jgr7

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

Here in California as of the 1st of Jan if you have your windshield wipers on you also must have on your headlights. DRL might keep you from getting a ticket if you live in Calif.

Jeff

Ericok, I had a 93 previa with 216k also until a guy made an illegal u-turn in front of me on a 2 lane hwy and I center punched him and totaled it. That was 3 years ago. That van was bullit proof only changed the tranny fluid one time, at 90k miles. Other than brakes ,tires , one set of shocks and struts and one starter at 45k and 2 sets of plugs, cap rotar, one set of wires. I never had to fix anything else. I was going to drive it till it died, which I'm sure would have been many more thousands of miles. Great car.

A most important thing to remember is that your tires are also rated for a certain MPH and the limit is also so you don't have a tire fly apart at a speed that it is not rated for. If you change the limiter change your tires also to the proper speed rating.

Run a carfax report and it will tell you the in service date, the date the dealer sent registration to DMV.

What i'm looking for is not a frame but the holder that lets the frame sit against the bumper flat. The bumper on the 2000 is not flat in the center and with just a frame the plate has a gap behind it, or if you tighten it down tight it bends the plate. This holder or spacer goes between the plate and the bumper.

Jeff