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Salinger

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  • Lexus Model
    RX300, IS250

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  1. I had some Goodyear Eagle RSAs on my RX 400 that came with the rig. They held up pretty well but I didn't watch the alignment, so had to replace them at about 37,000 miles. That included running some Blizzak snow tires for 6 months for the past 3 winters. I bought some Michelin Energy MXV4s from Costco, and have run them about 1000 miles. They are supposed to get great gas mileage because of low rolling resistance. I re-set the MPG indicator when I got the new tires, and so far they are delivering slightly worse average gas mileage (about 23.7 mpg vs. 24.3 mpg before). That could be a result of mostly city driving for the last 1000 miles, winter gas/ethanol formula, temperature and other stuff, so I'm not blaming the Michelins yet. I did not notice any difference in noise or handling when I changed the Blizzaks to the Michelins. In other words, probably too early for me to tell.
  2. Jay: I had a similar problem on my RX300, and checked the club forum. Someone asked if I had had my oil checked recently. Turns out there is a hose that attaches to the rear of the air filter assembly, and when they take your air filter out to show to you, the hose sometimes gets detached. The solution, as I recall, was to put that hose back on the nozzle on the rear of the air filter assembly, disconnect the negative battery terminal for 5 minutes, hook it back up and all is good. Don't know why that would make the trac light come on, but it did, and the fix worked for me. I was prepared to spend thousands on a transmission repair! Hope this helps.
  3. Ok, I figured it out. Turns out that the battery to the key fob was dead. I guess when the car alarm goes off, it must do something to drain the key fob battery at the same time. I had thought of that, but it seemed so unlikely that I looked for a more complicated problem first. When I replaced the battery in the key fob, everything worked fine.
  4. My wife locked her 2009 IS250, and left the key fob in her purse in the trunk. Fortunately, she left a window open and was able to get in. When she opened the door the alarm went off, then shut off after a few minutes. Now her keyless entry system won't work. Is there a way to reset it? We can get in the car using the manual key, and can start the car my holding the key fob up to the start button twice, but is there a way to get it back to its normal state? Thanks.
  5. I want to get a second set of wheels for my 2009 IS250. The stock wheels are 17 X 8JJ, which is an 17" high by 8" wide wheel. When I go to the aftermarket websites and enter the make and model of the car, they come back with wheels that are 17 X 7 or 17 X 7.5". Does it make a difference if I go with the narrower wheel, or should I hold out for an 8" wide wheel? Thanks.
  6. Hey, hope it helps. It was a frustrating experience for me. Didn't know if it was the car or the phone. Glad we have this forum. It has saved me big bucks. Cheers, Salinger
  7. Ok, I'm the same guy who did the original post. The first time this happened, it was the IPOd. A couple of weeks later it happened again, and the IPOD was nowhere near. The phone I was trying to use it with was a Blackberry. The phone was not in use, but I kept getting the same message that the phone was in use. I ended up calling Verizon. The tech support person had me remove the battery from the Blackberry and doing a re-boot that way. Apparently that's different from just turning the phone off and then on again. Once the phone re-booted, after removing and re-installing the battery, the bluetooth on the car worked fine.
  8. I have a Bluetooth connection on my 400H. I tried to push the "talk" button on the steering wheel to make a call, but got a message saying "mobile phone is in use" even though my phone was not being used. I eventually figured out that it was my IPOD that I had in my pocket. Apparently I hadn't turned it completely off, and my guess is that it generated a radio signal of some sort that the car's system interpreted as my cell phone being used. I turned off the IPOD and the phone system worked fine. Hope this posting saves someone some frustration and money.
