lenore

You may have a stuck thermostat....

You know I loved the look of the old Honda Accord wagon...They are probably quite rare.  four windows down at 60mph....not very aerodynamic, but what the heck.

Did they give you the codes?  We cant help you without them.

Sounds like the strut, or struts are weak. 

20 hours ago, wineluver said:

I have a 07 es350 with 155k and recently replaced the front struts, with the rear getting done next few weeks. Turns out i waited to long and all 4 tires were cupped. Driving out off the shop and onto a freeway had vibration coming from front and steering wheel, so replaced the front tires with two good spares ( that were mildly cupped), same brand and model, and vibration gone. Now I have the same issue OBwan had,  a slight vibration felt in the seat (not through the steering wheel)from 45mph and up that does not increase with speed, but goes away around 60mph. Also there when turning at speed, as when entering on-ramps etc. Although the rear tires are also cupped, I left them on until I can replace rear struts, then i will get a new set of four tires. My concern is that I read that the es350 has had front axle issues and I am worried that is what is causing the vibration. A. should i be concerned? B. can putting the car on a lift for visual inspection spot this issue? (concerned an enterprising mechanic will just tell me i need new axles, bad or not. Can you replace just one?) C. if it is an axle any recommendation on after market brand? At this point my plan was to first replace rear struts, then buy new set of Conti Pure Contacts, and if vibration persists, replace one or both axles. Any suggestions would be appreciated as this is getting expensive!

 

Wineluver 

After you perform all of that work make sure to do a four wheel alignment.  Cupping is generally related to alignment issues.  By the way replacing one driveshaft is fine.  I have done that on a RX300 and other cars and had no issues.  They are different from left and right.

Lord, why do car manufacturer try to make a simple fluid level so difficult?

You may have a dirty Idle Air Control Valve.  Search cleaning the IACV valve and try that.  The throttle body may be sticking in unwanted positions.

By the way if the compressor clutch is bad, it can be replaced independently of the compressor.

I had a compressor clutch freeze up on another vehicle and it burned the belt so bad that the belt broke and wrapped around the crankshaft pulley.

Frankly flushes on high mileage transmission is kiss of death.  If a fluid exchange is done (transmission pump is used for the exchange) than it is ok, but a flush machine drives the metal debris thru tranny and probably into the valve body assembly which is death to the transmission.  With Loss of overdrive you should be experiencing a check engine light with pending codes.  Either that or your check engine light is burned out.  Another note sometimes the shift linkage comes loose and the gears are not selected properly.  Couple of people over the years have found that.  I feel the biggest problem is that the original 1999 tranny had a aluminum planetary gear carrier which eventually wears and than causes the failure of the gears because they drift in the aluminum carrier causing failure.  All on this site and the other lexus site agree a flush is not good.  I know I tried it once on my RX300 when I loss overdrive and it only got worst.

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sounds like the throttle bottle is stuck...maybe a dose of carb cleaner is needed.   This car is not drive by wire, still has a throttle cable and you need to have it checked out.

Check the air conditioning belt, Maybe the air conditioning pump is freezing up and causing the belt to stall. 

You are relying on some mechanic, There is always some drain on most newer cars today.  Did the shop actually do a hydrometer check on each cell of the battery?  While the engine is running you should be measuring 13.5 to 14.5 volts across the battery terminal with head lamps on.  If not the Alternator is bad.  If you are measuring this than replace the battery and be done with the problem.

by the way I find it useful to work on thngs like that on top of a large towel, small parts will hit and stay.

One other thing, As my wonderful state of California keeps chipping away at any kind of sanity, Texas may be in my future.

God Bless Josh, I am so happy for you, and yes the three car garage so you can pursue your passion with cars...

Oh man just noted the original post was three years ago...Probably a waste of time now.

I would file a complaint with the Attorney General of your state.  That is fraud.  Then I would contact the local media (TV and otherwise and see if they are interested in the story)

That is ridiculous, obviously the job was done poorly.  Only reason you would have a failure is if you had an overheating condition.  I would contact Lexus of America and see what they say.

No less than 250k miles...Many on here have over 250k miles on the RX's

Yea good fix, I called that one with the crank sensor.

The gasket itself would not cause loss of lubrication unless oil level in the sump gets too low.  The arms and camshaft are lubed thru oil passage ways independent of the cover.  The covers job is to retain the oil that squirts out and return in the passageways back to the sump.

I would do a re-read for codes...look for pending codes also.

Well there is the Lexus CT200h hybrid, however for smaller the Toyota Rav 4 is an outstanding candidate or the Prius series of cars.  There are Toyota electric vehicles available now. Good luck, but remember your car has high resale because of the mileage...don't let it go cheap.

My thought is the battery the only thing bothering you or do you have new car itch.  By the way there are venders that provide the battery much cheaper in around the $3000 range. Many Prius owners still have original battery well past the 10 year mark.  I too have a 2008 RX400h and figure the cost of the battery is cheaper than car payments.  I have 199k miles on my vehicle and I love it.  Only wish it had some of the newer collision avoidance systems of the new cars.  I would never trade it in, sell it on your own and reap much more than what you would get for a trade in.  With your mileage your car is still very desireable with a premium price.