Lexus ES 2013+ :: Transmission Whine As It Shifts
Jul 13, 2015
I have a 2013 ES350 with 3,000 miles on her. Heard a whine coming from the trany as it shifts? To me, it sounds like a power steering pump whine, but not as loud.
View 14 RepliesI have a 2013 ES350 with 3,000 miles on her. Heard a whine coming from the trany as it shifts? To me, it sounds like a power steering pump whine, but not as loud.
View 14 RepliesSo I noticed that my transmission shifts (jerks) a little rougher than the 3 previous Lexi's that I had when shifting into drive or reverse when the car isnt fully warmed up. Is that "normal?" Had 2 ESes and 1 RX and while I do feel a slight lurch, the GS is a bit rough. I usually let the RPM drop to 1k before driving off on warm or cold days.
Separate incident: I recall at one point, I was going reverse, stopped, quickly shifted into drive and gave it some pedal (not full throttle) and felt a noticeable "bang" and violent lurch forward. Could that have hurt the transmission? Is the computer smart enough to prevent damage? I'm thinking this might have been the cause of it.
There is only one thing I don't like about our new SF. The transmission shifts from 4th to 5th gear at approximately 60 km/hr (36 mph +/-) and the rpm's drop to 1500 rpm. Now, when I want to speed up a tad (which is a frequent occurrence when driving around town), there is a pronounced hesitation before it drops back into 4th gear and accelerates.
In 5th gear at 1500 revs, I find that the engine is 'lugging' a bit. Yesterday, I started to compensate for this by changing to manual shifting as soon as the trannie shifted into 4th gear and leaving it there when I was traveling in that 60 kph speed area. For me, this is MUCH better and I quite like doing some of the shifting any way since I spent so many years driving manual transmission equipped cars.
How have others found the car to be when driving around town? Other than that, I really enjoy this car. Easily the most comfortable seats of any car I've ever owned --- their design provides terrific lumbar support and the new cloth material has a great 'feel' to it.
Just experienced something new in my less than a week old 2.0T. This morning was the coldest day since buying it (-15c). I had the block heater plugged in and it started up well. Let the engine run for my usual 30-40 seconds before putting it into gear. Reversed well, but was a bit slow shifting after putting it into 1st.
For the first 5 minutes or so of the drive, the shift were pretty rough. Mostly the shift between 1st and 2nd gear. Things got better after that and were fine for the rest of my trip and also an hour later when I came home.
Is this just a case of a very cold transmission and fluid, or is it something else? I've never owned a car that had such rough shifting in cold weather. Sluggish shifts yes, but not violent like these were.
I just bought a brand new 2013 Elantra! I love the car, but over the past week or so I have started to feel the car's transmission (auto) jerk when it shifts from 3rd to 4th gear. I feel the car hesitate somewhat when going from 3rd and then jerk into 4th gear if that makes any sense. The car has less than 1000 miles and it never did it when I first bought it. The transmission was always smooth until recently. Also, when coasting down the road I feel the car jerk forward when I give it some gas which also feels very strange to me!?
View 37 RepliesI've always wondered why the transmission automatically shirts to 4th gear when I switch to sport mode! Is this normal??? It's an i4
View 14 RepliesI have a 4GS F Sport, about 2 months old. For the past few weeks, I've been hearing a whine that goes up and down with the RPMs. It almost sounds like the noise you would hear if you didn't ground an aftermarket radio correctly. Not sure if it was there when I drove it/bought it - I think I would have noticed it, but it seems to be getting louder, about as loud as the sound of the engine (unless I'm really getting on it and the resonator kicks in).
I have a buddy with the exact same car (different color, bought it a couple of weeks after I did) and the whine on his sounds much quieter - still there, just quieter. I've spoken to the dealer twice and have ridden with a tech. We drove mine and a GS Luxury. In the Luxury Edition you hear it but it is quieter, which he says is added insulation (first time I'd heard of any difference like that between the two). The tech said it is likely the alternator which is triple wound to handle all of the electrical requirements and it's just the way the car is.
Ok so a few days ago when I was at an ATM i stopped and revved my engine, i could hear a whining sound like bee/supercharger type. It gets pretty loud when i rev the engine and you could hear it whine down as the rpm drops. Now I put it in Sport mode and on drive and when I hit the gas I could clearly hear the whining noise even in the cabin, specially when I let off the gas and let the Sport mode keep the revs up high.
Pretty sure it has done this since I bought it, but I always have music on so maybe that's why I didn't hear it til now.
Lately, I've been having an issue with my 03 GX. It seems when the engine is cold and I back out of my driveway, when I put the truck into D, I feel the usual bump into drive, then it falls off and then a harder bump before I'm able to roll forward. If I don't pay attention and accelerate at the time the transmission seems to drop out of gear momentarily, the truck slams into gear and feels like I granny dropped it.
