mh6

What are most of you folks doing as far as spark plug changes, staying with the Denso.....most of the research I am finding says they are better than the NGK. I know the NGK is cheaper but they say the Denso performs better. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks for your time. :)

Thank you all for your advise ......I will follow it. :)

I will check all that has been said above......I put a gauge on the low end and it says it is low. Same gauge on my Solora ....which by the way cools awesome and says it is just where it needs to be. I would assume the gauge is correct. Are you saying that picking up one the R134 locally avail. can charges with oil and freon is not a good idea ?? What would be your suggestions ?? Thanks for you time :) P.S. quick follow up ......no bubbles in window, compressor engaged low end pressure says about 15-18 psi.....compressor not engaged about 22-23 psi. Guess I need to get a thermometer as well and see what the temp is at the outlet .

I noticed that the A/C did not seem to be cooling as well I thought it should, so I picked a inexspensive gauge at Advanced Auto, kinda cool actually.....connected to the low side and it says it low. Any problem with picking up a R134/oil charge from AA and adding it ?? I think a small can should do. Any issues with this or problems ?? Thanks for your time :)

Yes ....finally its final :P Just kidding dude ...nice write up :)

Having just visited the Lexus dealer on Tuesday with my 99 RX300, this matter was discussed and I was told by the resident expert there that on 99-2003 AWD models they recommend a drain and fill every 15,000 miles. He simply said buy the T-IV and do it at home....make it a routine and you will get long life out of it. AWD is much harder on the trans fluid than 2 wheel is. He had seen some failures over his 11 years there but most were caused by people towing the vehicle.

All we are saying is that when the thing is cleared...it removes whatever memory... if you want to call it that.....it had and recalibrates .......much like a virtual memory file does on a computer. When a virtual file fills or becomes 'locked in" with previous code......it causes slow downs and some times can effects programs to not function to its potential. When the swap file is cleared of old code, things speed up and temp program settings that were being read from the file are no longer read because they were cleared. Just like clearing a BIOS.......takes it back to its original programed state and yeah perhaps thats the improvement .........its original state. I just did it and I will say I feel a difference.......more responsive and much of studder is gone as he said it most likely would be. Just my 2 cents

Perhaps I did not explain myself clearly in my last entry ......... he really said 3-5 takes off after putting the battery cable back on and then the frist 3 to 5 takes offs only. He stated it acquires a pattern with those first 3-5 takes off's an thats it. How it adjusts during those 3-5 times and I am not sure, perhaps pressure points reached while accelerating ?? Dont know ...have not done a alot of research in that area. It does not learn each individual drivers patterns. The fact that several people have said they feel a difference after the ECU is cleared and that includes 2 people who I did not know and meet at the Lexus dealer who stated the same fact and knew nothing about clearing anything prior to thier visit. They were happy with changes made afterwards. That would indicate that a noticable change is felt............. ...it seems that someone with "reasonable intelligence" would heed the advise being passed down. Perhaps you should try it and feel your own results.........

I picked up my RX300 from the Lexus dealer and had the opportunity to speak at length with Diag. Specialist for the dealership. He was very knowledgable on any subject I could throw at him about the RX300. On this particular subject he said that since I had recently aquired it that one of the first things I needed to do was remove the negetaive side from the batt. and let sit for about 2 minutes....this will clear out the Engine ECU and trans ECU. He the then told me to perform about "5" take off's how I normally drive, he stated that it was not totally a learning type as in newer cars however it did record a "pattern" and adjust things in reference to the take offs performed. He said before I could say anything perhaps I was feeling a slight shimmer between 1 and 2 gear..... he stated that there has been execellent succes in clearing the trans ECU in the above fashion and the shimmer disappears and smothter shifting is obtained. I am going to perform this action tomorrow evening. Passing the info along :)

