Hello!

After reading the forums for a few weeks I was convinced to buy myself IS200 last week and I love it! I settled on a Y(01) IS200 Sport Navigator with 39K miles in Plat. Ice.

I used the forum's 'What Should I look for' guide and paid special attention to making sure there was no clutch judder. I presume this is when you release the clutch is has the effect of almost bouncing the plates together??

I've now found, with some miles under my belt, that when I change from 1st to 2nd I can feel a notchy/clunky action through the gear stick. When I then change from 2nd to 3rd the gear stick often is a little resistant for a brief moment. 3rd to 4th and so on are perfect and going back down are fine.
I have found that if I return the gear stick to the middle of the gear box I get a clean change but I'm not sure if this is just because of the extra time it takes.

I bought my last car (Saab 900) with 100K on the clock and that had a syncro mesh problem when changing into 3rd. It would make a horrible grinding noice as if I hadn't takend my foot off the clutch so I know what a seriously broken syncro mesh sounds like!

Has anyone experienced this and/or know if its just that the linkage is a little skewed or if I should start saving for a new gear box?
Surely I can't have been so unlucky to buy another car with a goosed gear box especially after just 39,000 miles.

Thanks in advance, Alastair

That sounds like the common characteristic of the gearbox. They don't all do it but many do and my one was the same. Never got worse in the two years of owning it. My wife was never bothered by it so I didn't do anything about it.

Without swapping the gearbox out the only thing I would try is replacing the gearbox oil with Red Line oil. Red Line oil has been known to sort out many a notchy gear change on many different cars.

MT-90 probably best for the IS gearbox
http://www.redlineoil.com/products_gearlub...=57&subcatID=18

Maybe You should try to train your shifting? I noticed that that notchy/clunky feeling is only on low rews i mean <4000 on 1st to 2nd gear. and only when car is cold, have driven other cars in the morning after cold night, noticed the same hard shifting, because of gearbox oil. If you try going high revs, You will feel nothing, or i am a shifting pro:) Personaly i feel nothing, except 2nd gear is harder in the traffic jams when i drive in very very low revs, however if you know how and where to put it, there will be no problems.

According to my local Lexus dealer, this is a "feature" of the IS200

I think you'll see the same problem mentioned quite a few times on here!

My IS200 does this too, mostly if I try to change up too quickly and the car is cold.

If you wait a couple of seconds before engaging second (I assume this is to let the revs drop) then you don't get the clunk. Of course if you're in a hurry, going uphill, etc. then you can't avoid it.

And with a short shifter fitted it gets even louder (and harder).

This is cool. I like that clunk

Well just to let you know i also get the clunk and notchyness, same old story its the NOrm. Hard to believe though since ive had a courtesy car for a couple of days that dsnt have this notchy/clunking noise, and apparently its the same gearbox that is in mine.....SO lexus wat is the real story behind the gearbox...???...coz it cnt be a characteristic if some cars dnt do it....!!!!!!!!...hhhmmmmm...some conspiracy here if u ask me...a luxury car manufacturer would have surely done all the experiments and research in order to make the IS200 competative to real in possible owners from there competiters....
All i can say the lexus has a long way to go before it gets into the BMW & mercedez league, i even believe the New honda Accord is much better...

I thought gearboxes from end 2002 don't have this problem.

Thats wat they tell me too, but it seems as though this characteristics hav come back to haunt them........
Mines a 53 plate and does hav all this notchy/cluncking noise, unless they took my original gearbox out for another customer and put his in mine seeing as though it takes weeks for them to get one in....u'll be surprised how cunning the main dealers can be.....ive walked in on many a dealer having mibile paint jobs done at the back of the four court......and i dnt just mean stone chips....!!!!

Fuzzyfelt

Hi mate

Just for your peace of mind, I've had mine just over three years, and It's always had the slightly notchy 1st to 2nd, and to a lesser extent 2nd to 3rd. It's always worse when cold. I logged my concerns with Lexus from day one. Their answer was to replace the gearbox oil.!!

