skyfish400h

I LIVED on outside for the first year I owned the RX and would only switch to inside when I anticpated a bad smell coming (behind a desiel, etc). But this makes you run thru cabin filters like they are going out of style. Now I just leave on inside (RECIRCULATE) all the time and just open the windows when I want to breathe fresh air. Since I've made the switch I've never encounterd outside smells no matter what the situation. I do sometimes get the filter smell (smells like socks) when the system first fires up after sitting, but I can quickly purge that by cracking the rear windows an inch or less. When it starts to smell like really OLD socks, I know it's time to change the filter ;)

If removing the mats does not solve the problem, then how could shortening the gas pedal be the solution. Personally, I think NHTSA can't prove that something else has caused the runaway acceleration issue. They seem to want people to believe that some weird computer glitch causes the gas pedal to remain "floored", even if the floor mat is not installed. The fact remains that the recent ES350 that crashed had an RX400h carpet in it. My guess is that the solution of shortening the pedal is not necessary if the correct floor mat is secured properly. I double checked my floor to pedal clearance just to be certain. I have the lexus parts store rubber floor mats (not the OEM carpet ones) and it says right on the mat to remove the other mats before installing. And it uses the hooks on the floor to hold it in position. I have confidance if you use the lexus brand mats, you will be fine. If you use an aftermarket mat then you need to be sure of the following: Do not STACK mats on top of one another (one mat is all you need anyway) Use the hooks on the floor to secure the mat (modify your aftermarket mat to accept the hook if you can) Verify at least several cm of clearnace between the mat and the end of the gas pedal.

Everyone seen this? http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Toyota-repla...l?x=0&.v=13

I was told by my dealer that the Extended Warranty could be purchased until the last day of your existing new car warranty. Unfortunately, my warranty expired without me noticing so I never got to put that to the test, and now if I wanted to buy a warranty I would have to go with one of those 3rd party ones... blech. Seems to me there was an ad for AAA extended warranty ins, but I haven' t looked into it. My extended warranty is with Justin.. Justin Cash

I completely agree with skyfish. tigger777, is your RX still within 48 months of its "in-service date"? If it's getting close to the basic warranty expiring based on elapsed time, it might be especially beneficial to you to get this problem documented on a service ticket. Reporting the problem in a phone call probably did not get the problem documented in a way that will allow the problem to be repaired at no cost after the basic warranty expires. Getting a problem documented on a service ticket is "golden" when it comes to getting a pre-existing problem repaired after a warranty expires. the one time when "pre-existing condition" works in favor of the little guy ;)

"Cannot take the car in"... wtf?? It's good that they suggested a possible fix, but to dismiss your concern and a legitimate error indication coming from the vehilcle tells me that perhaps you should look for another service center for your Lexus. All the codes, whether the light stays on or not, are stored in memory. these can be read back to diagnose problems with the car even tho they may not be occuring at the time you bring it into the center for service.

Whenever you change tires, it's a good idea to go into the NAV system and recalibrate the tire rotation sensor. Otherwise I can see how the system might throw an error if the tire dia suddenly changed and it was not notified. Eventually it will lead to discrepancies between the GPS and the NAV on where the system thinks the car is in the world.

So let me see if I understand the point of this thread. Some people feel this forum is TOO CRITICAL of the Lexus cars and is having some personal reaction to it... Other people feel this form is NOT CRITICAL ENOUGH of the Lexus cars and feels looked down upon... Do I have that right? This forum is exaxctly what you PRECEIVE it to be, nothing more, nothing less. If you are having a personal emotional reaction to your preception of this forum, then you need to OWN that feeling rather than project your feelings onto others. Can we go back to talking about the cars now and put an end to this group therapy session?

After you turn off the key you can still use the windows or sunroof for 30s or so. Perhaps this is a customer preference setting, but it works that way on my 2006Rx. The trick for me is to not open the door before I turn off the key. In that event the function is not there. You're absolutely right - I guess I've been waiting too long. My wife's car (a GM) has retained power for 10mins, or until a door is opened. So I guess I guess I can change my gripe to retained accessory power time is too short. Well, I haven't sat in the car to test it, but it may stay on until you open the door...

After you turn off the key you can still use the windows or sunroof for 30s or so. Perhaps this is a customer preference setting, but it works that way on my 2006Rx. The trick for me is to not open the door before I turn off the key. In that event the function is not there.