I recently bought a 99 RX300, afterward I found this site and have been checking everyday listening and learning :) 2 things are irritating me to no end 1... is the fuel injector ticking noise.....I have done much trouble shooting on this in the last week and find that I can not make a determination weather it is a injector or injectors in unison making the noise or if it is related to the design of the fuel injector rail and damper setup ?? Any thoughts on injectors vs rail/damper is very much aprreciated. 2....is the spolier....in my humble opinnion....it may not be that good of a design. When driving on the highway between 60-75mph and the wind is in the "right " cross wind to the car ....(tends to be "right " a lot of time) it seems that it creates a howling noise........very irritating particulary when driving in quite time...no radio cd , etc. I am thinking about perhaps changing it to a 2000 model which is a straight back design vs swoop down version. Any other 99 RX300 owners having the same problem ??? I appreciate your time and effort :)

Got my 99 RX300 from Lexus of Nashville. $17,900 81K, AWD, loaded, 2 owner in great condition outside and inside ......no cracks in leather or discoloration .....very minor wear marks on drivers side seat outside left area. New brakes all around, new front rotors, all services done, timing belt and all running belts replaced, new floor mats (not one stain or mark on carpet) and they are taking care of some of TSB's I mentioned on car that had not been done even though its far out of warranty. The Lexus folks in my area are great, when I drop it off on Monday to take care of a few TSB's giving me a loaner to boot. :) But I tell you.... wish I could have got a warranty like Jeffch32 did ...nice. So I think I did ok :)

Hey Wing0, how did it go with the injector noise ....were they able to put the new parts you spoke of early on and did it make a difference ??? DiD they say it was considered a TSB ??

Please keep us posted ....I would be very interested in hearing about this issue. Wonder if the "pipe" is the fuel injector rail ? There is a clear filter looking device on the end of the rear injector rail....... wonder if that is the "damper" ?? The rail system difinitely magnafies the ticking noise. I hate that ticking noise B)

Hi All, well I had my transmission power flushed at my Toyota dealer and I talked with the tech on this issue. He seemed to be well educated on things and said that they do quite a few of them and that thier suggestion is power flush once every 30,000. I wanted to start with a clean slate with my maintenance on this Transmission. They service several of the Lexus folks in my area. Mine cost me 150.00 and took about 1.2 hours, T-IV was filled correctly. 16 quarts as mentioned by a few fellow forum dudes. No debre was found but definitly needed to be changed. Was reddish brown and smelled a little burnt, however he said he had seen far worst and felt that I would be good to as long as I changed it every 30,000. I will change it every 15,000 to be safe. This procedure definitely not done at home. But it shifts better and smooth

I am in the same boat, I just aquired a 99 RX300 AWD in execellent shape and the one disappointment has been gas mileage. I have tried several things: Clean MAS Clean throttle body Filter is brand new was going to change plugs but was told they are really good up to about 110,000 miles, they have 82,000 on them now. I pulled 3 of them and they LOOK like they are in good shape and were not gummed up or real dirty. Tires have 30 psi all around in perfect alignment and no AC running. Have tried reg, middle, and high octaine fuel ...does not really matter. Honestly I saw a entry in here by one of the memebers that said he actually got worst mileage using high octaine.....I beleive I would have to concur with him. I am running a tank of 91 through it now and my mileage looks worst than just running 87 grade !! I am not a hard driver and most was highway driving. And I am getting ABOUT 18.2 miles per gallon, if that, with the last tank of mid grade I ran......this really is a disappoint since I was told by several sources I would see 21 miles per gallon .......not happening <_< ......... its not even summer and running the AC. This is worst than some trucks with V-8's in them....quite the bummer. wishing I had gotten the 2 wheel version of it now. Couple of folks have offerd suggestions such as a K&N however it does let more dirt in because it less restrictive than a OEM.......dont care to take a chance with that....gets dusty here. Anyway....guess I am venting a little.....sorry ;) I guess this is going to be as good as it gets :(

I think I want to call it "wind turbulance" vs wind noise....wind noise usually refers to wind noise coming through window seals and such. Well I took mine off this morning and took to work at speeds of 65 -75...... no change whatsoever I now beleive it is the rear spolier design on the 99's, the spolier is slopped down from the top.....almost as if it were an "air-scoop" oposed to a spolier......... On the 2000's the spolier goes straight out.....looks cooler also if you ask me :P not sure if there is anything I can do about.......can be irritating at times. This is the one disappointment I have discovered on this suv

Hi Fix, thanks for the info dude , I will do some touch, feel,and listen testing along with some insulating wrap to see if it isolates the ticking to that particular one. Hope that gets it .....I hate that fricking ticking noise I dont have any hard starting or miss fire problems......so I am confident I dont have any valve clearance issues at this time :) I will let you know what I find.

