jgr7

My guess is that the TRD filter will have a disclamer stating that it is for off road use only, use at own risk.

Check this link http://www.clublexus.com/index.php/article/view/1942/1/436/ and the lines to the charcoal canister.

bartkat the short answer is yes, if you wanted it.

Here is an add from a couple weeks ago at our local Kragen. http://kragen.inserts2online.com/pageLarge...drpStoreID=1659 These might not be the model for the Lexus I'd have to go in and check. Jeff

I got my spare remote key at Lexus of Concord for $189 and it included programing. I got the dealer that I bought the car from to pay for it as only one remote was with the car along with the valet key. It was a Cadillac dealer not a Lexus. Jeff

RX400h, Auto Zone sells the fram on sale for 2 for $6 quite often, like twice a month. So there you go. Now I haven't bought one yet for my RX so I might be wrong on this model I am going on the ones I've used on my hondas. Jeff

Lets see at $5 a filter at the auto parts store, change the filter every 30k miles. Thats 10 filter changes 300k miles for your $50 (K&N price also) not sure just how you can save too much money with the K&N unless you change your paper alot sooner or keep the car past 300K. Here is a link to some tests I ran across awhile back on another board. Hope the link to another board is ok with managment. http://forum.thedieselpage.com/cgi-bin/ult...ic;f=3;t=007856 Jeff

Here is a site that did some testing on filters. http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/oilfilterstudy.html have a look Jeff

On the tire issue, the stock Bridgestone tires are not that good of a tire to start with. They are loud and don't wear well with good alignment. When your tires are cupped they get very loud at speed. I just bought my 2000 RX with 17,500 miles a month ago and it has the bridgestone tires. I will be getting new tires early next year as these tires are loud and seem to be about half worn out. I'm not sure what tires I will get yet but they will lean toward the hwy tread as I live in CA and we don't go to the snow that often. Get some new tires from a tire dealer or on line tire store and have the tire shop put them on. Stay away from the Lexus dealer for tires and alignments, that stuff is best left to the pros that do it every day. Front drive cars need to have the tires rotated more often than RWD cars so find a shop that has flat fix and rotation included in the price of the tires and get it done as often as they recommend and keep the air filled to the pressure that is listed on the inside drivers door. Jeff

Not being a smart a$$ here but you did have the lights turned on right? When I first bought mine I thought the auto lights were on and I had no lights like you but I had head lights so I thought something was wrong, it turned out that I had turned the light switch off and what I was seeing as headlights was the day time running lights. I turned on the switch and just like magic all the lights came on. LOL Jeff

wwest, have you test driven one yet? I was looking at them before I bought my RX , never drove one though. I looked at some tests and the testers weren't impressed with the ride or handling. here is one. http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?se...article_id=7592 Let us know when you do a test drive I assume you would try an x5 as well as the x3 just to compare. Jeff

Is there a chance that someone tried to siphon gas out? sounds like something has obstructed the filler neck or it has collapsed. See if you can look inside the filler tube for blockage. Jeff P.S. don't use a match for light, LOL

Thats my point there must be something going on to make the oil get dirty so fast. My guess would be a cooling issue. Lexus recommends 100k right? So they must think the same way as the gm guys however something is not right if trans fluid is getting burnt and/or dirty at less than 30k. I will be changing my fluid every 30k as insurance, just the pan oil though and never a flush. If my oil smelled burnt I would go for total replacement but not a flush. My 94 Eldorado went 100k before change, this car was driven hard and fast, there has to be something causing burnt or dirty oil in the low mileage lexus transmissions. Has any one tried an external cooler other than the factory one? One would think that if it was a complete design flaw there would be so many failures that a recall would be in order. I'll have to drive my rx more and see if I can feel anything happening with the trans that doesn't feel right, this might be hard to do though as it is hard to get it away from my wife. Jeff

This information comes from a Cadillac forum that I belong to and is authored by a GM power train engineer that helped design the Northstar power train. I know it is not Lexus but the principal on trans fluids is the same. Trans fluid is NOT exposed to combustion byproducts and contamination like engine oil is. It is in a sealed environment and age and heat are it's only real enemies. If the fluid looks nice and red and the trans is in normal use ..i.e..not extensive towing or livery service or touring Death Valley all the time..... it is perfectly fine to just drain the pan, change the filter and refill with fresh fluid. Quit trying to re-engineer the recommended service procedures. I know the factory engineers are stupid but if they knew how to design and engineer the trans you would think they would know how to service it....and "they" think the idea of flushing a trans is the stupidest thing known to man due to the risk of outside debris and moving existing debris inside the trans to other areas during the flush. End of story. The life expectancy of the trans friction surfaces is quite long. In the hundreds of thousands of miles. Do you imply that the trans was designed and tested without the normal heat of traffic jams and climbing hills on a hot summer day in mind...???...LOL....get real. The trans is designed to handle WAY worse conditions than that. MUCH MUCH worse than that. Idling in traffic does nothing to the trans....is cools off nicely. Climbing hills can warm it up, especially if the trans shifts a lot...but that is included in the design and testing. Transmissions are tested in a variety of ways. One of the worst case schedules includes repeated WOT accels and up shifts to over 100 MPH....like 25,000 runs like that on a single trans with no service at all. As I said, the trans oil is not contaminated by blow by or contaminates like engine oil is. It stays very clean and functions for a long long time. Especially the latest generation of Dextron that has a high synthetic content and excellent life characteristics. It is really a hydraulic oil and a cooling medium for the trans as well as a lube medium. If it is not contaminated it last for a very long time and replacing it is just not required. There is a great deal of work and development that goes into service recommendations. They are not something that are just dreamed up out of the blue by some marketing type. Test vehicles are often run to DOUBLE the service intervals to validate the safety factor built into them. In addition, the latest generation of GM cars has the ability with the trans temperature sensors to evaluate the trans fluid life in the event of an extreme operating condition that might shorten the trans fluid life and cause an early change interval. Unless there is a catastrophic event that causes the fluid to be burned or contaminated there is no need to completely drain or purge the unit at a change interval. Simply draining and refilling is sufficient. It does not compromise the service life of the friction elements at all. If a trans fluid "purge" is required then simply unhooking one of the cooler lines and idling the unit will purge all the old oil from the unit and be much more effective than a "flush" ever could accomplish. Since the oil from the cooler line is direct oil leaving the torque converter you are getting a direct purge of the oil that is of the most concern...the oil trapped in the torque converter. Some flush equipment "reverse flushes" the oil back wards thru the pump and lines.....sounds like a "great idea" but it is totally capable of dislodging harmless debris and flowing it into areas that can cause all sorts of problems. Whoever came up with that idea should be shot. This debate can go on forever but I can assure you that the guys that design the units do NOT favor any sort of flushing and stand by the simple drain and refill service requirements. Flushes might work great in some circumstances...but there are many many possible pitfalls as described. The only way to avoid them is to not flush...hence the recommendation.

