mikey00

There have been others in the past with the same comment but when they finally changed the battery the problem was solved. If you have an 01 with the original Panasonic battery, it's due for a change. You can pick up a battery at Costco for about $40. It's a lot faster and cheaper than doing any troubleshooting and almost guaranteed to fix your problem. You may want to do a search for "battery" here and on other RX forums to see what others are saying.

Seriously? You really had to ask where to buy a fuse? Advance Auto. Auto Zone. Checkers. Pep Boys. NAPA. Carquest. FLAP (friendly local auto parts store). Any auto parts store carries all the generations of fuses from the old style glass tubes to the new plastic units. Gary Gary, I think you are a little mixed up on the responses. No one asked where to buy a fuse.

There is another easy fix you may want to check before you bother to have codes read. Did the shop check the engine air filter when it was in for service? If so, It's almost guaranteed they pulled off the evap hose when they lifted up the top of the air filter box to check the filter. The hose is behind the box directly under the brake fluid container and connects to a metal tube below. The hose can come off the metal tube below.

Are you sure they are using a new transmission? Lexus usually uses a rebuilt one.

I am assuming from your post that you had a functioning RX without a check engine light before the battery required replacement. After replacement, the CEL appeared. First thing I would try is just pulling the EFI fuse to reset the light and see if it comes back on.

The failure indicator will come on, even though they are all working, if one of your bulbs is about to fail. The culprit is usually the third brake light. Do a search on this forum for "brake light" for more info.

...ahh.... I don't think i lubed anything... I just removed the brake pads and installed new ones in.. :o can u direct me how to find your tutorial on brake pad replacement, front and rear , for a 2000 awd lexus rx 300. thxs marty schluns Here you go. http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/

I just paid $560 for the 90K service including the timing belt at a Toyota dealer. This did not include engine and cabin air filter or tire rotation.

Anyone else find it odd that in the Consumer Reports annual car realibility survey the 00 through 03 RX receive the highest possible rating in the transmission catagory?

I suspect that it is not dirty fluid causing the problem. The real problem is in the design and certain parts wearing causing the dirty fluid. Of course this is just speculation on my part and I don't know if we will ever find the correct answer. I am playing it safe with a 15K drain and fill schedule.

Sorry again. Just pointing out that if you did the same research you are requesting me to do you would realize you have a unlimited mileage warranty not a 70k as you stated. But I guess you choose to ignore that. And I am not sure where your statement about me fooling others with engine sludge and tranny crap comes from. I was well aware of both of these problems and discussing them here long before you ever entered your first post on the forum. I change my oil every 5k with a semi-synthetic in hope of avoiding the sludge problem. I am on my second RX now and have 100k on this one without any hints of the problem yet. I bought both my RXs new, but if for any reason I felt they may have not been serviced regularly I would have pulled a valve cover to check for sludge. As far as the trans goes, I have stated many times that I do a drain and fill every 15K hoping that this is sufficient but feel that even with a weekly flush this trans will eventually fail due to design problems. Do a search here. You will see we have discussing this sludge and transmission situation for a long time and my position has not changed. So please don't accuse me of fooling others just because I don't share your opinion on AutoRx.

Usually they wear evenly and last 70 to 80k. Did you get your RX used and is it possible someone changed the fronts once already?

If you used Google yourself, you would find that it is an unlimited mileage warranty, not 70K.

Not sure that helped much. No reasons, no info, no ideas. Sorry, but it really bugs me when folks are nay-sayers, but without any logical reason. Just to be negative, I guess. OBVIOUSLY, if you do any research at all, you can only conclude that Auto-RX has really helped MANY folks with engine clean-up. That can not be refuted. I'm not saying it should be used by all RX300 owners or even ANY for thatmatter, but to ignore that it does do what it claims is just being closed minded in the face of all the evidence. If someone can logically say why it's a bad idea then have at it. LOGIC, not just 'Toyota GOOD, all else BAD" crap. Many of you act like this is a magic potion or something. Chemical cleanup of fouled systems is done all the time in industry. So, someone has applied this to sludge in and engine - why is that so hard to believe? Likely has some chelating agents in it or something. It's no "miracle" fluid, just something that gets the crud flowing again so it can be filtered or drained with the oil. I'd expect if one looked around there are other such treatments that can help also. Not rocket science, so stop being so afraid of something you just didn't know about and/or understand. Sorry, you are right. I should have provided a little more info than just being a naysayer. I don't take this product seriously, it's like gas mileage pills and JC Whitney fire injector plugs, and didn't want to take more time than quickly entering a on liner on the thread. But I will try to rectify that. Even though it's only $20 a bottle, as you said, why would anyone risk putting this stuff in your engine? Spend your $20 on something without risk of doing harm. Lexus is already providing you with an 8 Year unlimited mileage warranty for sludge. If for some reason you suspect your RX was neglected causing sludge, pull a valve cover and check. Don't look for a miracle cure and make a scammer rich in the process. Consumer Reports in their 2006 Annual Auto Issue lists engine and transmission flushes under mechanic rip-offs.

Auto-RX looks like a good thing, but only for the company that is selling it. No Auto-RX for me.

The RX trans only holds a little less than 10 qts. Not 16 qts like many believe, which is what they use when they use a flushing machine. A drain and fill of 5 qts every 30,000 should be sufficient. I am on a drain and fill every 15k schedule which is most likely a little overkill but I am convinced this trans will eventually fail even if it is flushed weekly. If you really feel the need to get all the fluid out, there is a procedure in which you disconnect one the the trans cooler lines, which is a lot better than letting someone hook up a flush machine to your trans. The April 2000 Consumer Reports Annual Auto Issue lists engine and trans flushes under mechanic rip-offs.

