mckellyb

Just a holiday update. The repair shop claims there is only one replacement part for this window, ignoring the change in there now being glass which has been treated in a sol-gel process during which a thin film is applied to it. I know more about it than the average bear, at this point. It might even be available, in the future, as a spray-on thing for existing glass. I'm all for *that*. Anyway, Lexus's headquarters are closed for the federal holiday, so I'll call back tomorrow.

Yep...well, it says so on the window 'imprint'. However, the 'new' glass has a different label than does the one on the driver's side. It *is* similar to the one on the front window, however. I recall the LR glass being labeled 'Nippon', whereas the new RR glass is 'Toyota'. I'll call the shop, tomorrow to ask what's up, and look at it more closely, that's for sure!

Thanks to a local thief/loser, we had to replace the RR door glass. This vehicle, being an '02, has the truly neat glazed glass which sheds water like it has Vision Blade on it, but five times better. However, the new glass in the door doesn't have the water beading up/running off like the rest of the windows, so I'm curious...for those of you with this specially glazed glass...have you had difficulty in getting the correct glass installed? Also, if not, did you have to make perfectly clear you expected the correct year model's glass be used in order to ensure you didn't get an earlier year's glass, without said glazing. Oh, and if you know how this glazing is done, wouldja let me know??? The curiousity is *killing* me. I really want it on all my vehicles, but I'd bet it isn't something you can do, afterward. Thanks!

Interesting thread, to a degree. FWIW, given what I've seen when people are trusted to do 'smart' thing with cars, I'm rarely surprised by some of the bona-fide stupid things I've seen. Chains on the rear of this vehicle would fall, IMNSHO, in this category. Last week, Portland, Mor(on)egon had some of the frozen precipitation. I had -0- problem with FWD in a ten-year-old Dodge Intrepid on tires which say "don't use in snow". For grins, I took my wife and her '02 AWD RX300 out for a spin in a local ice rink of a parking lot, trying to make it do 'odd' things. To my dismay, and surprise, it was actually hard to get this vehicle to misbehave. Cut the wheel hard, goose it, hoping for some sideways action...nothing. The VSC kicks in and keeps the vehicle mostly on course. Though, there are some things which just can't be done in the ice, like instantaneous turns. This is on the, IMO, ultra-cheesy Headstone tires, which, when on my Suzuki Grand Vitara, I couldn't replace fast enough.

I've looked at both 'info' screens and DTE ain't there. Current MPG, MPG since filling is on one, the other has avg. speed since reset and a second trip odometer. All *but* DTE. Hmmm, maybe I have it tured off on the NAV screen, but I can't imagine where it would be without being in the way...

Wait a sec, dude, *thanks* for joggin' my noggin. I didn't look under the *other* trip computer thing. Ours has the NAV system, which is worth doing without DTE, honestly, but still, it'd be neat.

Seems like a relatively lame thing, but is there a distance-to-empty readout anywhwere? I've looked, can't find one, and being a guy, I can't look it up in the manual. :P Looking it up would be admitting defeat. Anyway, I've noticed the fuel gauge is nicely linear, and doesn't swing to-and-fro like on most GM's pre-1992, so it would actually be useful. I've also noticed, from first click-off of the fuel pump to truly full, the tank holds about 2 more gallons, so while exiled to Oregon, we'll never have a truly full tank. I feel a rant coming on about the utter stupidity of this 'full serve' law...I'll stop, now.

I know the windows/sunroof open if you hold the remote's 'unlock' button down, but aren't they also able to be closed by holding down the 'lock' button? I'm going in to pick up three little screws which have fallen out/been misplaced by the previous owner's service dept., and was considering taking the RX in to have this changed, if it can be, *and* have he doors set to one push = unlock all. Is there a good way to approach this, and who would I take it up with??? I've *never* had a dealer who was worth a damn, so the friendliness there, Beaverton, OR Lexus, catches me by surprise. Thanks!

I cleaned ours with a rag, then slathered a goodly amount of lithium grease on it, ran it up/down a couple of times, removed the excess, then regreased with more lithium about a week later. Noise unchanged. Fortunately, it's under warranty.

Good to know we're not the only ones with a noisy antenna. Ours doesn't click, but it's definitely loud in an unnatural way when retracting. I've lubed it up, twice, and it hasn't helped. I've had older power antennas apart, and they're pretty simple, just plastic gears and a small electric motor. This one sounds like one part of a plastic gear is rubbing on metal, internally. Not good. If you hear anything, post it, wouldja? Thanks!

So, are these part of a diversity antenna system, or is it part of the GPS system for the NAV? If not part of the NAV system, then where is the GPS antenna? Thanks!

