.
Maybe the nightmare will be over in a couple weeks and I can post of happier days out on the trail. Til that happy day….
Bender is sleeping.

 

[Rednexus]

Sorry to hear it is toast but you have a great attitude about it!

 

[fvedmo]

Oh man, hard news to take. Maybe you'll look back and laugh one day, after all your great GX adventures...

Thank you for the continued detailed updates.

 

[aztoytec]

Atleast it didn’t happen during your vacation. Could have been a lot worse. I’m sure the rest of the truck will be fine and have many more miles to enjoy.

 

[GXO]

Most failures at 80k miles on used GXes are the PO knowingly or unknowingly beating the tar out of it, realizing it is clapped, and selling. I doubt there is a way for you to have possibly predicted. I have seen a LOT of 460s on the board and GXOR have issues and be sold to someone at 80-125k and immediately have a transmission, cooling, CVs, or valley/water pump repair.

 

[Rednexus]

I've always heard that burnt fluid, full of friction material, will basically hold a failing transmission together until the fluid is changed (thereby removing the friction material that was keeping it from slipping). If it was that bad, it was going to fail soon regardless of the fluid being changed or not. Can't help but wonder if the PO just got it hot too many times pulling passes in the AZ heat or something.

From my GX470 experience, transmission cooling on the Prado platform is woefully undersized, and the AT TEMP light doesn't kick on until something like 300F, when the fluid is already cooked. Either way, this can be rectified by adding an aftermarket auxiliary cooler and then watching transmission temps under hard use via Torque Pro and an OBDII dongle, neither of which are particularly expensive.