At 93K on I am on my original non-turned rotors and have only changed the pads once with Lexus pads. The original pads stopped the car well, were quite, low dusting, and wore evenly front to back. They lasted over 70K and I don't expect to have to change them again until about 150K. When the time comes I will use OEM pads again. Irontoad has a good price and they show up at my door in a couple of days. Common sense tells me the pads are not actually made by Lexus but come from a Lexus approved supplier.

Are you sure you need new pads at 45K? Many factors affect pad life but RX stock pads usually last 70 to 80k. I would stick with the stock pads, they are one of the better features of the RX. If you are doing it yourself, Irontoad.com delivers them right to your door in a couple of days at a great price.

This is beginning to sound like the retirement thread. At 56 I am also out of the corporate world and can well afford to have my Lexus serviced at the dealer. However, I refuse to let them take advantage of me like that. It is amazing to see what goes on at the dealer service dept. I am on my second RX now and have spent some time there waiting for warranty work to be performed and watching them take advantage of the uninformed. The free loaner is actually the most expensive rental you will ever get. The service high cost factor is one of my biggest gripes with Lexus. So far, I have been able to avoid this but there are some possibilities lurking in the future, like possible oil gelling after 8 year warranty, possible trans failure and maybe needing that Lexus specific part that I can't source aftermarket. At least the Lexus internet dealers take the sting out of some of these parts. This will most likely be my last Lexus due to this after purchase price gouging. But who knows, they will come out with something new that I like and I will be griping about service costs on the RX 5000 forum or something like that. I do have to commend Lexus for stepping up to the plate with oil gelling and making an attempt with HID theft deterrent. Now if they would just do something with the trans similar to oil gelling warranty. While I have the ability and facility to do most maintenance work, I pick and choose carefully. I have oil changes done at a trusted local place for $30. They use Quaker State Synthetic Blend and Quaker State filter. They also do a pretty good check of everything. It might even cost me more if I went DIY here, when I consider oil & filter pick up and disposal. Plus I now have receipts for oil changes. I also have them handle coolant and brake fluid change. Filters and other small stuff are DIY. Brakes. I did myself. Easy and bigger payback here. Transmission drain and fills I do myself just to make sure I get Toyota type T-IV and it is done right. Timing belt @Toyota for $339. Tire rotations are free at Costco and I am already there shopping. In the future, plugs and any sensors required due to CELs, I will most likely do myself.

One of the advantages of the luxlink, the fact that is uses the factory key transmitter, is also its biggest disadvantage. You are limited to your current remote distance. Kind of defeats the purpose of a remote start. I guess if you only need to remote start from a short distance away, and you currently can unlock your doors over that distance the luxlink would be ok. Most good aftermarket ones are 1000' plus.

This happend to me when my 01 was less than a year old. I turned the car off and was parked for about 30 minutes and when I restarted the problem was gone and never returned. I also read posts of this happening to others.

Pull the battery cable for a few minutes and hope it goes away

P1130 is usually Air fuel ratio sensor (also called bank 1 sensor 1). From your guess at the name it sounds like they are going to change the MAF (mass air flow sersor) which is usually an P1170 code. Usually this only needs cleaning. But as long as they are working under warranty let them change as much as they want until code goes away.

The AWD system on the RX does have many limitations as has been discussed here many times. But performance in light to moderate snow is one of its stronger points. I suspect black ice or mediocre tires as lexus411 did. Please keep in mind that most winter type tires are like, equivalent too, those huge MUDDERS you often see on off-road vehicles. If there is no "loose" surface layer for the tread block to "bite", sink into, they will provide less overall traction than your standard "summer" tire simply because they have less surface area for contacting the roadbed. And now someone will bring up that "old saw" about winter tire tread rubber compounds being more compliant with COLD roadbed surfaces. The bottom line is that every demostration of winter tires' traction I have ever been aware of, seen, involved a good top layer of loose snow. Show me a comparison test of winter tires vs summer tires on an ice rink and then I will believe. Meanwhile I'll continue running my Bridgestone Turanza SUMMER ONLY tires for their comfort and quietness and resort to tire chains when the need arises, which is RARELY. Winter tires are definetly better on ice. You may want to check out some of the tests at tire rack. It looks like excatly the test you are requesting. They have been testing tires on a hockey rink for the last 7 years. When was the last time you saw TireRack test a summer tire against what they want to sell you as a winter tire, hockey rink or not? To answer your question, September 2005 was the last test. Next one will most likely be September 2006. But if you prefer not to use their test results, you can view user survey results for ice traction on any tires you want. These surveys are based on thousands of users driving millions of miles on these tires, rather than one mans opinion.

The AWD system on the RX does have many limitations as has been discussed here many times. But performance in light to moderate snow is one of its stronger points. I suspect black ice or mediocre tires as lexus411 did. Please keep in mind that most winter type tires are like, equivalent too, those huge MUDDERS you often see on off-road vehicles. If there is no "loose" surface layer for the tread block to "bite", sink into, they will provide less overall traction than your standard "summer" tire simply because they have less surface area for contacting the roadbed. And now someone will bring up that "old saw" about winter tire tread rubber compounds being more compliant with COLD roadbed surfaces. The bottom line is that every demostration of winter tires' traction I have ever been aware of, seen, involved a good top layer of loose snow. Show me a comparison test of winter tires vs summer tires on an ice rink and then I will believe. Meanwhile I'll continue running my Bridgestone Turanza SUMMER ONLY tires for their comfort and quietness and resort to tire chains when the need arises, which is RARELY. Winter tires are definetly better on ice. You may want to check out some of the tests at tire rack. It looks like excatly the test you are requesting. They have been testing tires on a hockey rink for the last 7 years.