Because the emission control system needs time to work on the tank vapors before allowing you to open the cap, the switch is controlled electronically rather than manually. The time it takes varies, but once you request it to be opened, you don't need to hit the button again... you just need to wait (like for an elevator). I prefer the switches for tilt and open to be separate because I don't like it as it happens with the windows that sometimes you only intended to crack it open but it goes all the way down because you didn't touch the switch just right. Having separate switches on the sunroof clairfies things for me. The engine sound is not any louder than the non-hybrid version (in fact might even be quieter), its just that on the 330/350 the transmission will shift to lower the RPM so the high RPM noise is intrerrupted until its ready to shift again. The 400 is actually runnin the engine at high RPM all the time under hard acceleration so it seems more noisy. If you drive the 330/350 hard and mannually shift the gears to keep the RPMs high, you will see (hear) what I mean. The delay at launch (which is what I beleive you are reffering to) is more noticable on the 400 but this can be elminiated buy using the proper launch technique as is always the case in the 0-60 times you see quoted. In my opinion the 330/350 are TOO sensitive to accelerator input at launch which makes it difficult to perform a smooth start. The delay in accelaration while in traffic on the 400 is non-exisitant compared to a 330/350 and their sluggish automatic transimissions which alway seems to be in the wrong gear and takes an excruciatingly long time to decide what to do. By comparison the 400 CVT is snap decision ready and always at my demand. In fact, if I really want nearly "maual transmission" like response in traffic, I can shift down into "B" for even better accelerator pedal feel. If you already have destination programed you will get the "add/replace" question on any system to prevent you from accidentaly erasing your previous programming. Destination programing will usually clear by itself once you reach the destination (within 300ft or so) As for the "guide" button, you can safely ignore that one and just start driving. It will figure it out and start showing your route info as soon as you start moving. What I did soon after purchase was to find a parking lot where I could pracitce backing up using the camera and side mirrors and then get out to see how I actually did compared to how it looked on the screen and in the side mirrors. Some newer models have lines on the screen to help you but on my 2006 all I have to go on is the view of the bumper and the black scuff pad for the tailgate. What I found was if I line up the edge of the scuff pad with the lines on the parking spot I can do a pretty good job of backing into a spot. The harder bit was judging distance becasue of the fish eye effect, but you will get used to it if you practice. Just keep your eye on the rear bumper. Helps to have a light colored car, I suppose. By the way did you know that if you leave the mirror adjust toggle switch in either the right or left position (not in the middle) then the side mirrors will tilt down to give you a better view of the curb and parking lot lines as you back up?

Still not clear on how exactly the inverter leak came to the owner(s) attention. I'm looking under my car but there is nothing but water coming out of it (from the AC drain) since it was new. Should I feel safe or should I dig deeper to put my mind at rest?

Try using thes tools for your tire trades, but pay attentention to your actual tire dimensions as they compare to the tool's preset values for each size. As long as you stay within 3-4% on the tire height, you should not have any "geometry" problems (just be aware of the speedometer effects). http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp If you compare the OEM size to the 255/55-18 you can see how much change you can expect to fit into the wheel well. My GY 255/55-18 ResponseEdge tires used to rub a bit on the flexible plastic shroud in the rear, but they don't rub on anything metal or fixed that would cause a problem.

Was it leaking onto the ground then? Because I've never looked under any of those covers, I barely even look under the hood... except to add windshied washer fluid ;)

You could just hit MAP on the Nav screen to see where you are where your next turn is. I don't even use the voice guidance thingy, I find it annoying.

Than I will assume ordering a set of Yokohama Parada Spec-X 245/60/18's will fit fine??? Or am I assuming wrong? Thanks There is a tire size calculator on this forum so you can visualize the changes in tire size. Here is a chart of tires and sizes that I was considering at the time I bought the Goodyear ResponseEdge. size dia rot name 245/50 VR18 27.8 746 advan 255/50/R18 27.9 744 toyo 50 235/55 VR18 28.0 746 eagle rs 235/55 VR18 28.2 739 bridgestone 235/55 VR18 28.3 736 s8 235/55 VR18 28.4 731 mxm4 245/55 ZR18 28.5 724 kdws 255/55 VR18 29.0 720 eagle edge 255/55R18 29.0 718 toyo 255/55VR18 29.3 706 zero

Tragic. Don't you just have to press the button again to turn off the engine? How does the accelerator stick on a modern (and new) car like this anyway? Floor mats?

If you try this (against the advice here and the instructions in the owners manual), please let us know how it works out for you.

Looks like it requires the XM connection and likely only works on the 2010 nav systems.

