lenore

Sometimes the corrosion looks like a white powder, or grayish look. If it is corroaded a little scrapping with a screw driver will tell you, if it knocks off it is probably corroded. The contact cleaner will sometimes desolve it.

Yea that cleaner should work great....

Please read my other post, beware of corrosion....it can cause havoc on the coil paks...

Maybe the dealer is missing the boat, You may just have a bad flex brake line going to the caliper, a friend of mine had exactly what you experienced on a GMC truck.. We replaced the calipers, disks, pads...New disc wiped out and warped. The wheel was noticeably hotter on one side of the car than the other. The lines would bleed, but something wasnt right. Replaced the Flexable rubber brake lines and problem was fixed. Apparently when you applied the brakes that worked fine, but they would not release. The rubber in the hose had expanded and the peddle pressure would force fluid thru them but not release or release very slowly.....since the car is very old that may be exactly your problem... The lines are not expensive and would probably be well worth while replacing.

Something else to consider, putting the coils back on the plug, take a flashlight and look inside the core of the coil. The spring may have compressed or be corroaded. I found that using some electrical contact cleaner will help. Also the plugs may have built some corrosion on the connector end. They should be cleaned with some emery paper and than lube with electrical cleaner. I also add some dielectric grease to the inside of the boot of the coil to eliminate moisture and hopefully arcing. Arcing can cause a very rapid failure of the coil pak if it is between the coil and plug....

Cylinder six is a piece of cake, it is the front left cylinder next to the battery. Will take all of 5 minutes.... back is 1 3 5 This is the left side of engine and car front 2 4 6 this is front of car

Remember one thing the 1.4 million is not all RX300 owners.....could be 2 or 3 for just that make...

are you talking about the brake light mounted on the hatch back door above the window? If so it is probably burned out, real easy to replace, just pull the plastic cover off the window surround on the top of the door. Then you will have access to the lamp.

Is there anyway to find the build date on a 1mze engine from the serial number on the engine...???? Doing a backdoor investigation concerning my neighbors highlander engine sludge failure on a 2003 highlander. Maybe the engine is a 2002 or earlier and can fall under the warranty period.

I have emails from over 80 RX owners with failed trannies, the years go all the way thru to 2002....So whether it be severe driving or poor maintenance it does happen and these trannies are very weak considering the weight and aerodynamics of the RX300 with basically a Camry transmission.

I will make a stab, I own an RX300 of the same year and mine is located on the rear valve cover on the right side of the car. It is kind of under the intake manifold at the front of the engine on top of the valve cover next to the timing belt cover. Mine has a rubber hose coming off it to the intake manifold on the left side of the car. I found this post with a picture on the RX, might help: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/2786313-post13.html

Yes you can switch, I did at 104k miles and everything is fine. I would definetly switch, as many of these mondern engines run extremely hot and are prone to sludge. Case in point are the 3 liter engine on the earlier RX family and all of the toyota products with the 1mze engine. As for oil changes, well you could probably go 3k to 4k miles and be assured of no sludge with a good synthetic. That is another story as all synthetics are not equal. A true synthetic is a class 4 oil and different manufacturers dont all use a true synthetic base, some use dino oil base stocks. Mobil 1 was just caught lying about their oil after the hurricanes. Castrol Oil 0-30 European formula is a true synthetic and performs very well, but also very pricey at over $6.00 per qt. I have seen the results of sludge with my neighbors highlander with only 50k miles and oil changes done by Toyota at the prescribed intervals...not a pretty sight and he is now rebuilding that engine...

didnt see this post before, but we sold our Mercedes Benz 190E (1987) for the RX300. I miss the handling and absolutely the best steering that I have ever experienced in an automobile. God that thing could turn on a dime. RX, well lets just say it takes a good wide two lanes of road if you are lucky. The engineering in that old MB was quite interesting for a mechanical guy like me, mechanically the car was super, but the typical MB teutonic interior was something else, functional yes, plush no....loved the car,and was a great car replacement for our 1990 Honda Accord especially when your back pain gets worse. The MB solved the back pain on long drives. Found the seats very comfortable. But alas we needed more room for our trip to North Carolina for the birth of our first grandbaby, so I tried a used MB320 for exactly 24 hours, but something told me I was driving something wrong. I did a history on the 6 month old car and found it had been in the shop over 32 times for a lot of problems...I backed out and dumped the car (no loss to me because of California law of disclosure) Moved to the RX300 ( brand new) in November of 1998 and still have it. Love the car, been very comfortable, lousy steering radius, but never the less a great car. Only one major complaint, the transmission failure at 100k two states away, but that is what you get, trusting the reliability of toyota. Still love the car, distrust the tranny, but at 160k miles it is still going..............Still have an affection for my first and last MB, it was an experience to remember....

Your service manager obviously hasnt a brain, has he not heard of the famous sludged engines that Lexus/toyota has experienced???? Send him back to the Wizard of OZ and give him a brain.....

Engine is mounted exactly the same as the RX, He will get word Monday on what the vender is going to do, he wants another engine with a $125 reduction. He said he is hoping they back down and he will just rebuild his existing engine. Wasnt willing to drill because of Warranty issues which he was promised 3 years on this new long block....

Hey did you dump the RX330?

Dont bet on the sludge issue as being fixed in 2002, my neighbor is experiencing the pain right now with his 2003 highlander with the 3liter engine (imze) that is in the RX....The reason it is not covered is probably because the lawsuit was started in 2002 and didnt cover the 2003 engine. Toyota fixed nothing from what I have seen....Keep that in mind or make sure you are using full class 4 synthetic oil....

Well the engine does come out from the top quite easily. We were successful removing and putting the new engine in....now the bad news the remanufactured long block was missing the holes for the bottom, crankshaft pulley end, motor mount......My neighbor is furious. The block has the boss for the holes, but no holes for the bolts...So the saga goes on, and the engine is out again.... The removeal was a piece of cake from the top for anyone who is interested. I have taken a lot of pictures, but not posted....good morning everyone.

Mine also is 10 years old....worst thing was the transmission at 100k miles, I am now at 158k miles.... Keep it, your registration is cheaper, hopefully no payments, and the $2000 is just an investment for future reliability and comfort. Hey everything wears and needs upkeep, but a good car is not worth trading to gain car payments, higher insurance, etc.

Check the noise by rotating the tire while off the ground. Maybe you main axle bearing is going bad.... Also check the halfshaft where it plugs into the tranny, sometimes the clip breaks and the shaft walks out from the tranny but still drives. Normally tranny fluid would leak there also....

Its there all the time.....non selectable.....

speed sensor malfunction.....for p0500 Check out this posting on CL : http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx300-foru...eed-sensor.html

Thanks, he is still deciding, Looks like an easy removeal from the top, he has everything off the engine. all wiring, etc. The only thing holding it is the tranny, we thought disconnecting the torque converter from the flywheel plate and supporting the tranny while pulling the engine away.....The torque converter bolts have great access....Our thought is leave the torque converter on the tranny main shaft and the engine should be clear. We have great pictures of everything since LEXMEX on Cl took some great pictures when he dropped his tranny for his problem of a broken flywheel and trashed pump on the tranny. Tomorrow will tell.....

Here is the contact repair instructions: just for you all..... http://www.nationsautoelectric.com/instructions.html

I will mention that currantly I am have the cross terrains(michelin) and drove in snow very well, even though they are not Snow rated....