ihateduke

I found this info on another site, that better explains what I was asking. Proprietary Sensor Readings Though not part of the EPA's OBD II standard, the diagnostic read-outs used by dealership technicians are also read through the OBD II connector. These service codes show you such things as knock sensor operation, FI pulse width, ignition voltage, individual cylinder misfires, transmission shift points and ABS brake condition. There can be over 300 readings available, depending on the vehicle manufacturer and model. Vehicles vary in the readings they will support. Scanners vary widely in the number of these signals that they can read. Some show just the basic OBD or OBD II signals, others show the full range of service codes. Does anyone know of an OBD II scanner that can read all the Lexus proprietary sensor readings?

I'm interested in buying an ODB-II scanner. Since I'm an IT person, I would prefer a device that just plugs into my laptop. When looking through the RX300 Repair Manual, I see references to instructions for ODB-II scanners and the Lexus Scan Tool. It appears that the Lexus tool allows you to do more and/or read more data. Does anyone know if you can buy software to replicate the same functionality as the Lexus scanner? I want to make sure that I buy the right thing, but of course, I don't want to spend a ton of money. Any thoughts?

I changed it to a zip file today to save about half of the space.

I combined all of the individual PDF files into one large file. It's probably not in the right order, but I didn't see a table of contents, but who needs that when you can just "search". I'm not sure if anyone else has posted this in the past, but this is a little thank you to all of those who have helped me over the years. I may have to remove this due to space issues soon, so grab it while you can. If anyone else can repost it, please do and update this thread.

I have a 99 RX300 with no history of HVAC problems. Starting Monday morning, when I started up the car in 30 degree weather, I set the heat on high/auto. As usual, nothing happened for about 3 minutes until the car heated up. Then gradually the fan speed rose and the screen showed it as blowing on the floor. So far so good. The problem is that the air was actually blowing at mid height and then randomly it jumps to the defrost. To make it worse, the air is totally cold. I let it run for 20 minutes and it never really changed. If I hit a pot hole while driving the air flow jumps between (Defrost, Mid-Level, Floor). Later in that same day it started to work just fine. Since then it has been broken again in the same manner. Is this is a computer related issue, is the heater coil going bad or something else? Please help before I get frostbite! Thanks in advance.

Can anyone post a copy of the service manual for the HVAC system? It's about 20 degrees here now and I want to try and fix this today if possible. I assume I will have to buy the parts from Lexus/Toyota. Thanks, Chris

I have a similar issue, which may require it's own post. When I have the heat on automatic, it blows out of the wrong ports and it's cold. So instead of it blowing on the floor when it's just starting up, it blows at head level or sometimes through the defrost. If I hit a bump in the road it will jump to the floor or one of the other methods, but then it jumps back in a few seconds. I'm freezing right now, so any help will be appreciated. If I do have to replace this motor, are there are any online diagrams or instructions on how to do it?

Follow up question. I noticed that 2 of the boots/seals around the pistons were torn. Should they be replaced? Can I replace just the seal or do I have to get a new caliper?

I purchases new Akebono pads for my 99 RX300. Each pad comes with one shim. A lot of the directions mention reusing the original shims. Does this mean that I should have the Pad + New Shim + Old Shim + Old silver plate? I actually put them all on like this and it seemed to work fine. Hopefully, this won't cause a problem. Any thoughts?

Periodically, when I'm driving with the windows up and A/C or Heater on, I smell a strong odor of gas. It seems to always happen when the car lurches, such as when I'm stopped and then press on the gas pedal to go. Or, when it shifts gears. It doesn't happen all the time, but it does have me worried. Over the summer I changed my spark plugs and cleaned the IAC and other parts related to fuel efficiency. I'm wondering if something in there is loose and/or leaking. Anyone else experienced this?

It worked fine today. It's possible that the humidity caused a temporary short. I'll keep an eye on it and post any updated info. Thanks for the help.