Hi, I am experiencing the same thing on my 1999 I just bought, your right it does stick out with this being a such a quite car. Not good to hear that the 05 still has this, no bummer entended. I am thinking about removing the racks all together and see what happens. You really would have thought that after all this time they would have corrected that. I saw a couple of RX 300 around town with there racks put together towards the center of the top......wonder if they are doing it for a reason :D I will post my findings.

Hey LEXDOG, Congrats on the RX 300, just got mine as well and love it. Well this subject may start flares going off but I will give my you my humble opinion :) I have never changed oil every 3000 miles, however I have used Mobil 1 for the last 20+ years, going with either 5000 or 7500 mile changes. Honestly Mobil 1 is good for about 10,000.......the newer formula is good for 15,000 miles !! I could never do 15,000 :D My past vehicles Mazda RX7 101,000.....TOY Camery 118,000 and Nissan truck 168,000 ....all without engine troubles and extremely clean on the inside, periodic inspections made removing valve cover and dropping oil pan, well on the Camery and Nissan. RX7 was rotory. Anyway synthetic will always out perform regular oil on any test given. I would go synthetic and go with the 7500 mile interval unless you are doing harsh driving then 5000 but synthetic would hold up regardless. Get a good oil filter as well, Mobil 1 makes a top rated filter as well, pricey ...about 10.00 but it a very important part of the oil system. The OEM filters are pretty good but there are better ones like the Mobil 1 filter out there. Hope this helps

What's the frequency kenneth......A quick and easy diagnotic approach to engine noises. 1mz/3mz engines are a v6 with 6 individual pistons that move in pairs 120* out of phase with the other 2 pairs. Every revolution there is a firing event of one of the injectors so injetor tick at 750 rpm is 12.5 hz....12.5 clicks a second. We all drive 4 cycle cars that have 4 phases to each firing event...intake(piston down, intake valve open), compression(piston goes up, no valve open), Power(no valve open) and exhaust(exhaust open). Lets say there is a sticky lifter bore on cyl #2 exhaust.....at 750 rpm/4 cycles we get just over 3 clacks a second. injectors tick....like tapping a capped pen on a wood desk. Valves snap if stuck in guides, or clack if the lifter binds...kinda like snaping your fingers as hard as you can. Sticky gides and sticky lifters may not bind every cycle so frequency drop to 1 or 2 hertz. Out of adjustment lifter/valve will be back up to 3.25 hz. Rod bearings, piston slap, and main bearing knock.....sounds deadly, no one should mistake it. Certain vacuum switching valve for the evap system have a verry loud solenoid. It will not do it all the time, it is around 6hz and is burried under the plasic engine cover, about in the middle near the T or L logo. Perhaps the audiable difference between your solara and Rx have more to do with the RX having more dead air volume around the engine....ie, a bigger drum = more noise. It is not being a pain in the &#33;Removed&#33; to ask whats up. If you screeched to a stop in the service drive, threw down you keys and yelled "its broken fix it now, fix it free! I won't take it's normal for an answer!" Thats being a pain. Rationaly explaining the how and why of technology to customers is part of a dealer tech's job. The good ones anyway. Try explaining to an old man who slurs over loose dentures why the voice recogniton part of the nav wont set. "Huumme" does not equal "home". You have to get closer than that. ← Hi Fix, I like your write up, technical guy, like myslf. And you are correct well explained explinations are always appreciated by those of us who care about whats really going on with a problem. I always try to found out whats causing the issue so it can be avioded in the future, simple "Its normal ....dont worry about it" does not cut it with me. I find most of time when a answer is given like that the person does not know what they are talking about, and when asked for a explination tip toe's around the issue. I am going to check this ticking noise out better in the next day or 2 and post my finding. Surely dont want any issues like the poor dude above had to say....that would totally suck. As for the Solora, it actually has more open space around the engine than the RX has. Standing over the engine it does not present this ticking as I am getting from the RX. There is a soliniod/valve on the left top side of the RX engine as looking from the front of the vehicle, not sure what the function is of yet, no manuals on hand yet, but it seems to awfully ticky...........near the FI rail. Do you know its funtion ?? Thanks for you time