The truck is coming up on 120K. I've checked the transmission fluid and it is at the correct level.
For the first mile or so on cold mornings, by transmission shifts slowly - sort of a second or two delay until the car warms up. Is this normal?
View 3 RepliesI would like to replace the transmission fluid in my 2006 SC and do the mod to make shifting firm. I have read a few threads that post pictures of the pressure regulator dial in pre 06 to firm up shifting. One such thread is this. However, I have not come up with any for 06+ transmission.
View 9 RepliesPicked up a 2014 IS 350 F Sport (ultra white with red interior if curious) and have been having a blast with it over the weekend. One thing I noticed yesterday though was some transmission whine when accelerating, I drove it home about 25 miles so the tranny and engine where plenty warm and checked the fluid, and between the two indicators it was touching the bottom dot.
If I remember correctly this should be an accurate reading while the engine and transmission is hot, or am I remembering wrong?
The video below IS NOT my truck, though my truck makes the same sound. Mine isn't nearly as loud as the truck in the video at idle, but gets much louder when under load at about 1700-1900 rpm. If you take it easy accelerating it doesn't get any louder than at idle. At cruising speed in third it isn't audible. The trans in my truck is a 1979 C6. Again, not my video. Same noise though.
Transmission whine - YouTube....
I picked up a 2013 ES300h last weekend, love the car so far but have a few questions. If its cold in the morning (~50F) the car shakes for a few miles then goes away, I'm thinking its the tranny. I have the same thing happen with my 2014 Highlander (different transmission though).
I'm used to the VW and BMW forums where there are a lot of DIYs to add options that didn't originally come with the car. Is it possible to add the rear automatic sunshade, swap in a radio from a 14/15/16 ES, add ML sound system?
So I recently leased a 2015 GS 350 AWD. The car is great. Love all the features. However, for some reason I feel that the transmission is a bit I rough when it switches gears. I feel the kick. I also noticed a hang up or delay when slowing down. I am coming off a infiniti q50 and the transmission on that car was nice and smooth. Maybe I'm just too sensitive.
View 14 RepliesHeard a clunk and then have the car feel like something from the inside is trying to stop it when using the paddle shifters in manual mode. Specifically when downshifting from 2 to 1. By the way I did a slight throttle blip, I have done this before with very smooth results but this time it really scared me, I though the transmission broke for a second; when the car did what it did.
View 6 RepliesI have a 2013 ES350 with 8K miles. Since car has been new, experienced intermittent surging and uneven driving at speeds between 25-40mph. At times the RPM gauge will spike and other times RPM stays stable. It seems like it is searching for the right gear and very noticeable when it does this. I have tried different grades of gas, different driving modes. Nothing works. Problem is inconsistent but persistent.
Also, experiencing cruise control issues going up and down hills where vehicle feels like it trying slow itself down and then shifting hard to maintain speed.
I get my oil change at the Toyota dealership instead of Lexus and save quite a bit of money for my 2013 ES350. At the 30k service, Toyota technician said he noticed transmission fluid leaking at the axle seal." I was gonna show Lexus this at some point, or maybe get an oil change there at the 40k service.
View 3 RepliesI am coming from a 2001 Acura CL-S which is a 5 speed automatic, and that car wouldnt' change gears that quickly. I understand cars today change gears frequently to be in the best gear for fuel efficiency?
But I feel like my ES350 changes gears so much, even at the slightest speed change. Is this normal -perhaps it's because I haven't driven a new car since my 2001, 12 years ago! Even the slightest press on the pedal will downshift the car and into the lower gear, even on ECO setting. On my Acura, pressing lightly on the accel pedal didn't result in a lower gear, as I know the engine had more than enough torque.
I also love reliability, and this makes me think the transmission would have a shorter life span with all the shifting. I still haven't asked my dealer about how often to do tranny fluid changes (which I know is a different thread altogether about discussions about "lifetime" fluid).
I just purchased a 2013 ES 350, and I love the car!
Whenever I startup the car (engine hot or cold) and put it in drive or reverse,and lightly step on the gas to get the car moving, there is a weird stutter. Sort of like when your driving stick in the same scenario, but you let out the clutch a bit to fast and the engine wants to bog out, but your able to hit the gas just a bit more to keep it from stalling. If this were a manual transmission, I would disregard as we all know that can be a normal characteristic of manual transmission.
This being an automatic, I am worried that something could be off with the tranny or the engine.
I've noticed that my 2013 STX F150 4x4 5.0L shifts quite hard from 1st to 2nd. This clears up when I pull the battery cable for 30 minutes but comes back in about 2 weeks.
Is this a pretty normal thing?