jgr7

Read your manual the snow button just starts the RX with trans in 2nd gear.

I would do a drain of the trans and refill with fresh Toyota trans fluid just to see if there is any sign of trouble with the fluid in the transmission. Was the transmission fluid low when you checked?

As to the claim of intermittent leak from the trans lines inside the radiator that's not gonna happen. They either leak or they don't, they wont heal themselves up. The lines connect on the outside of the radiator so it couldn't be a leaky connection it would have to be a cracked internal line and that would get worse not better.

I think I would also do a radiator drain and flush to make sure that none of whatever type of fluid that is ruins the hoses or seals in my water pump. Oil and rubber don't always go good together unless they were made to.

Jeff

You might want to put this in the GS forum so you will get to the group with the most info on this car.

Jeff

I have bought lift struts for industrial applications where I found a mfg part number on the unit and did a google search, found a web site and ordered the exact same strut for my fix. I saved my company about $8k by replacing the struts on a pad mounted piece of High Voltage switch gear and not changing the whole piece of equipment. The struts I found were less than $30 each plus shipping. Less than $100 and a half hour labor with no customer outage;-)

Jeff

I have a 2008 and yes it monitors the air pressure of all 5 tires. I'm not sure about your 05.

Jeff

Mine has the anchor point in the middle on the back of the seat for attaching the strap that keeps the car seat from falling forward.

Did you also check the air in the spare tire?

Did you replace the bulbs?

There is also a little more then the length and fittings, there is also the weight rating of the strut so it can hold up the heavy tailgate and also not be so strong as to make it hard to pull down.

Jeff

Your owners manual will give you the details.

When mine stuck i was at the snow and it stuck first thing in the morning. It did release after it warmed up. I found where the cable went into its sheath near the brake pedal and pealed back the rubber grommet that keeps dirt out and sprayed some dry silicone spray in the sheath. I also got under the RX and found the same thing under the car and sprayed them also. I never had any more sticking after that.

Jeff

It's not a problem it is designed that way to warm the car faster to keep the exhaust emissions lower.

Jeff

This is normal the trans will not shift into high gear until the temperature reaches a certain temp. This is more noticeable in colder climates.

Jeff

The dealer most likley does not want to know about this little tidbit they would rather sell a customer a $2000 ECU then just another key. Good for you finding this little known item this could help save members lots of money. You should post this on Club Lexus also.

Maybe the admins could make a stickey out of this also.

Jeff

Here is a link for struts if anyone cannot find ther item on ebay.

http://www.autopartsbylou.com/

Jeff

Do you hear the fuel pump opperate when you turn on the key? Have you pulled a spark plug and checked for spark? Check your battery voltage when the engine is turning over trying to start.

Did you check your gas cap?

The parking brake cable is sticking a little bit and not releasing the switch that turns on the light. You need to lube the cable.

Jeff

I would look at a bad battery connection there may have some corrosion on one or both or your battery could be on the way out. Has your clock been resetting?

Jeff

You should still get the carfax service for a month, I think it's 20-25 bucks and you can check any car you are looking at. If you are car shopping it will come in handy.

Jeff

First get a car-fax report, even if you have to pay for the months worth of use, could come in handy if you turn this one back. Get the VIN number from the front drivers side lower windshield area and call Lexus with this number and they will tell you if the car has had any service done at a Lexus dealer and what service was done. Now call the original owner with the info you have and ask him if he had any problems.

Jeff

I would say ONLY read your door sticker, that is if you are using the OEM size tire. Your car was tested and validated with tires that were aired to the pressure stated on the door. The handling, ABS computer and many other things I wouldn't even begin to understand were all validated with the specs that are listed for that size and tire rating at the air pressure stated. The same tire can be used on many different size cars and applications for instance my Accord V6 gets 32psi front and 29psi rear good to vehicle rated weight capacity. So when the tires are rotated the air has to be adjusted. This is due to the engine and front wheel drive weight. This same tire on a heavier car would most likely require higher pressure. You won't be wrong if you use the pressure that the car Mfg gives you. You will not hurt the tire with a higher pressure up to rated Max but you may hurt the handling of your car and that may hurt you. Remember the tire Mfg gives you the max pressure with the max weight rating for that tire, they don't know what kind of car that tire is going on.

Jeff

That sounds like a good deal on the car but the price for the transmission seems pretty high, most here talk about $4200-5000 at the dealer and $1500-1000 less than that at an independent shop so I would do a little more research on transmission prices. Other than the trans is the rest of the RX in good condition?

Jeff

The worry for anti freeze is more the anti-corrosion package that protects the Aluminum as well as the steel components in your engine. In as little as 2 years the anti corrosion inhibitors can start to go bad, and while it may not ruin your engine in that short of time it starts the process that will allow your freeze plugs to fail. I had this happen on a car with an engine that never had the anti freeze changed because it looked good and the car never overheated. When I used to have the Eldorado it was mandatory you changed the coolant every two years. This however had the all aluminum North Star engine. If you didn't do this you would eventually get the dreaded blown head gasket from the corrosion inhibitors being gone.

My wife's 08 350 gets about 19-20 in town and on trips to Reno we've be getting about 25+. This last winter we got caught in on of the snow storms coming home and the All wheel drive allowed us not to have to chain up, it also worked very well no slipping at all with stock tires.

Jeff