tmastres

Here's the best link to fixing this problem that I've seen. I just did the repair last week and it was fairly straight-forward, though, as usual with this vehicle, it'll be easier to do if you're a contortionist. Seriously though it is doable task for most folks. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-generation/281294-air-mix-servo.html I just cleaned my servos and re-lubed with silicone So far it has worked quite well/

Excellent advice to be sure. Its also common for one code to be the cause of the other codes, when I had my coil failures I remember getting the cylinder misfire code and because the car was then running on only 5 cylinders you get a raft of other codes as the symptoms of the poor running engine begin to affect all the downstream sensors.

Thanks Man, please do let us know your experiences with this new vehicle.

So you've driven one? Is that your evaluation after trying it out or just speculation?

I'm very seriously considering this car. I currently drive an 11 year old RX (so I'm used to pretty sedate "performance"). I do about 80% city driving, and I really would like something that gets a lot better mileage but without sacrificing the interior quality and amenities that I'm used to. Also I really don't care about rear seat room as I'm driving by myself most of the the time and almost never take more than two. So with all that in mind I'm trying to uncover any faults with this vehicle. I'm not the smallest of guys ( 6'0" and 220) so I'm hoping I'll fit in it comfortably (Lexus is not known for making cars for American body types). I'm also looking at a couple of other cars such as the A3 and the Volvo C30 but all-of-a-sudden this thing comes along and bang its on my radar in a serious as way.

Now you tell me :P Great Idea!!

Thanks. I erased the codes and today a new one came up, P1133. This points to the A/F sensor. Is this OBD code roulette common? I erased this code and will try again to see what pops up. Its more of a "cascade of failures", one problem triggers problems in other areas. When I had my coil failures, I'd pull the codes and there'd be a bunch codes, but once I cleared them the first one that came back was usually the true culprit.

Agree Completely, people have been saying that for a long time, there must be some reason it hasn't been done though.

Did somebody say coil?? I've also replaced all of mine and you can read all about it here http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...448&hl=coil. I actually found them cheaper at my local (har-har) 30 mile away Lexus dealer, they had them for about $91 each while my very local Toyota dealer ( 3 miles away that wont work on my Lexus) wanted $105. I could have got aftermarkets cheaper but I wanted them immediately as I was without a drive. Its true they are very easy to replace except for the 1 and 3 in the rear, they are a contortionists challenge but definitely possible even without removing too many parts.

Great to have this info, I read the instructions in the manual and understood them perfectly, I did exactly what it said and no-go. I cleared the codes entered the code form my new openers remote and still nothing. My manual (00) said nothing about a "learn button" but as soon as I tried the method in this post above it worked perfectly. Thanks so much.

I've got a 00 RX300 with about 130,000 miles on it and (knock wood) no tranny problems so far. I have replaced the antenna mast, all 6 coils and an 02 sensor though. Not bad really for a 10 year old vehicle. I really like the RX though for the great, quiet ride and though it could use more power at times, overall its goes well enough. With all that said, I probably wouldn't buy the car you're looking at. I'd hold out for an 02-03 or even an early 330. Not because of age or style or options (they all come with almost every normal option as standard anyhow) but simply because after all these years on this list no-one has been able to deduce exactly why so many 99/00 trannys fail. Sure many more don't fail but why take that risk?. IIRC it doesn't matter how often you change the fluid, or how you drive, or what conditions (cold hot) some tranny just fail and others don't. At this point in the vehicle life you have no recourse (other than to pay yourself) if the tranny falls out of this thing a week after you buy it. Be patient and wait for a similar one thats just a bit newer.

I believe that there were some changes to the trans for the 01-03 model year Rx300's . There are so many post regarding trans problems over the years it may take months to find the ones that reference the changes but the last time this row came up (yes, there is quite a debate on this issue), I recall NHTSA numbers that showed statistically that the 99/00 versions had noticeably more failures than the 01-03 versions. Some claim the tranny's are exactly the same, some say there were improvements in the 01-03 model years. Take a look and decide for yourself. As for the pump, I don't think that was the only issue, so replacing it may just be a lot of work for naught. As mentioned by RX above, you'll need t set aside some time and mine the archive on this forum, there's a lot of info in there.

Er.. I resemble that remark. Vise grips work every time.

Ditto on the thanks for the pdf, seems pretty straightforward, I've been wanting to tighten mine up as well, Thanks!

