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Gs300 Mk 3 Diff Failure


rarcher
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I recently purchased an '09 GS300 ES from Lexus Edinburgh, pretty much the last of the breed and with just 19k mls on the clock. Shortly after became aware of an intermittent thump from the transmission either on kickdown or when changing back up from accelerating - more pronounced when in sport setting. Having traded in an '07 equivalent, I knew this was not right. Diagnosis by Lexus Cambridge took some time until removal of the diff drain plug showed large amounts of metal swarf on the magnetic plug and in the oil. Strip down of the diff showed that the pinion gear was floating axially on its shaft such that it could jam itself into the differential bevels and then release itself with a thump. You can imagine the damage this was doing. Diff was replaced with a brand new unit under warranty. The Cambridge service manager tells me that the replacement is a very recently released new design of differential. I wonder if this design change is related to my problem? Anyone out there experienced anything similar? BTW, Chris Pluck at Lexus Cambridge did a great job on keeping me posted on status, and Lexus Warranty people were also good.

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Hello and welcome to the LOC.

Sounds like a 100% manufacturing/mechanical failure but I haven't heard of a similar case.

There have been reported cases with diff problems with other manufacturers where the crown wheel is rivoted and these have failed, maybe Lexus have used the same method and now reverted back to nuts and bolts.

At least everything got sorted under warranty and I should think so with a mere 19K on the odometer.

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