lenore

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.

The U140E tranny holds 8.8 quarts and the U140F tranny holds 9.8 quarts for total refill.

God, I wish we had our military bases nearby, unfortunatly the politicians closed down the three bases we had, and the nearest base is 40 miles away, But yes when you see a serviceman or woman go up and thank them for their service. My son is a Reservist, cop, and I bless everyday that he is safe, but would never undermine his beliefs in what he does for us all. I love the little towns like Jacksonville NC, after all the marines there are what provided my first grandaughter. And truely what a wonderful town, the people are by far the most wonderful, friendly, and supportive folks that I have ever met. God Bless America.

Sorry nobody is responding, I do not have a GS but generally alternators are not bad to replace. Usually two bolts hold them on. Disconnect the negative lead on the battery to start the process, then remove the drive belt, unhook the plug and wires to the alternator and remove the two bolts that secure it. Installation is the reverse finishing with the battery negative terminal.

Read all the posts under this question. Brembo rotors and ceramic pads are working great on my RX300.

I agree wholeheartedly. God bless our troops, they do as they are asked to, it is too bad that so many Americans forget that the freedom they have are because of the military. Coming from a military family and being a Vietnam veteran myself I am disgusted what the media does to the morale and fortitude of our proud veterans. God it would be nice if for once you turn on the news and they covered the good being done, I don't know if it can last with the blasting by the enemy within that constantly attacks the military and the supporters of our country. In past generations it would have been treason, now it is accepted. Living on the Left coast where all the left wing Berkely, Los Angelos, Seattle, and anarchist that constantly do things like make their cities military free zones, I find my stomach turning. Every time the news attacks another insurgent rises to the surface with zeal, believing they are winning, using our media as a barometer to their success. Suicide bomber, no it is a terrorist, insurgent, no it is a terrorist. Say a prayer for all the brave and gallent men and woman that sacrifice their lives so you can enjoy yours living in suburbia, with three cars, and the freedom to move freely with safety. Remember the troops when your babies attend school and enjoy the Christmas plays, soccer matches, and the mall shopping. Please support your troops, they are the last true heroes, not Katie (commie) Curric. Merry Christmas, and happy new year to all and God Bless.

Where in the USA do dealers match prices with other dealers or web ads? This certainly does not happen where I live. ← Well the Ford dealership does, but somebody else said that some Lexus parts counters will also match price. The Plano Texas site is www.trademotion.com/partlocator.

Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you feel you need that warranty, buy it from a Credit union, it will be a lot cheaper.

Take the savings by not using the dealership and invest it in the stock of Starbucks,etc..... However Starbucks does not support the American troops overseas in IRAQ, So they are out on my list. Boy is that expensive coffee and rental cars when you consider the price of Lexus service.

by the way yellow cuts through fog much better than white, That is why the French have yellow headlights, visability is much better in fog conditions to both on coming and your vision.

$260.00 at Park Place Lexus in TEXAS. That is what you should pay, tell the dealership to match price. It is on the web.

My 99 RX does that also, it has been covered in the forums many times, the car has been set to not shift when cold until the engine and tranny are warmed up. It is annoying but normal as I have seen on this site many times.

very informative, thanks for all the tips.

By the way the grill faacia under the hood or along the windshield may be removeable and possible you can clean by vacuuming underneath this piece.

Is it possible that some leaves crumbled and worked their way down to the heater core, and maybe some debris is hitting the blower fan causing it to slow down, and overheating. I pay very close attention to leaves sitting on the air vents on the outside of the vehicle. I have replaced a few heater cores, and they can get contaminated with debris. I have no easy solution to fixing however.

Yeh, Lex kid and RX NC your info is fantastic.

By the way do not use loctite red, Blue as stated is good. One other thing is when the valve cover is off, hold a straight edge to the bottom and look for warpage. the gasket will conform to some irregularities but not a really warped cover. This can cause leakage by not allowing the gasket to do its job with proper pressure against the cylinder head. I want to empasize do not use red loctite it will ruin your day if you want to remove that fastener. Aftermarket RTV's are definetly great.

You can purchase just the mast part of the antenna, if you are mechanical it is not too bad a job replacing it. Saves lots of money too. I wiped mine once and was pleased to find I could get just the mast part of the antenna. As for the tranny, get it replaced again while under warranty, my second transmission was defective and it took two months but Lexus finally replaced it and now it works fine.

I was using a 76mm one for a Mercedes 190E and it works perfect. But my favorite is a clamping type of two half circles. I can't remember where I got it though. Yes, sometimes the filter really sticks on there from heat, but proper tightening is good.

Blue stu I used type IV fluid every change. Oh I agree with Lex Kid, FWD is perfect for Florida and any sunbelt state. If you read the threads Heat and commute may very well affect the reliability of the AWD. See if car max can find you the right color in FWD or find a different type vehicle, ie Toyota 4runner or Accura MDX.

Monarch, you are too funny, If it was'nt for people modifying and tinkering, we would still be riding horses. Get a life, do you think race cars are stock from the factory? I have been making improvements to cars for 40 years, and have always been successful, sure you make some mistakes, but that is how you learn. Most aftermarket products for cars are usually reliable if not an improvement. Just because it was'nt made by Toyota means it is bad. Many improvements you see on Toyotas are from aftermarket designs that the auto company pirated. Oh give me a brake, oh sorry for the pun. Give us all a break. Oh by the way nice job on the modification for relocating the oil filter. God bless you.

I am with Lex kid, the noise is not normal and is indicative of a failure to come. As for servicing, I repeat again, I was not only draining and refilling at 30k intervals but was dropping the pan and cleaning the magnets,ect. and replacing the wire screen each and every time, I have receipts to show from lexus when I purchased these items. As for Do it yourselfers, my work is superior to the Local Roseville Lexus dealership, which quite frankly left my wife at risk of having catrostophic failures because of their great Factory trained work which I could have found in a High School Freshman auto shop. The noise was not on my RX300 when I purchased it and only appeared its ugly noise before the failure. We are just trying to save this poor gentleman some grief by having the problem addressed or as RX NC said unload the car, and maybe find a FWD RX300 that doesn't seem to experience the early failures. I have worked very hard all my life I will be d#$%^ if I will accept the $4300 bill on a Luxuary car as normal after such a low mileage. Good thing there are those of us willing to warn others of such a costly mistake to their wallet.