Starting/idle Problem Rx300

[bongt]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

[Ferrell]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

my girlfriends 99 has this same problem..... im trying to figure out how to get to the iacv as well...... anyone have pics from a shop manual?

[oldrx300]

My Rx300 has exact same problem, so I got read the forum and took out the 2 air intake hoses and the IACV locates right under them. I took out the two screws and cleaned the inside with the throttle body cleaner. The problem went away, so here is the pictures I took (IACV is the black piece with the two screws, one of them has the yellow dot on it).

Hope this help somebody in the future.

[GoldenStateSilverSport]

My Rx300 has exact same problem, so I got read the forum and took out the 2 air intake hoses and the IACV locates right under them. I took out the two screws and cleaned the inside with the throttle body cleaner. The problem went away, so here is the pictures I took (IACV is the black piece with the two screws, one of them has the yellow dot on it).

Hope this help somebody in the future.

Be careful not to strip the two screws when removing them. It is challenging to break the factory torque to loosen those screws so find a very tight fitting screwdriver that will do the job. I am in the middle of cleaning my IACV myself..

[SKperformance]

I am going to pin this for now so no one should ever have to ask about it.

enjoy.

[SAM-RX]

I have the same problem, it doesnt start right away and currently I am having low idle speeds. I am going to clean the IACV but if didnt solve the problem I think I will start diagnosing the fuel pump.

[meijerbrantm]

my friend is in san jose and she is having problems with her es300. I'm thinking it's the IACV from what I can tell, but she is a girl and can't really do it on her own. Is there anyone who could help her out there? I was going to try to PM GoldenStateSilverSport, but pm's are disabled...

[angt220]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

Hey I think I am having the same problem with my 2000 RX300 :( Let me know if you get any helpful replies... Thanks!

[JETPILOT]

I'm having same problem too. On cold start, idle speed is very low or won't run at all without pushing on the accelerator. After warm-up it is ok for the day. Will clean valve and see what happens.

JetPilot

[tjmc11]

I'm having same problem too. On cold start, idle speed is very low or won't run at all without pushing on the accelerator. After warm-up it is ok for the day. Will clean valve and see what happens.

JetPilot

Clean the Valva and it should solve the problem.

Take off the air filter box lid.

Remove the air filter box along with the filter.

Remove air hose which is attached to intake / throttle body.

Remove th valve....note..the phillips head screws are easy to strip so make sure you have the proper size phillips head screw driver.

Clean enitre valve thoroughly with throttle body / carb cleaner.

Re-assemble, and this should help eliminate the problem. If not, check for fouled plugs, stretched line from accelerator to throttle control, or fouled coils.

[madtaz]

I'm having same problem too. On cold start, idle speed is very low or won't run at all without pushing on the accelerator. After warm-up it is ok for the day. Will clean valve and see what happens.

JetPilot

Clean the Valva and it should solve the problem.

Take off the air filter box lid.

Remove the air filter box along with the filter.

Remove air hose which is attached to intake / throttle body.

Remove th valve....note..the phillips head screws are easy to strip so make sure you have the proper size phillips head screw driver.

Clean enitre valve thoroughly with throttle body / carb cleaner.

Re-assemble, and this should help eliminate the problem. If not, check for fouled plugs, stretched line from accelerator to throttle control, or fouled coils.

[madtaz]

Cleaned my IACV on a ES300.....worked beautifully. Runs perfect now. Beats $200.00 for a new valve. Thanks for the tip.

[miztoy]

We started out attempting to remove the valve in order to clean it...but of course ended up stripping the screws.What we found to work was that there is a little hole where you can actually spray the cleaner into & it works the same without having to remove everything. Our Lex is now working great.

[dirtypwntang]

We started out attempting to remove the valve in order to clean it...but of course ended up stripping the screws.What we found to work was that there is a little hole where you can actually spray the cleaner into & it works the same without having to remove everything. Our Lex is now working great.

That actually doesn't solve the problem. I did that, and it proved to be only a very very very partial job. There are several little "chambers" inside the IACV that require direct spraying and rubbing w/ Q-Tip or cloth. To be safe, I decided to just go ahead and do the full job. Once I opened it up, I noticed that there are other chambers that the spray-in-the-hole-method CAN'T reach.

The problem will come back for you, as it will for everybody else. But in your case, it'll be a lot sooner.

[jaru22]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

My 99 RX300 just started having a starting problem. I thought it would be the"starter" but after seeing this post I am wondering if this could be it? My question is: What would be my signal that this is the problem. My car just clicks when I try to start. It does not do it allthe time and after reading this, it actually might just be when it is warm outside. If it was this problem would I hear the engine trying harder to start or would it just be this clicking noise? Thanks!

[2000guy]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

My 99 RX300 just started having a starting problem. I thought it would be the"starter" but after seeing this post I am wondering if this could be it? My question is: What would be my signal that this is the problem. My car just clicks when I try to start. It does not do it allthe time and after reading this, it actually might just be when it is warm outside. If it was this problem would I hear the engine trying harder to start or would it just be this clicking noise? Thanks!

