jgr7

We all agree that what you say about how the tranny is working sounds logical. What you can't seem to grasp is in the real world (not on paper) there just isn't that many failures compaired to the amout of RXs out there. Thats why I think Lexus got some sub-standard clutches at one point and they got spread out in production. Maybe one RX gets all of its clutches that are the bad ones and others only get one or two. This would explain the low mileage and high mileage failures. Jeff

I still think that it is a material flaw that leads to the failure. The intended design of the transmission to do all the things wwest says was just that. The materials used to accomplish this were not up to the job. Lexus must have discovered this at some time and switched vendors or changed the process used to make what ever part(s) that were causing the failure. My guess is that they got a bad batch of friction plates that were mixed with good ones. If they all were bad we would have seen thousands of bad trannys. I see so many RX 300s in my area that there is no way there wouldn't be more complaints of bad trannys if they were all bad. Lexus most likely didn't catch the bad product during assembly because it looked normal. There is no way they can tell which RXs have the bad parts so they just figure hey we play dumb ignore the problem and don't do a recall. If the tranny fails under warranty they fix it, if not they see what kind of push back they get from the owner and go from there. It's likely that doing fluid changes was the best way to get the RXs past the warranty period before failure. Has any one ever seen production numbers for the early RXs? This is my 2 cents worth that I have no factual information on. Just seems like common sense that there would be more failures if it was a design flaw. Jeff

Could it be that this is a material defect that is only showing up on a small number of RXs? They could have got a bad batch of friction plates or bad pressure switches, or something. It would be nice if someone could put there finger on just what is the common thing on the failures. Jeff

I've been using 87 Costco in my 2000 ever since I bought it and never had a problem. I only use Costco gas in all my cars and never had any problems with any of them. I was getting 19-20 MPG until I got new tires now getting 17-18. Jeff

I was thinking about this burnt dirty trans fluid thing again and wondered what everyone thinks about changing the fluid in the differential only at the same time we change the engine oil and filter. I mean if the oil exchange in the differential is not very good removing the bad fluid every time the engine oil is changed it might remove the worst of the fluid and it will only cost approx 1 Qt of fluid and a few min more time. Jeff

Did you also clean the connections good?

Get a carfax report and look for a salvage title or multiple out of state registration changes, sometimes they get around the salvage title with multiple out of state title changes. The airbag light blinking is sometimes a sign of a front end crash that the salvage guys didn't spend the money to buy all the airbag parts for repair. My son bought a mazda like this the guy said the airbag is good, but you don't know if it will work when the light is flashing.

The guys blowing smoke up your !Removed!. Check KBB.com and trade in is in the $10K range and milage range for this year is 78k.

Ok Thanks SW

Right, If I can get ahold of this guy he has to come way down. :-)

This car has been for sale for awhile I haven't been able to get in touch to find out if he will come down $8-9K.

I was looking online a the GS430s and found n 2001 with 4,200 the guy is original owner and has pink slip. All options, I mean it is loaded ,Blk/Blk $37,995 is way high for Kelly Blue Book $29,825 private party excellent, but it is brand new. What do you guys think. Jeff

Your going to have to dig into it pretty deep to get to the motor for testing. Jeff

When you pull the old mast out note which way the teeth on the nylon strap are facing and make sure they go back facing the same way. The hardest thing for me was getting the new teeth to catch on the gear and start down. If you can kinda hold the nylon so the end is not curved to much it should start better. Jeff

here is the link http://antennamastsrus.com/

Try this thread. http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...topic=19461&hl=

You can wash it and put it back if it isn't torn. Jeff

Only 5 Gal I would siphon as much as you can get and then fill it full of gas and run it. Thats my opinion maybe some others will give you more info on this thought.

My wife called me at work one day to tell me that there was a light on in the dash, I asked what it said she told me od off. I asked did you push the button? What button she said LOL. It can be pushed with out even knowing it is there. :-) Jeff

I have seen many of the what I call two footed drivers complain about brake and tire life. These are the people that drive with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake. They like to slow down by applying the brake before the gas is let off. I think you can see that this will lead to premature wearing of brakes and tires. Jeff

If your paying for it yourself I'd go for the cheaper one, that way next week or the week after when it gets broke again you won't be out a $1000 dollars. There is no safety factor to worry about, they all have to pass the gov regulations. Jeff

I wonder if all the dyno testing trashed your VC? Jeff

It's possible it is the fuel pump, answer riwyles questions and more help will come. Jeff

I don't know this for a fact but one of my friends told me the same thing about the bulk oil lowest bids but he told me that the oil companies add Toyota's own additives to the bulk oil and then it becomes Toyota T-IV transmission fluid, and on chemical analysis they will know if you were using Toyota T-IV fluid. Jeff

Sounds like one of the accessory belts or the V-belt not the timing belt. It is either loose or wore out have them changed. The timing belt is not going to squeal like that. Jeff