jondoe888

18% of the price of a Denso OEM. Does anyone notice a difference with the cheaper ones? I'd rather spend $15 than 70, but... And I don't ever want to have to replace the back ones again! Boo-hoo. This is the first thing to go wrong on my 11yo RX! I've forgotten how to work on cars...

My check engine light came on. The codes said ALL the coil packs were bad. I bought some plugs, to try first. Then I got home and looked at the engine. CRAP! It will take more than 30min just to get to them! This does not look like an easy job. At least it only has to be done once or twice. I'm at 110k. (10k below the recommended change - which may be 3 years of sitting in the driveway, for me. Gotta love retirement...) But all the packs going at once? I don't mind changing them, except for the effort. The parts store kid said get them online. 6 will cost what he charges for 1. <are aftermarket packs OK? Is Denso worth the extra money? A lot extra? Does plugs and packs seem like a good place to start? The car runs OK, with some missing, at idle or at load. It won't get better... The mileage has dropped from 22 to 20. I pulled one plug out and it looked fine, with a good burn pattern. Traction control also stopped working. The same time? A coincidence? It seems there a brake sensor out. But first - the engine. I've had this car 11 years, and it's always behaved. I did change one coil 5 years ago. And the recall of the badly designed oil filter hose... Don't like to work on cars? Get a Toyota!

It sounds like you will want 93. You don't 'need' it, but it will give you a bit more power. How much? I have no idea. I'm looking at it as 'will it damage the engine'. I'm old, with an RX. My days of driving hard are way behind me. (and I'm cheap. I use synthetic oil, as recommended, but I'm not paying 50c more for a gallon of gas!) Just remember - premium isn't any cleaner than regular gas. It just has higher octane - which prevents knocking, when accelerating fast, or climbing a long grade. But with lower octane, the computer will !Removed! the timing a bit, as needed. It can sense knock. And I guess I meant 'race' in either manner. Racing, or desiring the extra performance on the street. If you have headers, I'm guessing you will want the added benefit of 93. The added power may be real or imagined - but you will want it for your car. Good luck!

I've never used premium in mine. All cars have computers, and will adjust the timing, as needed, for knock. So unless you are racing your RX, don't worry about it. This is what the Car Talk guys recommend. And many magazine sites. Look it up, if you are curious. BTW, I bought the car new in 07.

At my last oil change, the guy at the local shop said Lexus recommends synthetic oil. No one has mentioned this before. I have read something about this issue, and rear bearings, in the past. And it seems they are now recommending it. Is this new, or did they guy know this because he owned a Lexus, too? It raised the price from $20 to $60. I used to change the oil myself, but for twenty bucks, I can't buy the oil and filter for much less. (but I CAN look over the car, and guarantee my work. They missed a very low rear brake pad, last time). For syn oil, Toyota recommends 10k intervals for the 2010 Camry’s, and 12k for the 2012s. (Porsche's go 20k - but take 11q of oil!)

220 reads, 0 replies? Maybe the question is too specific, or people love to read these questions. If anyone else has these lights, and a miss, here's what I found... The good news - I fixed the problem. I wasted $60 on a shop diagnosis, but it was more specific than the parts store readouts. They must have a machine that reads the coils, individually. They did suggest I call the dealer. The car is out of warranty, but they said the drive-train warranty was still good. Lexus said the coils weren't 'drive train'. So I plunked down $90 on a coil. It takes a minute or to to do this - IF it's on the front bank (even numbers). If it's on the back cylinders, the shop would have done the work. They said the intake has to come off to get to them! I've got a few years to go before I find out. The bad news - there was still a misfire. But because of a loose bolt on the coil, I was suspicious that the shop swapped the coils around, too. I went back, and they confirmed this, and showed me the one that was bad - the one with the loose bolt. Once I got rid of the bad one, all was well. The shop said they rarely see problems with them, under 100k. Mine's at 62k. So ends my tale of the check engine/trac/vsg lights.

mshaw - you are correct. The check engine light was on, for me. The problem was a coil pack.

I just paid $64, for synth oil and filter, at a national tire/brake shop. Not much more than the oil and filter cost me if I do it myself. Why bother! (except you can trust your own work will be done right...). I dropped the car off, and picked it up later. The only reason they do it so cheap is to sell you on other labor - needed, or not. (like the low rear brake pads they didn't notice. Luckily, I checked that myself!)

I complained I had no shoes - until I met a man who had no feet... or at least a poor soul who had a 2007 with no usb hookup... ;> (but really! In my Rx, they have a CD AND a tape player - but no usb, even tho ipods were pretty common when they made the new model. Grrrrr)

I just paid $40 extra for synthetic, but dino may have been on sale at the shop. Does anyone know WHY they are going syn? I once read something about an issue with rear seals...

All modern cars are controlled by computers. If the computer senses knock, it slightly retards the ignition timing until the ping goes away. Engine knock is the ONLY reason to use premium. Yes, you lose a little power this way, but who would notice? The car talk guys recommend regular fuel for any regular car. It's all I've used, but I'm kinda cheap...

I'm getting trouble codes saying I have an intermittent miss in all 6 cylinders (random multiple misfire). I'm not sure what is upstream of the coil packs. Is it something on the engine? The computer? A few weeks ago, the code reader just mentioned the #2 cylinder. Not sure how to check the coil pack, I got the brilliant idea to switch #2 and 4 coils, expecting to see the change on the reader. Instead, I got this reading I didn't understand. It also mentioned a final code - ignition coil B, primary and secondary circuit malfunction. Sounds like I'll have to take this into the shop. Has anyone had experience with this issue --- and solved it? Thanks for any info.

Take it to a parts store and have them read the codes. It's free - some places will do this, others wont. I have the same issue, and it showed #2 cylinder has a miss. So it's either the plug or the coil pack ($85 - very easy to change). I tried two places, and both readouts were the same. The lights are intermittent, and the miss is very noticeable going up a hill. Luckily for me, the #2 cyl is in the front. Otherwise, a shop would be changing it! All you need is a 10mm socket - or a crescent wrench. I'm changing the coil tomorrow, and I'll probably do it at the store, so they can clear the code. And of course, the part isn't returnable - so I hope this does it! Odd that there are so many questions about these lights. I guess it covers a lot of things.

There may be cheaper ones available. My son's F150 just beeps when it senses an object. It's so handy! The b/u monitor is nice, but the sensor seems to pick up everything. Of course, then he has to turn his head...

Unless you really like the coffee and danish at Lexus, the Toyota shop is just as good. Much cheaper. The best deal is a local shop with a good reputation. (try' car talk/mechanics files', if nothing else) Get a 2nd opinion for these issues. A trusted one.