lenore

thank you, please post, I am sure there are a bunch of folks with the same symptons. I wonder if it is your ball joints......

Varies with the dealership and circumstance, I believe most have had a long block put in.....

You probably need to clean your IACV valve, The procedure has been posted on this site as well as the other site. Here is the procedure on the RX300 probably similiar to yours. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...c=30723&hl=

As usual, great post, thank yu for the feedback. I live less than 2 miles from that dealership. The dealership sucks, but apparently their parts online is great.

Actually it covers through 2002...., but not 2003 because the case was started in 2002.....

8 years 120 day warranty for sludge.

If you have the tow package on the car I wonder if the converter is going bad, causing the brake light indicator. The converter is located down by the spare tire on the left side of the car. Mine died several years ago, and I figured out you could go to walmart and get one for trailers, and then I spliced it in. If that converter were to go bad maybe that is causing your light.....just a thought.

You may have an intermittant bulb. Take all bulbs out and make sure none are corroaded. Look at them carefully, maybe one is dark and burned looking...

the KYB are great, put them on my RX and they ride great.

MY specs are from a Haynes manual for Lexus RX300 covers all years...Close enough, nothing to worry about.....

Heat will allow it to be removed. Hitting it with a torch and then wrenching it. I know a very scarey prospect.

Caliper mounting bolts front 25, rear upper bolt 20 rear lower 14 Caliper bracket mounting bolts front 77 rear 34 (this is the bracket that the caliper actually mounts to)

I would wait. They are easily good for 100k miles....that is if they are of the quality of the RX300 belts. I have the original pwr steering pump belt and at 166k miles. The alternator belt I did at 120k miles.

I hope his steering rack is not loose on the frame. Should be able to jack the car up and push on the wheels to see if the rack moves....

Hard to measure, the pistons do have detents in them for the valves. when we took the highlander engine apart I saw everything, but unforturnately didnt do any measurements. i agree totally with you Roger. I wish Toyota would give us the truth or quit using false info to sell their timing belts early. As for the measurement you would have to measure the highest point of the piston, and then turn the head over and measure the lowest point from the base of the head to the valve extension. The cylinder head gasket would have to be added in for height. here is picture of the valve detentions in the piston...

I dont know if you have American Tires Stores in your locallity, but they are fair and good. The Michelin Latitude is a great tire, and yes I am one of the ones with costco problems. If your car is AWD it gets tougher with their policies if you have worn tires and need a replacement for hazard. Another great source is Tirerack.com. I have used them and they list installers in your area. I have gotten great deals, and they have consumer feedback on all of their tires with outstanding info on each tire.

Also what position is the cam really in, the VVTI constantly changes the cam position, however there should be a max down position with everything to its extreme.

You know, the wiring could be getting an open or short. They do get hot under the hood, and quite brittle. I would check the connections carefully.....

Oh man here we go again. Interference is what the 1mze engine with VVti valve train is.....Has to do with the variable valve timing....

this is the top of engine with intake off. Valve covers are still on. My concern, and I am shooting from the hip, is that your variable valve timing is off, I would think it would throw a code. but sludge in the cam timing gear assembly could throw the cam timing off and maybe cause a missfire. I would remove the front valve cover which is easy to get to and rule out sludge. the next thought is unhook the battery for a couple of minutes to reset all codes in the main computer. It is possible the crank or cam timing sensors may be going bad, but I just dont know. Now your mechanic removed the manifold, I would be concerned that maybe one of the plugs to the fuel injectors on top might be loose or have some corrosion.... The second picture I have circled the injectors for the front bank. Both are accessable with the cosmetic cover removed....

I have removed the intake manifold and you dont really see the sludge area....sorry. Just did this for a water leak. It only exposes the valves. not the dreaded sludge throughout the oil pan and valve covers....The valve covers are not removed when you remove the intake manifold....

neigbors 2003 highlander engine (same as our engine) Som,e have had luck witgh Auto RX (google it)

Until that cover is removed you wont know. Here is a picture of a sludged engine after scooping out a coffee can worth of gunk....

They may be missfiring do to camshaft or crankshaft position sensor being bad. The camshaft one could be signs of oil sludge in the engine. Google those codes and it is not a pretty scene. The ignitors (coil packs) fire through a computer with inputs from the Crankshaft and camshafts positions senors. I would pull the front valve cover and see if you have sludge....

Yep great sales tool, but real life is different. I would drain and fill the tranny with the Toyota recommended fluid at no later than 30k miles, and the radiator coolent with Toyota Type Red no longer than the recommended 5 year mark....