It has been raining for the last day or so and it has been very humid/warm. I'll keep an eye on this and see how it responds tomorrow. Thank you for all of your help.

I haven't changed anything around them, but they connect to the speaker output from the stereo to the stock amp. Those lines don't receive signal. Plus, they only send signal to my amp. I would think that any problem with the amp would just affect the sound, not combine the signals that are going to the regular speakers. It was a total overlap of FM and CD. I'm worried that this is the beginning of everything breaking on my car. I just reached 100k. :(

Yes, I bought it brand new and nothing has been added to the main stereo. I did add an amp, which is tapped into the stock subwoofer and powers a new sub. It doesn't send any signal to the stereo and I've had it for over 2 years.

I have a totally stock stereo system with a 6-disk CD changer. Today I was riding home and listening to a regular CD, that I've listened to a 100 times. After about 12 minutes, the sound was very strange. After a few seconds of listening I realized that it was the radio plus the CD. It literally was playing both at the same time. The display still showed CD. I chose the FM option and nothing happened, then it jumped to Tape and back to Radio, then CD. But the audio stayed the same. I turned it off and back on and it was still screwed up. I cut the car off and it's currently fine. Any ideas?

I had my rear main seal replaced and as a result, my exhaust started leaking. They had to remove part of it to replace the seal. The dealership says I need a Down Pipe Assembly and the gaskets. They want over $250 for the entire piece. 1. Anyone know where I can get this piece without going through Lexus? 2. Would it be smarter to replace the entire system with a Staineless Steel model, instead of just replacing this one part? I just reached 100k on my 1999 RX300 this week. Thanks and Happy Thanksgiving!

I found a post that recommended that you clean the tbi and iac, in order to improve gas mileage. They listed a bunch of other things as well, but they never explained what these two acronyms are or how to clean them. I tried searching, but I got 0 hits, even when I used the exact phrase from the post. Also, just curious, for those of you who have replaced your spark plugs, did you do the cables as well? If so, where did you buy them? Thanks, Chris

Does anyone have any webspace where we could host a 25MB-30MB file? If so, let me know and I will get them to you.

I contacted the dealership in Charlotte and got a quote of $950. I'm waiting on a manager to call me back from Raleigh now.

Followup on this issue. The dealership has had my car now for over a day and they just called to let me know it was a Rear Main Seal leak. At first they were not going to help at all, but I explained that this was a known problem. He told me that he would have to look at my records and when we talked again, he offered me a 50% discount. I agreed to this, but now he said the estimate would be over $1250 to fix it. I explained that the first estimate was $1100 and he said that he didn't know where that came from and that this was a 12.5 hour job. Every place that I called said it took 5.5 hours. Are they still trying to rip me off? Does anyone know a good contact at the Johnson Lexus dealership that I should call to discuss this?

I sent him the files and he was going to investigate the rest. I don't have permissions to email you via the forum.

I just checked the original CD and it contains 80 PDF files. None of them have any sort of copyright information attached. However, it appears that someone simply created their own copy of this and sold it on Ebay. Because of the large size, it may be smarter to post the files individually. After they get posted somewhere, I can work with someone to get them combined however they see fit. I do have Adobe Acrobat. I attached one file to this message as an example of what I have. ANTILO_1.PDF

I purchased the 1999 RX300 Maintenance Manual from ebay a year or so ago for about $30. It did not have a table of contents, just a bunch of PDF files on a CD. I created a 34MB PDF file out of the content. It's over 1910 pages long. If the admins of this site would like a copy to post, I can set it up for you to download temporarily.

So far, the best quote is $650 from Quality Plus. Thank you for the reference. I'm still working with Lexus to see if they will cover this. The bad part is that the warranty ended 15k ago. Any chance that this premature faliure is a result of the engine sludge/gel problem? I'm not sure if I have this or not, but I just wonder if the two issues are related. If so, I believe they extended the coverage for our vehicles because of this issue. Does anyone know?

I forgot to mention that I live in Durham, NC, in case you know of any specific people.