Thanks.........great input from folks....lots of knowledge :)

"Spoiled brat owner " interesting view you have there, however it is the annoyance factor at play.......sounding like a small diesal engine is not very acceptable to one's ear for this class of vehicle or any vehicle for that fact. I have a 99 Toyota Solara SLE with the same engine and it is quite and very smooth idle. I have no problem with accepting thats its non harming occurance however it is annoying as hell when all is quiet at a stop light or similair situation. Sounding like you have a valve clearance issue all the time is not accepted very well with most of us. How nice it is when you have friends in the car and they ask " whats that loud ticking noise ?? " and you say "I know its a Lexus, but the loud ticking noise is normal for this 35k car" you see my point.....irritating noise ;) If the injectors are the cause, and I would tend to concur or one of the other valves on there, seems a little sad that in today's technology that a "loud ticking injectors" are the norm. just my 2 cents :)

Hi Tuned, brake fliud was flushed when they replaced the rotors and brakes, I checked on that to make sure.....forgot to mention that ealier. I was going to run a bottle of cleaner with the next tank full, I will go with the 87 grade and see what happens K&N......do you mean replace the OEM filter in the factory airbox ?? Those are the numbers I am looking for ...that would make me very happy :) I will post my findings. Thanks man :)

Hi Rx, thats kinda a bummer to hear.....I am shooting for 21.......man hope that is not a pipe dream....last little survey was 252 miles using 14.1 gallons rounded thats 18.......21-18=3 3 miles x 14 gallons thats 42 miles ..2 gallons of gas !!! eehhh :( Yeah checked on the plugs that quote is about right.......the tech at Lexas where I got it .......showed me the proper tool and technique for the replacing of the rear plugs......very cool dudes down there. But just to get everything on the same sheet of music I will most likely replace them. Dont misunderstand me....I dont like throwing money away :) Hi RX 400, it stays there after warm up, noticable at a stop light and idling in the garage.......man I hate that ticking noise :D ........ I will find it, may take some time, but I will get it I hope. I like a smooth idle, my wifes Toyota Solora SLE has the same engine and is very smooth.

Just wanted to say execellent website and thanks to all that participate. I just picked up 1999 RX 300 Awd in suberb shape inside and out with 81k on it, this website has provided a wealth of information to me on my RX. After taking several hours to read through the pages I found what weakness I need to be on the lookout for on this SUV. I have started going through the vehicle from front to rear : **Timing belt and all running belts replaced as part of the deal **New rotors and brakes replaced part of the deal **Engine oil changed to Mobil 1 Syn (all I use on my cars) **Dif oil changed to Mobil 1 Syn **THE BIG ISSUE on this vehicle....transmission 100% powerflushed at Toyota (Tech said it was brownish, need to be changed no doubt but was not too awful, he had seen much worst. ) 16 quarts of T-1V now in, I will flush it every 15,000 **All Air filters replaced part of the deal **I cleaned the MAF, was dirty. **I cleaned out the Throttle body, some gummy build up. **Coolant changed part of the deal. **Will be replacing the Iridium Spark plugs in the next few days. and of course starting to learn the Rx as qiuckly as I can, will need to aquire a manual. 2 things looking at now.... A ticking sound from the engine area at idle, suspect a fuel injector or one of the vac valves ......one particucalr one that sits up top and seems to be very ticky.......used stethoscope on valve covers and ticking was not coming from there.....hopefully ruling out a valve adjust at this point. Hate that sound <_< the other is gas milage.......but I am going to give that another couple of tank fulls to truly see, especailly after cleaning the MAF and throttle body. But perhaps the plugs should be changed first.....was trying to see what causes an increase in miliage. Was getting a unhappy 18 mpg on the highway using mid grade gas,with 31psi in tires, no ac, doing 72mph in cool weather. I am sure it can do better. Any other suggestions are most welcome :) I look forward to participating in your forum from this point forward Thank you for your time and effort