lenore

I am at it again, just changed fluid on the front differential. The upper fill drain plug is a 24mm size socket which can be reached with a 6 inch extension from the rear over the cross frame. The Drain plug is a 15/16 size box end wrench WHICH is the only thing that will fit between the frame and the end of the bolt. The hardest part is getting the fluid back in. I used a little pump with about 12 inches of clear tubing to go across the cross frame into the fill hose. Again Merry Christmas to all. Next task the rear differential. couldn't do today, ran out of fluid (Synthetic 75-90 w GL5 standard Castrol oil)

could be the master leaking between the cylinder and the vacuum booster assembly.

Beautiful car Army, Your mom will truely be happy, by the way Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Engine rear main seal possibly. Hope not though for your sake.

Well, I just dropped the pan and replaced the filter and gasket. By the way the filter was not a wire mesh and the tranny was supplied by Lexus. There was very little fuzz on the magnets, that is good. I also changed the external tranny filter that I installed previously. The fluid drain was still a little black, but still red in color. These RX300 AWD just don't seem be friendly to the fluid. The fluid was only 7.5k old. and the transmisson is only 15k old. Well this was the last thing I wanted to do on the tranny this year. Next I get to replace the right front shock upper strut mount for a second time and the fluids in the differential to synthetics. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all and God Bless our Troops overseas.

There may be shims on the original pads. they can be reused after cleaning them up, Some pad sets come with shims.

I agree turn engine on, the battery voltage should read 13.5 ro 14.5 volts while engine is running. If not the alternator is probably toast. With the engine off the battery should read 12. to 12.5 volts. The battery can short the voltage down while the engine is running. Seems one of your batteries is bad and may have taken out the alternator too. Good luck

Check the vent holes infront of the windshield, you may have leaves and debris falling into the heater core and when you turn it on the motor is struggling to come to speed for the blower.

Treat the dealer nice, and see if they will bite, if they don't give you a break, take it elsewhere, It will save you thousands.

Maybe the electrical harness going to the seat has a frayed wire, possibly shorting something when in a certain position. Could even be the tilt motor harness rubbing. The seat would have to be dissassembled to locate this kind of problem

Braking within 10 percent of each other is absolutely rediculous. Reaction time and road surface can more than make up that difference. I have never had the brakes fade or cause alarm on my 99 RX300. It stops very well considering the weight and size. You all have all gone off the deep end, it is not a performance car for racing, a SuV that does a good job. Enjoy your evening.

I agree the RX brakes have been great, lasted longer than any other car I have had, And stop very well. I had 80k on my fronts when I changed them and they still had life left. The rears did wear out first however. But 50 k not bad.

I don't know why some mechanics recommend that, Probably to cut the life down on the disk, Disks manufactured today are true when new. Why cut a perfectly good new disk. Don't do it. Just ask the mechanic to make sure he uses a torque wrench when putting the wheels back on. No air wrenches allowed.

Also if the drain hose is blocked for the evaporator moisture will not drain away. There should be water under the car from the AC running if it is working properly. The hose is usually on the right side of the car on the firewall straight back in front of the passenger seat.

Hey that is cool, never thought to ask a shop if they would compress spring. The only item being changed over is the upper strut mount bushing. The original strut and spring will remain. I use two spring compressors that are tightened with a socket wrench.

You have to remove the entire strut first. Take the wheel off, disconnect the lower strut to axle bolt. Then remove the upper strut mount bolts (three). remove the brake line from the strut and the torsion bar rod also. Push the strut out of the axle by pushing down and swing the bottom of the strut out while pulling the entire assembly downwards. You will need a set of spring compressors to remove the strut mount as you have to compress the spring before removing the upper strut mount bolt. You have to be very careful as the strut has a keyed upper shaft which fits in the strut mount. When replacing the mount the key must line up before tightening the bolt.

Hey does anybody know if the Castrol Gear Lube (full synthetic) 75w-90w sold at walmart is Ok for the transfer and differential case if it says meets GL-5 specs? And what does Type C gear oil mean. It says it cannot be used for that purpose.

Yes, by the way my clicking went away with the Akebono ceramic pads. I don't know why but it did.

I purchased the Akebono ceramics and they are fantastic, no dust and much better stopping. I also replaced the front discs with Brembo rotors.

Hey I was right, but your tuturol is absolutely great. Great addition.

The chain can be replaced without removing the front cover, a mercedes mechanic locally does it all the time through the upper cover.

I agree the Brake Switch that is actuated by the brake pedal has a dual purpose of turning the brakes on and the second set of contacts allow the shift lock to be released when going from Park to any gear. The Switch is probably easy to replace and I would suggest that, I repair one on a Honda, but don't recommend that. The Switch on a honda was $25.00. So therefore the Lexus one is Probably $100. Just kidding I don't know the price.

Mercedes has a drain plug on their torque converters. How brilliant, I guess that is unusuall though. When I used to drain the fluid on the Mercedes I used to get about 3 quarts.

Even If you drain the differential there is still 3 to 4 quarts lurking in the torque converter. Sorry, but the complete system holds 8.8 to 9 quarts. That is a fact. Your cleaning the system is great though, don't get me wrong. I plan to do the same thing.

Well, ok. That tells us that a lot of fluid is trapped in the torque converter and can't simply be drained from the two plugs underneath. Mixing old, burnt fluid with new fluid is not proper maintenance. It would be comparable to draining half of the engine oil out every time you performed an oil change. ← Here is the approach I use. Buy 25 qts of Type IV ATF. Drain and refill every week (or every other week) for 5 weeks. At the end of this campaign, you will have replaced 98% of the ATF. Yes, it takes some time. But, it is a relatively cheap and easy way to flush your system. If you back off to three changes instead of five, you will replace about 89%. ← I guess that is still cheaper than a flush job, and Lexus doesn't have to touch it.