jgr7

I was in a pretty bad wreck a few years ago and my air bag as well as the seat belt saved me. My belt was a little loose on my lap and my knees hit the dash but my face was stopped by the air bag from hitting the steering wheel. Bruised knees a scuff mark on my face and bruises on my chest and lap where the seat belt caught me. I know always put on the seat belt and then pull it tight to get rid of all the slack from your clothes holding it off your lap. In my wreck a guy made a u-turn in front of my on a two lane hwy. I was doing 50mph hit him broadside right between the wheels dead center. His car was a chevy lumina mine a toyota Prieva. I pushed his passenger side doors almost to the drivers seat and rolled him over, just lucky he had no passenger of there would have been death that night. Jeff

I've been using detectors for around 10 years and (knock on wood) have avoided the ticket guys because of it and most of the tips above. I was told by an officer one time at a safety meeting that when he asks a speeder if he knows how fast he was going and the speeder says no he always gets the ticket. The reason is he is lying or stupid for not knowing how fast he is going and that makes him a dangerous speeder. I've found that the detector makes me more aware of my speed and I drive slower than I used to before I started using one. Tip no 1 on the hwy is your best friend. Just remember driving is a participation sport, if your speeding leave the cell phone alone as well as the cd player and big mac hamburger. Jeff

Just saw on the news that Mt St Helens went off again today, not sure just where you are in the Pac NW but they said that you could see the plum of smoke and ash From Portland Oregan. They also showed a lava flow after it was dark. Better keep the cars under wraps till all that acid smoke and ash move on. :) Jeff

It appears your theory is working in slow motion, the output of the pump I'm sure is many times greater than any opperations the transmission might require. You can't really believe that the R&D guys didn't think of everything that you have, can you? I know that you have put alot of time and thought into this, but unless Toyota/Lexus is willing to admit a flaw no service dept in the world is going to give anything you say any weight. Have fun with your research it makes one think about these complex machines. Jeff

My question would where did the fluid that is gone,go. When a tranny leaks you can see it. So do you still have a leak? Jeff

Also make sure that the vacum hose at the rear of the box top is still attached or you will get a CEL. Jeff

Can the switch be disabled? or you could just let all the fluid drain out and then add new. It won't hurt the pump to run to empty as long as it is not trying to engage any gears, and you turn it off as soon as the fluid is almost stopped. Jeff

87 all the way here also, never any problems. Jeff

It can be done at home but is a bit of work, you need to open one of the trans cooler lines and put some clear extensions on to give you better access to them. You put the side coming from the tranny in a five gallon bucket and the other end needs to be long enough to get you to a secure place to attach a funnel. Start the engine and leave it in park the fluid should be running out of the tube in the bucket, let a couple of quarts run out and then start putting new fluid in the funnel. It should run in pertty fast so have a bunch open and ready. When the fluid starts to run bright pink into the bucket stop pouring new in and let another pint or so run out then shut off the engine. Put the hoses back together, start it up, look for leaks, with your foot on the brake and idleing go through the gears then back to park and check fluid level. If it is within the cold range leave it alone if not add some and go for a ride to get it up to hot range and check again add more as needed. If it is over full at hot, open the line again and remove some fluid as you don't want to run overfull. Jeff

I think if you do a search ther is another member here that had a similar odor problem that couldn't be resolved and they got him into a new car. I am making it sound sooo easy LOL do the search and contact him, I'm sure he can help you. Jeff

cruzn, not on the rx300s you just need to know the sequence and have one master key. I watched them do it to mine at Lexus of Concord. Jeff

These kind of electrical ghost are hard to track down, so some basic trouble shooting is in order. You say your battery is good, did you have it tested? did you check the terminal connections? Clean the posts? check alternator output? Now the fun stuff, check all your lights and make sure they are working. This is where it gets hard, you need to remove and clean every ground connection that you can find on the car. Remove them and clean them and the mateing surface they attach to if it has paint on it scrape the paint off under the connection put some no oxide corrosion inhibitor on it and reattach it with a good tight connection. I'm not a fan of painting over ground connections after this work is done, I like to be able to keep an eye on them for signs of corrosion. Good Luck, and I'm sure you will get some more advise on things to do so keep looking here. Jeff

monarch I tend to agree with your reasoning on the manufacturing defect rather than a design issue, I see so many of these RX's on the road around here that if it was a design flaw they would be laying along side the road every where you look. I also think that Lexus has seen enough of the problems that they should step up to the plate and pay for every single transmission that comes in damaged with less than 100k miles unless they can prove it was abused or used as a taxi. They should send out a recall to every owner of AWD RX's and pay for the fluid replacement every 15-20k miles, total replacement not just a pan change. I mean just how much do you really think it costs a dealer to change the fluid? I would say half hour labor and the cost of fluid. I'll say $40.US tops at there cost. They would get alot of respect from people owning these cars. Jeff

My 2000 is Lexus Premium Sound System, by Nakamichi. Jeff

Did you get a carfax report?

A friend of mine had the same thing on a suburban he bought new, the dealer buffed it out for free. It was rail dust, metal particles from the brakes on the rail cars. His was white also. Now you see most of the cars covered with a white plastic film on all top surfaces on the rail cars around here. Jeff

I get the same thing on my 2000 when I open the sun roof up all the way, the owners manual states the 80% setting is going to help with this but it is still there just not as bad. Like Seaduck said just open up another window a little. Jeff

From the 2000 RX300 manual. Your transmission has a driving pattern selector switch which allows you to select power, normal or snow mode to suit your driving condition. For starting your vehicle in sand, mud, ice or snow, use the "Snow" position. For details see (K) Driving in Snow mode on page 182. p182 (K) Driving in snow mode in the Snow position the transmission system shifts up from the second gear. To set the snow mode push the snow switch. In the snow mode the ECT SNOW indicator light comes on. To cancel the snow mode push the snow switch again. The power mode is automatically cancelled when you push the snow switch. I haven't used the snow mode yet however I use the power mode once in awhile in the hills. Jeff

If your car has the rain sensing wipers make sure that the IR box mounted to the windshield is attached with the proper adhisive or the wipers will not work properly, I know on the Cadillacs the glue kit is about $80.00. Jeff

You should also check the fuel pressure regulator fuel filter and fuel pump. Some times these things can cause problems in cold weather. Jeff

My 2000 has the line also, my wife thought the lens was cracked when I brought the car home the first time. Jeff

Another one that isn't bad if you have been driving at least 3 years and no points is 21st century, I fixed my son up with it and it is a pretty good deal. Also includes towing with every package. I went with progressive for his first 6 months but they raised it for no reason after the 6 month low price, so I went with 21st. You can check them on line and purchase from there website. The towing package works also my kid had a dead battery out at the beach one night and called the 800 no and had a jump in less than 1/2 hour. Jeff

I was changing my engine oil today and decided to do the trans pan oil change also. The oil was dark but no burnt smell, 21,700 miles 2000 RX300. T-IV at the Toyota dealer cost me $6.89 per Qt. !!! I put in 4qts, just a little over 4 came out. I did this since Carfax told me that my car was from an area that is hilly and hot and I wanted to see just how the fluid looked for my peace of mind. Jeff

04, Elucid is in Canada I'm sure he is talking about KPH not MPH.

Here is the link that was posted here I think. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/rx300how2/index.html Jeff