The Trusty Gear Box Problem

[COLD]

Hi Guys

gear box problems 1st to 2nd

Old topic here I know but was wandering if any of you out there have managed to convince Lexus

that this is not 'a characteristic of the car" its just :tsktsk: build quality of the gear box.

Car in for a service on thursday and was going to try and get it sorted again!

any thought :)

[Monster-Mat]

i dont find the gearbox a problem at all........

never have, and ive had 3 Lexus IS200.

[COLD]

Glad yours have been ok mate but mine doesnt feel good. even worse when the girlfriend drives it.

[Monster-Mat]

to be honest im stuck for words.

front engined rear wheel drive cars i have driven that use the same type of gearbvox as fitted to the IS2 all have the same "traits", this includes BMW, Mercedes and Some Fords

if it is from cold, again many gearbox's will suffer from stiffness if its a f/r layout, due to the mass of the gears on the layshafts.

try changing the oil, or adding one of these "fancy" oils

[COLD]

Its a 'trait' I dont want though. just found a link where a guy has had his sorted took about 8 months of complaining though!

as for the oils I have just been reading about them so will try that or at least tell them to change it on the 40k service.

[Rob]

had my gearbox replaced because of the bad gearchange, head tech showed me a doc saying only do something if the customer complains a lot otherwise leave it.

the hubs and cones were worn after about 30K.

crap manufacturing more like it.

[chib1177]

well mines just gone in today to be fixed, i didnt even complain i just sort of mentioned it in passing during my service last week and they booked it straight in without question.

will update when i get it back on friday :)

coz saturday im fitting my trd shifter :D

[PhoneDrome]

You can sort this out with a TRD Shortshifter ;)

[Rob]

u can sort out the worn gearbox components with a trd short shifter??

[marcus]

had my gearbox replaced because of the bad gearchange,  head tech showed me a doc saying only do something if the customer complains a lot otherwise leave it.

the hubs and cones were worn after about 30K.

crap manufacturing more like it.

←

Im with Matt on this,..............my car has done 100.000 miles and my gearbox is ok and i drive the IS alot harder then most, and my gears are ok and out of that 100,000 i have done 40,000 ;)

[Rob]

had my gearbox replaced because of the bad gearchange,  head tech showed me a doc saying only do something if the customer complains a lot otherwise leave it.

the hubs and cones were worn after about 30K.

crap manufacturing more like it.

←

Im with Matt on this,..............my car has done 100.000 miles and my gearbox is ok and i drive the IS alot harder then most, and my gears are ok and out of that 100,000 i have done 40,000 ;)

←

only what i have experienced! if ur gearbox is ok then ur lucky a lot of others are not

[PhoneDrome]

u can sort out the worn  gearbox components with a trd short shifter??

←

Mine has 120.000km on the clock and there is no "clunkyness" in shift from 1st to 2nd with the TRD Shorthifter fitted. It's gone.

Or am I on the wrong topic?

[chib1177]

well like i said wait until friday and i will tell you all about whether or not my new gearbox from lexus makes any difference.

then when i fit my trd shifter on saturday morning ill be able to tell you whether that is the answer to all our problems.

hopefully after this i will be able to provide the definitve review on what works and what doesnt.

[Fever]

Mine has 120.000km on the clock and there is no "clunkyness" in shift from 1st to 2nd with the TRD Shorthifter fitted. It's gone.

Or am I on the wrong topic?

No not at all...I know what your saying...with the shortshifter the throw between 1st and 2nd is obviously shortened and it removes the feeling of "clunkyness" that some people get on the IS! I felt the same difference with my B&M.....

....However and unfortunately for Rob...you seem to be one of the more unlucky ones, as yours was knackered! Glad they replaced it for you in the end though! :)

[Rob]

u can sort out the worn  gearbox components with a trd short shifter??

←

Mine has 120.000km on the clock and there is no "clunkyness" in shift from 1st to 2nd with the TRD Shorthifter fitted. It's gone.

Or am I on the wrong topic?

←

did u have the clunkyness before??

[Rob]

Mine has 120.000km on the clock and there is no "clunkyness" in shift from 1st to 2nd with the TRD Shorthifter fitted. It's gone.

Or am I on the wrong topic?

No not at all...I know what your saying...with the shortshifter the throw between 1st and 2nd is obviously shortened and it removes the feeling of "clunkyness" that some people get on the IS! I felt the same difference with my B&M.....

