Make Your Rx330 Run And Smell Better

[OKEH1]

My 2004 RX330 is presently in the service dept (4-days), for a variety of fixes, two f which are recurrent problems.

I sat down with the service manager and discussed with him about the transmission lag, which has been a main concern of mine for some time now, he told me these cars HAVE to run on premium fuel to eliminate this problem, I told him this was not acceptable as it states in the manual and I was told when purchasing the car it was fine to use regular, is Lexus misleading customers by telling them they can use regular gas and then when it performs poorly claim the cure is to use premium fule and increase your fuel expenditure substantially.

The next lot of words of wisdom from him was regarding the bad mold odor from the AC , he told me that I must leave the system on permantly to ensure air passes through at all times, I told him this would make the car uncomfortable to drive, WHY is this not stated in the drivers manual then ?.

Are these just excuses from them because they cannot cure the probelm on a poorly designed product.

I am sitting doen this weekend and writing a letter to Lexus and if no joy of htme will have to take further steps.

I cannot believe I am having such problems with what I perceived to be a reliable, safe and luxurious vehicle, am I just unlucky or do others just put up with these misgivings.

[SKperformance]

You should have bought an ML 320.

With it you would actually know where your service adivsor live as you see them so much

[Booyah]

To fix your oder problem--always use the fresh air mode! You do not have to keep the A/C on at all times thats just stupid! You want fresh air blowing over your coils to dry them out to prevent mold/mildew from growing on it.....

I hardley ever run Recerculate mode unless thre is something Stinky up ahead of me.....Must remember though that everytime you fire up the A/C it Auto goes into the Rec mode---I just hit the button for Fresh air.

I have never had an oder problem with Any of my cars including my 93 honda with 130K on it or my 99 Runner with 75K--still smells great--no oder

The little Tranny lag---well 99% of us have that and just get used to it I guess!!

[SW03ES]

If you don't keep the system on at all times you will get a mold smell, its not designed to be shut off. I just leave mine on and adjust the temperature, never been uncomfortable.

As for the transmission lag premium fuel isn't going to help. If you take the time to learn how to drive the car smoothly it becomes a moot issue.

[Booyah]

I never keep my A/C on during the winter months unless I need to defog or something! Never had a bad smell since day-1.

Like I said all you need to do is keep it on Fresh air mode most of the time! Why use your A/C compressor more than needed?

[monarch]

keep it on Fresh air mode most of the time!  Why use your A/C compressor more than needed?

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Agreed. But for long, troublefree compressor life, it is important to run the compressor at least once a month during the winter. Preferably every week or two. This is true of all cars, not just Lexus's

[monarch]

HAVE to run on premium fuel to eliminate this problem,

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Premium will help. So if the lag really truly bothers you, why not use it?

Also, if the lag really bothers you, why did you buy an RX330 to begin with?

Is Lexus to blame for your failure to adequate test drive the vehicle?

[SW03ES]

But the system is still on. Thats the difference.

[4482]

I've always used the "fresh air mode" and no problems with odors.

[SW03ES]

As long as you don't drive around with it "off" then you wont have any problems with odors.

[wwest]

When your A/C is operating the evaporator vanes will be at very near freezing. When you shut down the A/C there will ALWAYS be a thin film of moisture left on those COLD vanes. After several nights with the very damp and dank A/C plenum at ~70F the microbes of the mould and mildew family will begin to grow in great abundance.

If you park your car inside at night it will help to leave the windows down slightly so the trapped moisture can evaporate out of the plenum and then out of the car altogether.

See:

http://www.airsept.com/eed.html

for more info.

There are two C-best options available for the 2001 RX300 that might be of interest and another as of the 2004 RX330. As of 2001 you can disable the A/C from activation with the system in automatic mode and yet another setting allows you to unlink the A/C from defrost/defog/demist mode. As of 04 there is a c-best option that can be set to prevent the system from going into cooling mode automatically wherein the windshield is not warmed continually as it would be were the system left in footwell, heating mode.

[danfried]

You're not alone. I've got the same transmission shifting and hesitation problems with my RX330. The dealer says that they all do that and it's because of the drive-by-wire system. I've contacted the regional office and had their rep drive the car. He told me the same thing - that I must use 91 octaine gas. I responded that that was unaccpable and that I wouldn't have purchased the car had I known that. The bottom line is that they won't admit that there's a problem and appear not to be able to do anything about it. I feel that the car is unsafe since it won't respond to power when you need it quickly. It's like you have to make an appointment to accelerate.

I don't have the A/C odor problem, but we do leave the system on all the time anyway. It used to freeze us out of the car, but, on a recent service visit to the dealer I complained about that again and they said they had a fix. I'm not sure what they did, but it works much better now.

[SW03ES]

Why be such a stubborn cheapskate? You bought a $45,000 vehicle, if there's a chance you can spend a little bit more money at the gas pump and make it drive smoother, why not do that?

The manual clearly states that 87 works, but 91+ is reccomended for optimum performance. If you're a nickel and dimer why did you buy this vehicle?

[Booyah]

SW03, But everyone who has tried 91+ octane have felt no differance either.

[SW03ES]

Oh I know, I even said it wouldn't make a difference. I just don't understand taking exception to premium being required in a $45,000 car. MOST luxury cars require premium fuel.

Its not going to make a difference, but "you wouldn't have bought it if it required premium fuel"? It cost more than the average American makes in a year...

[ColinBarber]

SW03,  But everyone who has tried 91+ octane have felt no differance either.

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You need to use it for 2 or 3 tanks at least for the ECU to alter the timing and ideally reset the ECU to accelerate learning.

We have a different grading system in the UK (RON not PON) but I get better mpg when using 98RON fuel to our standard 95RON fuel ( 95RON is about the same as US 91). However the difference in price between the two is greater than the decrease in fuel consumption so I stick with 95RON.

[danfried]

Cheap has nothing to do with it. Perhaps you don't mind if you're promised one thing and get another, but I don't like it. Regular fuel was recommended when we bought the car. Regardless, we ran it for a couple of months on premium fuel and it made no difference to the hesitation problem, so that isn't the answer. (It does improve city gas mileage, however) If you ask a service advisor who is honest, they'll tell you that there's a design flaw and they don't know how to fix it.