Anyway, it has never got any worse, and is exactly the same now as it was three years ago.

Cheers
Lofty.

Thanks for removing my post Did it contain anything people shoudn't know? Or was I talking absolute rubbish?

FYI I told I liked the gearbox despite its excentricities. It's in Honda/Mazdas roadsters too.

RX-Men-8

Your post hasn't been removed. You have just confused yourself, there are two active threads at the moment about gearbox issues:
http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...topic=17405&hl=

Thanks Colin

Cheers guys for all your advice, I'll guess I'll have to learn to love it.

+ Sorry for not searching before hand, I wouldn't have dreamed that it was a problem that was this common


Next up, what's with the climate control being so unpredictable

id be intrested to know how many of you drove FWD cars before the IS200.

the clunkyness is a trait of Front engine rear wheel drive cars......especially when cold.

the same gearbox is used in quite a few different cars.....they all have the same "issues"
the agricultural feeling of the gearbox, isnt a bad sign, its showing its ruggedness.

the is200 isnt really an Executive car........its a toyota, pulled from the Toyota saloon production line and rebadged to give Lexus a stepping stone into the medium saloon sector.

remeber aswell this car has been in production since 1998.....

id rather have the is200.than a B w, THEY BUILD FAULTS INTO THEM NOW

Well ive just been told that a gearbox oil change wld help the notchy noise im getting, but for them to change it, it wld COST ME....anyone out there that has been charged to change gearbox oil after complaining about ths gearbox noise, just for the sake of trial and error

How hard is it to change gearbox oil....????
is alot of work involved, is it best for lexus to change the oil for me and me be charged at a ridiculous rate, please advise....!!!

Where can i get hold of this Red Line MT-90 from for my gearbox...???
Any places in the UK, West Yorkshire..???
Is it ready available at the Lexus/Toyota garages ?????

You can get it direct from the Redline UK, I think demon tweeks also sell it

http://www.redlineoil.co.uk/
http://www.redlineoil.co.uk/products/mt90.htm


It's easy to drain the oil, the fill is on the side of the gearbox so you need to be squeeze new oil in.

You're absolutely right, Mat. I learned to shift on a Ford Super Major Nothing like the feel of heavy cogs and cold and thick transmission oil.

For the complainers, be glad that the IS doesnt have a transaxle.

RX-Men-8

Same here, the quick shifter is so much better than stock it is unreal, as standard the IS200 manual gearbox is very sloppy indeed!

i wouldnt call it sloppy

Quite the opposite of sloppy.
How does "rifle bolt precise" sound. Click-clack!

Maybe not the right choice of word Mat but it's not very postive and there's just too much travel - I tried an old VW Golf and couldn't even feel the selection engaging, wasn't sure if it was in gear or not?

I've got to admit I wasn't sold on the short shifter when I first fitted it but now I'm used to it I wouldn't go back - as standard it is pretty smooth - I think it's the amount of travel that's the major problem in my opinion.

Saying that I had a Corsa as a hire car a few weeks back and that was totally *******, you had to lean out of the chair to get 1st in as there was that much travel! Got used to it but it was like stirring porridge! That's what I meant by 'sloppy'

Anyone here changed their gearbox oil with MT90?
Was there any noticible change, how hard to do etc?
Also, any tricks to refilling - Colin, when you say squeeze the new oil in I assume you have to 'pump' it uphill to get it in?
I know to check that the fill bolt can be undone before removing the drain!

Any advice appreciated.

i think your on drugs aido.......

the is200 gearbox is no where near slopy, infact its one of the best feeling gearbox's ive ever had the pleasure of using.

agree the short shiftyer improves it even more...........





more PCP for Aido please

Think it's the Bud

And is it me or does the short shifter reduce the clunking? Or is it just more likely I've got used to the box and know how to change gear to reduce / eliminate this?

i think the short shifter helps mate, mine dose

I've used a garden pressure sprayer before to get the oil into a gearbox.

The filler is also the level plug so you fill it up until it runs out (make sure the car is on level ground first)

what is the best short shifter to buy? and where from?
Cheers.