  9. Yes, mine is outfitted with the tow package, but I read somewhere on this website that all of the 400H vehicles have the tow package. I don't know if that's the case with your 2006. A couple of suggestions: you've undoubtedly thought of this, but do you still have the window sticker that lists the options? In any event, I'd take out the jack tray in the cargo compartment and see if you have the connecter there. I posted some instructions, but the first person who replied actually posted the real Lexus instructions for how to access the connector. Check out his instructions, which are better than mine, or read both. You should be able to remove the large deck platform (the one which is toward the front of the vehicle from the two spring-loaded cargo hatches). I removed my platform entirely by unscrewing the hinge screws, but the guy who responded was apparently able to raise the platform and remove his tray without taking the platform out, which is all you really need to do. From there, look in the bottom of the driver's side storage well. There is a plastic 10mm nut. Remove that, and I think there are a couple of plastic bolt-like connectors that you can pry up and out with a plastic putty knife. You should then be able to jimmy the driver's side well back and a bit sideways to see the wiring harness underneath it when you have the driver's side spring-loaded cargo hatch in the up position. You might have to remove the rearmost plastic piece that has the buttons on it for the spring-loaded hatches, and the tray that stores your cargo cover when it isn't installed. Once you can see under the driver's side well, look for a black rubber plug in the floor, which is about 1 1/2" in diameter. Directly above that is a wiring harness which is attached to the driver's side wall. If you have the tow package, there will be a white female connector there which doesn't have anything plugged into it. As I recall, it's about and inch long and about 3/8" square. That's your target. Make sure you plug the connector in thoroughly, until it clicks. Good luck. Salinger
  10. I just posted some pretty detailed instructions for installing a trailer hitch on an 07 400H in the Hybrid Forum. I think the procedure is the same for the RX 350 and probably the RX 330. See the description under the heading "Trailer Hitch for 400H". In short, I saved $370 by installing a Toyota Highlander hitch instead of the Lexus one. As far as I can tell it is exactly the same except for the price. I then posted some instructions about how to remove the rear cargo area deck so that you can attach the wiring. My 400H had the trailer wiring harness under the deck, so if your rig does not have the trailer package, you will have to follow some other procedure to connect the wires. Cheers, Tom
  11. I have an 07 400H and needed a trailer hitch. Lexus quoted me $645 for just the hitch, without installation. The Lexus part number is PT228-48045. I went to Toyota and bought a hitch for an 07 Highlander Hybrid, part No. PT22869045, and only cost $275. It fit perfectly, and is probably the same part as the Lexus item. The only difference that I can tell is that the plastic plug that goes into the receiver (when you don't have the arm and ball inserted) says "Toyota" instead of "Lexus". Hey, for the difference in price that works for me. I believe the same hitch will work for RX 330s and 350s, but check the part number. The installation is pretty straightforward, and there are limited instructions included. Generally, you remove two plastic air deflectors that are behind the rear wheels by removing 4 or 5 screws on each. You then remove the two tow hooks or tie-down loops, whatever they're called, by unscrewing two bolts on each. You then bolt two plates onto the frame on each side, and use a torque wrench to tighten them. You are now ready to install the hitch itself. It's pretty heavy, so it would be useful to have someone help you. I did it alone by putting a milk crate under the center of the hitch and another on the passenger side of the hitch. A box or a toolbox would also work. The directions tell you to start by hand-starting one of the bolts to connect the hitch to the passenger side plate, but I found it was easier to start on the driver's side. The driver's side has a threaded stud sticking down, and all you have to do is connect the hitch to the driver's side plate with a nut. That was easier than trying to start the threads on the bolt on the passenger side. You then install several more bolts, torque them to 37 lbs, and it's installed. The electrical connection is installed on the hitch. Once the hitch is installed you pull a rubber plug out of the bottom of the vehicle, stick the hitch wiring up into the hole, and fill the hole with a new rubber plug that is included. You then need to open the cargo hatch and remove some of the decking to have access to the receptacle you plug the hitch wire into. The directions did not say how to do this. First, remove the carpet. Then, fold down the rear seats. Remove the big part of the cargo deck by pulling back the lower layer of carpet where it abuts the backs of the rear seats. Be careful when you do this so that you don't break the Masonite that the carpet is attached to. Sliding a flat-bladed screwdriver or a putty knive under the carpet would help. You just have to pop out about 6 or 7 of those plastic connectors. Once you've done this, you will see two hinges. Remove the 10 mm screws that hold down the hinges, and remove the entire deck. This will still leave the two spring-loaded decks at the rear of the cargo area in place. Next, remove the tray with the jack and tools. Next, remove the plastic trim where the buttons are for the spring loaded decks by pulling up and forward on it, and remove the black tray beneath it (where the cargo cover sits when you don't have it installed). Remove a 10 mm plastic nut at the bottom of the driver's side plastic well, and remove the plastic connectors that hold it in place. Use a putty knife and your fingers to do this so you don't damage anything. Open the driver's side spring-loaded cargo hatch, and then wiggle the driver's side plastic well up and sideways a bit so that you can see underneath it. You don't need to remove the small deck lid or even completely remove the well. Just get it raised and twisted sideways a bit. You will then see the wiring you pushed up from below. Plug the white male piece from that wiring into the white female piece on the cable harness that's right there. Make sure you plug it in all the way until it clicks. Then just reassemble everything. This took me a couple of hours to do, but I didn't have any instructions about how to remove the decking. No special tools needed other than a putty knife, socket set with 10, 14 and 15 mm sockets, and a torque wrench. Have fun.
  12. Anybody have any recommendations for a quiet all-season tire for an IS250 AWD? We have the original Bridgestone Potenzas on the car, with 15,000 miles on them, and the road noise is terrible. Consumer Reports rated the Michelin Primacy MXV4 the highest, but it doesn't come in the size we need. Thanks.
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