lenore

Flushing is a fairly new procedure in terms of many dealerships. When the 99 RX came out it wasnt standard practice or available everywhere. Also remember it saves the dealership time and labor, and generates more revenue. The downside is if they are not dropping the pan and changing the filter and looking for tell tale debris, the flushing is not adequate. The other downside is on high mileage transmission the flushing can throw debris through the valve body assembly and cause premature failure of the transmission if the tranny had not been serviced regularily. I like it, when done properly and when the maintenance of the transmission is known from the history of the vehicle. My only beef with blue stu is he believes the failures are do to poor maintenance. Not true, and many have proven that.

Blustu, I have numerous examples from owners that said when the tranny shops repaired their transmissions, that there were some modifications that were done to improve the reliability. Some involved the main gear in the transmission, but I could not get specific info. The tranny is weak, and shows less than normal reliability when considering other luxuary cars on the market. As for maintenance we have been around and around about this, Many have been meticulousy maintained and still fail. I now have a email list of over 50 trannys that have failed and responded to me as a clearing point.

Good set of questions, First being in South Dakota, You would enjoy the heated seats in the winter, I remember when I lived there. Are the cars FWD or AWD? The FWD seems to have no tranny problems. If it is AWD take the dip stick out and if the fluid smells burnt, I know hard to describe, but it is very evident the tranny has not been serviced. If the fluid is bright red and not burnt that is a plus. I have a 99 and the car is great, other than the tranny. Mine has been fixed, you will see many posts by me. I personally would go with the 2000, but If you could find a 2001or later you would probably be better off. If one of the two you are looking at meets your ticket, have the transmission fluid changed and filter replaced every 15k miles. I would be real nervous about a flush with the high mileages unless you determine that the transmissions have been serviced regularily. There is a lot of help on this site and Club Lexus if you buy, and we will be glad to assist you. good luck

The strut mounts cost less than $65 apiece. I would take them to an independent and get it done a lot cheaper. The KYB GR2 struts themselves cost around $110 so parts wise not great, but not bad. The KYB are closest to the original if not the origanal manufacturor.

Mine also was done at around 100k, the belt looked great, and it was 7 years old at the time.

I have read this thread, and I do not own the 400h but have all of you filed a complaint with Lexus of America? That is rediculous. You could be stranded in tim buk tu with that kind of problem. I am amazed how stupid Lexus is letting a luxuary car go on the market without a timeout on the lights so the battery wont discharge. So simple, God I am glad I dont own one of those. At least my RX300 starts in the morning with or without the dome lights on all night.

Was in a training course entire day - did not have a chance to call anyone yet, but sent e-mail requests out last night. Email responses from lexus dealers : -- Dealer 1: In looking at the age of your car and your request, I will recommend the 7yr. / 90,000 mile service instead. This service includes everything you are inquiring about: Oil change, rotate and balance the tires, replace the engine air filter, flush out the engine coolant, flush out the brake fluid, replace the spark plugs, replace the timing belt, replace the wiper inserts and perform a thorough inspection of the entire vehicle. That service runs $1199.56 including tax. To add on the water pump, would be an additional $272.02 including tax. -- Dealer 2: The 60,000 mile service will consist of the following main maintenance -Oil and filter change -Rotate and balance tires -Replace engine air filter -Replace wiper inserts -Install fuel,oil and power steering conditioners -Flush brake fluid system and fill -4 wheel alignment -Replace drive(serpentine) belt(s) -40 point safety inspection The cost is $689.95 total(parts/labor/tax). The timing belt is usually due at 90,000 miles, however age may be factor with your year vehicle. Timing belt, waterpump, thermostat and coolant- $849.95. -- No response from Toyota yet ..... Questions : Is it necessary to have water pump replaced ? How does pricing sound ? Both quotes come to ~1500 if I include water pump. One other point : service manual states timing belt replacement is for "special operating conditions". So is it truly necessary to replace at 90k/72 months ? How easy is it to check the condition of the timing belt ? The water pump price is way off. I believe the darn thing cost less than $100 from Toyota. And the labor to do it is minimal considering the timing belt cover is already off.

I have heard, but cannot confirm that some aftermarket cats are really inferior. Maybe there is too much backpressure or the cat itself doesnt breathe as well. The Maf could also be dirty. there is a cleaning procedure for those.

There is a little plastic cap over the nut on the wiper arm. I assume they have stolen everything including the nut and cap. You will need the nut for sure to replace the arm. and if you want to hide it you need the little cap cover.

You could try this to clean the MAF sensor, It is cheap, easy to do. Just follow the instructions. http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/knowledge...id=152&c=11

Read Blustu thread, next to last, this could be your problem too. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=42128

Tranny shops can screw up, lexus had to replace my transmission twice, because the replacement would not alway go into gear when you hit the gas. Took 6 weeks of haggling with Lexus of Roseville before they conceded and put in the next tranny which has worked fine. Good luck my friend.

Sounds like the rebuilt tranny was not done right. Keep bringing it back till they do it right.

There is a vacumn line under the air box that gets disconnected sometimes. also check your flex coupling in the exhaust under the engine and make sure it isnt broken. That could lead to an false reading at the o2 sensor that is infront of the catyltic converter.

Adding to this, look down on the CD player, It also has direct lines to the Display. Speaking of which the area under the Glove box area and the right passenger area there is a ECU with plugs and lots of wiring. Look there and see if anything looks unplugged. Removing the glove box makes is real easy for access.

thank you, please note these specs are out of Toyota Hylander/RX300 book. I am just guessing that the specs are about the same on the RX330....

I believe age is a factor, but maybe somebody else will pop in. The Car is 8 years old. The belts are good for 100k miles easily. Hope one of the mechanics pipes in for you. From my experience rubber does age and break down but as for the timing belt I do not know.

I had my timing belt and waterpump done at toyota, saved $500. the Toyota Hylander is just a knockoff of the RX300 so the dealership should have no problem. My toyota dealer even got the parts from the Lexus dealer, at the time they were not sure about the timing belt. However it is the same belt in the Hylander.

I personally would not get the valves adjusted. My car has 145k miles and never been adjusted and it is as quiet as new.

the driveshaft flange to rear differetial bolts (AWD) is 54 ft/lbs Driveshaft center support bearing bolts (AWD) is 27 ft/lbs these specs are on the RX300 but may be the same or close.

Hey When I ordered there was only one, but the Pro Act Ceramics are the ones I believe I got. They are ultra quiet. Just remember to grease the slide pins on the caliper when putting the pads in. If you have any shimmy at all when braking, your rotors may be warped. You could either have them turned or buy the Brembo rotors and just put them on the car.

You should be able to look at the Vin#. I believe Japanese manufactures start with a J

Without a photo I am not sure. Could be the bumper cover which raps around the side of the quarter panel.

If you dont have any shudder when braking I would just replace the pads. Tirerack.com has rotors and Akebono pads at a reasonable price.

There is plenty of info on this forum, the lock actuator solenoid is probably bad, They are not cheap $250 just for the part, and I dont know how much a dealership or mechanic would charge in labor. I did mine myself. Finding all of the hidden screws in the door panel is the worst thing. good luck