....However and unfortunately for Rob...you seem to be one of the more unlucky ones, as yours was knackered! Glad they replaced it for you in the end though! :)

←

yes that true they did replace it , but at 60K it is back to the way it was!

[PhoneDrome]

u can sort out the worn  gearbox components with a trd short shifter??

←

Mine has 120.000km on the clock and there is no "clunkyness" in shift from 1st to 2nd with the TRD Shorthifter fitted. It's gone.

Or am I on the wrong topic?

←

did u have the clunkyness before??

←

Yes, for about 25.000km. It was out of warranty and never sorted. Than I fitted the B&M (for about 30.000km) and it was even worse. But I like it. It's hard. Now with TRD fitted I don't feel it anymore. Could be because of the change from the much stiffer B&M to the TRD. The TRD feels not as direct as the B&M I think. With the B&M I could feel the tooth of the gears while shifting. It's like sorting the gears by hand in the gearbox. But it's cool and I miss it.

I drove it in the morning and looked out for clunkyness. For me it's gone.

Let's wait for chib's comment.

[chib1177]

just spoke to lexus and im not getting my car back until next wednesday now

it apears that they have stripped down the gearbox and the synchro is worn along with the linkage

its only done 10200 miles

not sure what this means other than i wont be in a position to review it until then

sorry

[Steve ( West Mids )]

They should be putting a new gearbox in, surely ???? Not bodging it ...

[Rob]

dealers were told to repair the worn parts rather than replace the gearbox as it is cheaper.

[PhoneDrome]

Very interesting. What is replaced? And what does it cost?

[COLD]

Hi guys alots happend since my original post! Car went in for service no probs they still say gears are ok they changed the gearbox oil and they say it has sorted the problem out but it is still there! They did say any problems bring it in and they will strip it down taking a few days so back to NOTTINGHAM we go! Will keep you all informed.

[lofty]

Hi Guys

gear box problems 1st to 2nd 

Old topic here I know but was wandering if any of you out there have managed to convince Lexus 

that this is not 'a characteristic of the car" its just  :tsktsk:  build quality of the gear box.

←

Hi m8

Lexus most certainly DO recognise this trait/fault.

I had a 200se for about 3 years (sold it last year - but still drop in on here now and again)

Firstly let me say that I loved the car, BUT, when I paid the thick end of 20k the last thing I expected was a clunky gearchange! It is easy to over exaggerate the problem, as it becomes a bit like chinese water torture. Every time you change up from 1st to 2nd its there. Not a CRUNCH, but an annoying little bit of resistance, and a unnerving metal on metal "noise".

Mine had the "notchy" 1st to 2nd. I complained several times. The first time I complained I got a "technicians report" stating that the gearbox was fine. Eventually they agreed to change the gearbox oil for a "stiffer"one. This did improve things slightly, but still not to my satisfaction. Eventually I spoke to a really switched on mechanic at another dealership, and he showed me a copy of a document which he told me all Lexus dealers had been issued with. There were a large group of chassis numbers between "xxxxxx" and "yyyyyy" that Lexus would do something about IF the customer pestered them for long enough (or words to that effect). The course of action was 1) put stiffer gear oil in 2) strip and replace gearbox bits as necessary.(wouldnt replace gearbox - too costly)

In fairness, option 2 was offered to me, but I really didnt want the hassle of having the gearbox on a nearly new motor being fiddled about with. Especially as the mechanic said he could offer me no guarantee that the notchiness would disappear even after a strip and rebuild. What also put me off was the fact that he said his team had never done this in an IS200 !

Having said all that, I noticed the notchiness on EVERY IS200 I ever drove. Including the ones supposedly out of the chassis range that the dealer showed me.

Also, it NEVER got any worse over all the time I had it.

But, don't be fobbed off !

Regards

Lofty

[mattstheone]

Had my IS over a year now and mine is fine got the car with 83k motoway miles

and i have done 20k and it glides perfectly through all gears

i must admit before i purchased the car i looked on this site and was nearly

put off buying a IS200, reading about Gearbox problems,

as i mention in an earlier post the only problem i have got is crying headlamp from inside (condensation) but i can live with that SUMMERS COMING

so i will get them changed in OCT/NOV

Matt Boyce