Thanks for the info. Jeff

If you do find a way to remove the limiter make sure you upgrade your tires to the proper speed rating or you might find your self with a tire that comes apart at a higher speed than it is rated for. Jeff

I'll have to look but most serpentine belts have an spring loaded idler pulley that you put a socket on and push one way and it relieves tension on the belt, then you just take off the belt and put the new one on in the reverse order.

One thing we know for sure is that in the snow or ice, SPEED KILLS. Take it slow and easy and leave youself pleanty of time and room for stopping. And keep your insurance paid up. Jeff

Would the rear wheels on the rx300 ever get much power to them if chains were used on the front? My thinking is that unless you were trying to spin the wheels, using chains on the front of this type of awd would make the rear wheels almost never receive much power IE the front not loosing traction no need for the rear wheels to pick up the slack. I'm not sure if the system is the same but my Honda C-RV has what they call real-time four wheel drive, front drive until the wheels spin then some power is sent to the rear. If you floor it in the rain you can feel the front start to slip and then stop when the rear gets power, this takes less than a second and stops all loss of traction. My thinking is that chains on a front wheel drive car are more for stopping and turning than traction, except in ice conditions where nothing much helps. If you live in snow country I would think that a set of snow tires and cheaper wheels would be the ticket for every day driving in the winter, save your good stuff for dry weather. Most all the 4-wheeling I do in the snow is off road in 4wd trucks I always put the chains in the front unless I'm in mud then its all wheels. This even goes for the 33,000 lb 4x4 trucks that I have to take off road although they have duel rear tires. If the snow is real deep I will chain up both ends, this helps when you have to plow through the deep stuff. I work for the power company and have to go to the nasty places to restore power, I'm not doing this for fun although it is. Jeff

In order to get the new look the mfg would have to offer a firmware update or flash update. Not sure if they would even do this. The Map cd is most likley from a different mfg co. that does maps for many different units and will not have any updates for the unit. I have up dated my friends gps unit in his boat but got the firmware update from lowrance not the map co. You might be able to find out whop makes the gps unit and contact them for info on an update of the firmware. Jeff

Just to let you know what the dealer charges, I just got my car and it only came with one remote key so part of the deal was the dealer,(not a lexus dealer) get me another key. I had to take the car to a lexus dealer and show proof that the car was mine. Paid $182 and change,then go back the next week to pick it up and have it programed. Jeff

I traded in my 94 Eldorado 145,000 miles great car but I had the infamous oil leak that the engine has to be pulled to fix. Talk about a car with power, If you have never driven a cadillac with a Northstar engine you won't believe how fast these cars are. I still own a C-RV but my son who is away at college is using it, also have A 96 Accord EX-V6 that is my dailey driver the wife got the RX and I lost the Eldo :-( . Jeff

I'm not sure about the problems with chains in front causing any kind of problems. I do some driving in the snow with 4x4s and I have always put chains on the front only. The front is where you want the traction and turning. The first time four wheelers that I have taken with me thought I was crazy until they see how well it works. Ice on the street maybe a different matter. I think the snow tires in front and regular tires in the rear would cause handling problems much the same as two different tread patterns front and rear would, dry or snow. Jeff

One thing to remember when using on line forums is that you tend to find people with problems gathered together, this sometimes gives the impression that all of the cars are crap. You need to talk to some mechanics in your area and see how many of these problems they see in the real world. Get the sales figures for the car you're looking at I'm sure that the percentage will be very low. This being said you still need to decide if you are willing to take a chance that you will not be in the unlucky group that gets one of these very low percentages of bad cars. Do you feel lucky? I went for it and just bought my 2000 Rx with 17500 miles. Some people say wow that is great with such low miles and others will say there must be something wrong with it if it has such low miles (lemon). I checked Car Fax, I called Lexus dealer with Vin and they checked the service records with all Lexus dealers, they are all linked together and will do it for free. I found only the free 5000 mile change, so worst case mine didn't have the oil changed for 12k miles. I am ok with that. Good luck Jeff

In my opinion, if you are doing regular pan oil changes ( 15-30 k) you will be fine with what ever you change in the pan. If you are towing you might want to do a total replacement. The easiest way to do this is to have someone that has the machine that you disconnect one line that is going to the trans cooler and hook up to machine , it takes the fluid coming out and puts new back in on the other side. I would never do a chemical flush on a trans, I just don't trust the shops to clean the machine good enough to guarantee that you are not getting someone Else's crap back in your transmission. Jeff