Hello,

I have a 2000 RX300 and it too just started the clicking at start. Sometimes it doesn't do it. I bought a new battery because it still had original, but this didn't stop the prob. Has anyone else had similar issues? It almost sounds like a dieing battery or solenoid, but then cranks right uo sometimes too.

Thanks for any help out there.

[2000guy]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

My 99 RX300 just started having a starting problem. I thought it would be the"starter" but after seeing this post I am wondering if this could be it? My question is: What would be my signal that this is the problem. My car just clicks when I try to start. It does not do it allthe time and after reading this, it actually might just be when it is warm outside. If it was this problem would I hear the engine trying harder to start or would it just be this clicking noise? Thanks!

Hello,

My 2000 RX is 2wd and I'm having the same starting issues as you. Any luck yet?

Thanks

[chucksfc]

My Rx300 has exact same problem, so I got read the forum and took out the 2 air intake hoses and the IACV locates right under them. I took out the two screws and cleaned the inside with the throttle body cleaner. The problem went away, so here is the pictures I took (IACV is the black piece with the two screws, one of them has the yellow dot on it).

Hope this help somebody in the future.

Had the same problem, followed your procedure and it has worked great since. Thanks for the tip!

Just an obvious warning - I hosed out the throttle body itself as well (it was pretty grimy) with a lot of cleaner. When I reassembled and went to start the car, it hydrolocked. I waited about a half hour and I guess the remaining throttle body cleaner evaporated. Another obvious warning (apparently I am an idiot)- Be careful when hosing out the solenoid and throttle body as the vapors and cleaner get redirected basically into your face through the throttle body itself. That is some nasty stuff.

[chucksfc]

don't know how to delete a post.

[Ken Littleton]

My '99 RX300 started having the warm-start-won't-idle problem shortly after running a tank with STP fuel system cleaner because my gas mileage dropped from 18mpg(city) to 14mpg. Local Lexus dealer wanted over $600 to fix. It took me about two hours to remove, clean and reinstall the Idle Air Control Valve and throttle body.

http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=30723&hl= (Big Thanks to GoldenStateSilverSport)

The idle problem seems to be fixed now and hopefully my mileage will increase. :D

[lenore]

Hey good job and you saved yourself some big bucks, how does it feel to work for $300 per hour....

[Mr Rx]

Thank's. I had the same problem with the (ICV) on my rx 300. Now the problem is gone!

[AUSRX]

We started out attempting to remove the valve in order to clean it...but of course ended up stripping the screws.What we found to work was that there is a little hole where you can actually spray the cleaner into & it works the same without having to remove everything. Our Lex is now working great.

That actually doesn't solve the problem. I did that, and it proved to be only a very very very partial job. There are several little "chambers" inside the IACV that require direct spraying and rubbing w/ Q-Tip or cloth. To be safe, I decided to just go ahead and do the full job. Once I opened it up, I noticed that there are other chambers that the spray-in-the-hole-method CAN'T reach.

The problem will come back for you, as it will for everybody else. But in your case, it'll be a lot sooner.

The thing I found that had the biggest impact on the slow/rough idle problem was the small wave/spring washer in the electric motor of the Idle Air control Valve (IACV).

I had tried all of the cleaning and maintenance actions detailed above and found that it made some improvement but did not fully correct the problem. Then I remembered reading something in an earlier forum stating the engine would not idle at all and stall because the wave/spring washer was left out when the valve was reassembled. So I removed the solenoid/DC Motor component of the IACV and took out the wave washer and slightly increased the amount of bend on the washer (don't overdo it) and therefore putting more tension on the mechanical gate of the valve, therefore providing a dampening effect. I placed the washer back in the housing and re-installed the solenoid assembly and found that it was a little spring loaded when I tensioned the 2 securing screws. The engine now idles correctly and the slow/rough idle problem has been remedied, for now anyway. I will continue to monitor it and post it if the problem returns. All the info I have been able to use from this forum was excellent and I am very thankfull to everyone that has contributed and I hope this little note will also help someone out else out there. Cheers

[boldwin]

I have a 2003 RX300, problem when starting specially when hot weather. I have seen some post regarding my problem and the majority is cleaning the Idle Control Value and/or throttle body. My question is how to you do the above cleaning, is this where you add chemical with your gas. Please HELP. Thanks.

You can fix this obnoxious problem yourself, but you'll probably need a repair manual to know what must be done, i.e diagnostic and repair procedure.

[Dave_02RX300]

My 2002 RX300 seems to have this problem: yesterday while starting it when it was warm, it would not stay at idle speed and died. I had to rev it to keep it started. Then it ran OK.

It happened again from cold start today, and happened again from warm start today - it can't remain at idle after start.

It's going to the dealer - still under CPO warranty.

Thanks for the info on this thread

-Dave