That's the insidious part of coil failure, at least in my experience, there is no warning whatsoever. My experiences were these: first failure- drove to work as normal , car seemed perfectly fine. Came out at end of day and started up car. Car sounds a bit funny and has a noticeable vibration- running on 5 cyl, Damn, coil failure. Failure #2 sitting at stoplight car IS running fine, all-of-a-sudden its running rough and sputtering, bad vibration, Damn, coil failure. (at this point the light-bulb should have gone off in my head , but didn't) Failure #3 drove home from work, car ran fine, came out next morning and sputter, vibrate, Damn another coil failure. Light-bulb in head is now spotlight in face, Doh! All coils get replaced :D I was lucky for several reasons, I live less than 5 mi. form my work , I wasn't far form home when the coils failed and I have teenage drivers (and extra cars) so I'm never stuck without a vehicle or at least a ride. It certainly could have been much, much worse.

I suppose I'd be sure i had the old coils (old part number) in your RX first. If you're the original owner and you have a 99/00 then that's likely but its easy enough to get at the front ones to check. If you do have them and haven't yet experienced a failure I might go ahead and just buy one new coil and simply keep it in the car so that you don't get stuck somewhere. If you're lucky you'll never need it and if you're kinda lucky and you do have a failure it will be in one of the 2,4,6 front cylinders which are a snap to switch the coils on with even limited tools.

I had the same effect in my 99RX300 since I bought it in 2002. Dealer said it was normal, but if it is anything it is motor mounts which cannot absorb the engine vibration. Coming from a MB, I was astonished that a Lexus would have such an unbalanced idle. Of course, even a slight increase in revs. reduces the felt vibration. I have this issue as well and I believe its the motor mounts. I remember this discussion previously and IIRC the RX had some sort of fluid filled MM's that were great initially but tended to fail prematurely and ended up with the low RPM idle (under 1000 rpm) that we all know and don't really love. Usually it disappears when you put the car in N.

Basically a dead cylinder/misfire. Really, really rough idle ( but doesn't stall) lots of exhaust odor, and after a few minutes a CEL. You can actually drive the car a ways with only five cylinders but you're really down on power and the car struggles to sort out the misfire.

Search this forum. I know this has happened to others but I personally don't remember the exact cause. It looks like coil failure but is actually something else, do a search.

Tmastres, excuse me if I asked you this question already, but did you replace all coils as prevention or did you have coil failures? Thanks. The first three failed over the course of about 18 mos. At the time of the third failure, seeing the pattern I just decided to replace all the remaining coils. It was expensive (about $80 each) but its a big hassle when one fails and there was absolutely no warning or predictability in their failures. As I understand it the ones in the 99-00 (part #90919-02234) had some sort of defect and that defect was rectified with a newer model (part #90080-19016) but thats just what I remember and I can't cite any proof of this. Either way, if you end up with a coil failure you're likely to have more and its easier to replace them all in one afternoon in your garage than to get stuck somewhere with a car running on 5 cylinders.

Hard to pin the failures down at the 125k range, they seem to be anywhere from 40k to 150k without a discernable peak in any one area of mileage. If you have some info that shows more failure happen at this mileage please post it because thats what this boad has been looking for for a long time.

Hope I don't jinx myself either but I just turned 125,000 on my 2000. So far, other than scheduled maintenance, I've replaced all the coils, front O2 sensor and the antenna/mast/motor. I've also done the IACV cleaning twice. Oil every 4k with Mobil 1 5W-30 (now 0W-30). I have a very short commute each day (5-6mi) but I do regular 400 and 600 mi trips several times a year. Hope to keep this rig for at least another year or two. Mine was bought originally in May of 2000.

Yeah , it took me until the third coil failure until I finally changed them all. :(

Agreed!, I'm still driving my 00 but if I were in the market for another RX I'd definitely start at 04-05 or later. I mean even with an 04 you're talking about a 5-6 year old vehicle. Why bother with something 7+ years old that may have serious problems that you can't pre-screen for?

I'm in this side of the forum because I'm in the market for a 250/350 but i currently own an rx300. I can tell you that my local Toyota dealer which is 4 miles from my house will not service my Lexus or even sell me [arts for it. The nearest Lexus dealer is 33 miles away. Luckily I do most maintenance myself and also have a great indy shop that has no problem doing great work on my Lexus for things over my head. I'd just be sure that your local Toyota dealer will in-fact service your Lexus if your in need of the dealer service.