I'm in the correct region. The GPS just gets off track more than it should. For example if I am detoured off the main road due to construction then the GPS freaks out because the detour is not on its map. When I finally get back on the main road it's still way off in the field somewhere and never makes it back to the road. Another time I was on some road not on the map. When I got back to a main road it couldn't get back on track. We're continually having to readjust or recalibrate the GPS. Sometimes several times a day on a long trip. Something is not right. In the secret menu there are options such as "location" "gps" etc. Could there be something in there that could fix it? This is the screen that has the override fuction. This can occur if their is prolonged blockage of the GPS signal for any reason, but its not normal for it to be cronic as you suggest. I had this kind of thing happen on a *really* overcast day when I took a very gradual offramp transition to surface streets and the cars steering and speeed sensors didn't notice the change in direction (guess it doesn't read the compass) so it assumed I was still going down the freeway. Soon it was totally lost. I gave up on it and truned off the display, but when the weather cleared the next day everything was fine. Sounds like a hardware problem. Either with one of the sensors or the GPS itself. You will likely have to take it into a dealer to get it diagnosed, if poking around at the obvious things (ant, dvd, etc) don't seem to help. Do you have a dash cover?

For some reason even with the factory tow package, Lexus dealers are only allowed to install the lesser rated hitch although the 400h is rated for 3500. They also can only install the 4 wire flat connector for running lights. For this reason I used an aftermarket hitch installer to get a 3500 hitch and 7-pin connector with charge wire to my trailer battery. The battery is in a small RV teardrop trailer. For me the aftermarket option was much better and less expensive than what the dealer was allowed to provide. The hitch is by Drawtite and looks nice. It also fits the RX 330. There is a U-shaped work-around for the exhaust outlet. My trailer weighs about 1400 and tows very well. :) Bill I just purchased a 2010 RX-350 and had the dealer install the hitch; and as you state they also installed a 4 wire flat connector. I also have a Teardrop that we plan on hauling but require a 7 pin connector to charge the battery and actuate the brakes as I would like to install a brake controller too. Can you provide any insight into how your aftermarket installer wired the system on your vehicle? The folks at Lexus seem totally ignorant about the use of the standard 7 blade RV type wiring system for battery charging and trailer brakes. Thanks, Don The reason that the RXh does not use a 7pin is that the HSD system does not support much of any AUX load on the system. The only safe load would be under the rating on the rear DC adapter, which if memory serves is rated to only 120W. That's not nearly enough to power your trailer or its brakes.

Um, I would be afraid that now the car is undriveable. It sounds like the plug you removed is not the fill plug. I would get confirmation of that from a dealer before I drove the car with only that much fluid in the CVT. Burning that baby up woudl be very expensive.

It is unlikely that a dealership would do this for you, but certainly, if you wanted to retain the original design's braking ability, that's what you would do. I have no doubt that acceleration will suffer with the hevier wheels and there's not much you can do about that. I would consider going to larger wheels ONLY if the combined weight of the new tires and wheels was equal to or less than the OEM weight. Even then, if we're talking about a Lexus, I'd still be a bit wary, due to the fact that the smooth ride would suffer because of the lower profile/stiffer sidewall tires. Well, first of all, thank you. I think weight must be pretty comparable since those wheels are aluminium wearing 20' tires while the heavier iron OEM I used were wearing 18'... Also, I was fearing loss of acceleration but I can assure you, there was no change there. Yes,the ride is a bit rougher but not much. Hope this helps! rgds. The OEM 18" wheels are aluminum not steel and since you are replacing rubber with metal by going from 18" to 20" the unspung mass would have to increase in your case. Physics dictates that a larger wheel will have exponentially higher inertia, but as long are you don't notice it, then I say just enjoy the look and feel of your new ride and don't worry about the physics. The best way to improve handling on the 400h would be to add stiffer anti-sway bars... which are STILL not available .

The 18" OEM tires came in two flavors. The Michelin (which are low rolling resistance) and the Goodyear RS (whcih were not so low). My opinion is that they used the Goodyear instead of the Michilen because it improved the handling somewhat at the expsense of fuel economy (probably about a 1mpg hit). Now I have the Goodyear ResponseEdge in a slightly wider than stock size because I wanted the best handling on the 400 I could get with only new tires. It made a huge difference over the OEM Goodyears and I'll never go back to the OEM tires. But I did suffer another 2mpg hit in fuel economy( now at 21 mpg on average insted of the 24 mpg that others with my driving style claim to get). You pays your money, and you makes your choice... I'm still waiting for an afermarket anti-sway bar for the 400 that will improve the handling even more... not holding my breath tho.

Set audio mode to Aux. I couldn't figure out how to do it on mine either. This didn't work for me. Did you figure it out? Chances are very good that unless you have the factory RES (center mounted in the ceiling) you will need to use the headphones. It is possible to route an aftermarket DVD player (mounted inside the head rest, or elsewhere) to the AUX or CD2 inputs on the head unit, but it would likely require a 3rd party adapter such as the VAIS. http://www.vaistech.com/products/home.php Hope this helps.