Hey, thanks for looking into this! Best way to do it, as you're not likely to be able to tell, seat of the pants, is to watch your MPG figures on both 87 and 89 to see if there is a significant difference. By significant, I mean one MPG, or more. Shockingly, unlike any other car I've been in, the Intrepid with the 3.5L motor, it's *obvious* it's retarding the timing off-idle, as you can feel the hesitation. 89 octane makes it go away. The Lexus is so freakin' smooth, however, I can't tell. I was driving the RX, yesterday, on what used to be called a 'Sunday drive', just cruising around the countryside, and *man*, this car is **smoooottthhhh*. Even WOT shifts from 1st to 2nd are downright gentle. Blows my mind. Sorry, back on topic... Unlike your Dakota, the RX has at least one knock sensor, so even on Pemex, you wouldn't ever hear a knock/ping, the computer would keep retarding the timing 'till it produced almost no power, most likely. With fuel prices here in the Portland, OR area increasing close to $.30 in the past 10 days, I'm gonna stick with 'regular' unleaded, 87 octane, for now. Regular is anywhere from $1.85 to $1.979, depending. *But* you don't have to get out an pump it for yourself!!! Instead, you get to sit in your car for 15 minutes and suck in the fumes....

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I've found cruise control is really only truly useful on roads like I-10 in New Mexico, as it can't anticipate hills, or if a person just *can't* hold a constant speed. Worse, on our Dodge Intrepid, it'll downshift to keep speed down, when going downhill, if you exceed the set speed by like, 3 mph. Aggrivating. I'd bet, if I'd reset my MPG readout before the trip, it would have been about 22. Wait, I can figure it out. I was on 87 octane, FWIW. Have you noticed any diff between 87 and 89? The 3.5L motor in our Intrepid is ultra-picky about octane, and using 87, they recommend 89, allowed enough hesitation to kill the transmission mount log before its time. I've learned.... Let's see, my trip MPG was...22.23. This is rough, as I think that tank had 80 miles of 17.6 on it, and we took about a 220 mile trip, which at the end, showed an MPG figure of 21.0. I did find, as we have 'full serve' *only* here in the People's Republic of Oregon, the first 'click off' of the fuel pump leaves room for about 2.5 more gallons. Yeah, gasoline needs some expansion room, but that's about 2 gallons of overkill, IMO. My Suzuki (yeah, we have three cars, can't get rid of this one, the Zuk) shuts off when there is .5 gallons of room left. Pefect, IMHO.

Took our first long, relaxed trip, yesterday, and while the RX had about 80 miles of 17.8 MPG on it, I managed to coax it up to 20.9 on the entire tank before hitting "E". Well, the needle is below "E", but I like to know *exactly* how much run time I have, in case I'm ever in a situation I need to make a walk/don't walk decision. So, it looks like being gentle, yet with the AC on, on rolling hills highways will get you right about the 22 MPG EPA figure, but are you guys/girls seeing more/less on average. My wife drives it almost exclusively in-town, so I don't expect to see the 18 city figure, as avg. speeds tend to be sub-30 MPH. Thanks

Just for reference, you might want to consider looking some more, as we bought a *loaded* AWD, every option, including NAV system, but the hitch, a 2002 model, for $30K not but a few weeks ago. Had 22K on it, but they lived in the middle of nowhere, so they were easy miles. Only problem I've found is warped front rotors, but they're just barely warped. Didn't really confirm it 'till I used the brakes above 60 MPH, which isn't a common occurance, least around here. Traffic usually doesn't get going that fast here in Portland. Might harm a tree going that fast, I guess.

Yeah, you do need several heating/cooling cycles, but on the Intrepid, for example, the car was just too danged heavy for the small rotors they put on it. I mean, with the 16" wheels there is *plenty* of room for more rotor, but it wasn't in MOPAR's budget, at the time. Still, I finally found a set which seem unwarpable, as I've tried, can't do it, and before, it happened while we were being gentle on them. Go figure.

On our new-to-us '02 RX300 AWD has ever so slightly warped front brake rotors. In the past, I've found turning them, the process of taking just a little bit off, to make them straight, again (for the uninitiated) tends to allow for them to warp again quickly. Seems shaving weight on cars has gotten some parts to the point of borderline. So it goes. Has anyone turned these with success, or did you have 'em turned, and a week later, they were warped, again. I'm almost certain it's not a warranty kinda thing, though if it is, let me know, as I'll be both happy and puzzled, which can be an interesting combination. :P On our '95 Dodge Intrepid ES, we went through 4 sets of rotors before finding a set which didn't warp almost immediately. Of the four, the cross-drilled ones warped the quickest, and what's worse is, they started to *crack* at the holes. Ack!!!! Thanks for any input,

I'm with you on the DRL's. One other thing, they can mask the turn signals on some cars, too, so which is more safe, DRL's or turn signals? GM has a 'system' on some S10 pickups wherein the DRL's shut off when the signals are used, then come back on after they cancel. Nothing like 'telling' an 80K lb. truck to "c'mon over" when you don't mean to just as you're changing lanes.... I found a link on another page, but it was for a different Lexus. It's a simple pulling of a fuse, and jumping from one to another, IIRC. I'm gonna play with it more, and once I figure it out, I'll post about it...assuming the flames don't chase me off. :P Just kidding moderator dude. Forgot your screen name, sorry. This board is downright pleasant to be on compared to some I watch. Kelly

Graham, *THANKS*. I figured the front diff and T-case shared a resevoir, but just counldn't be sure, and I *didn't* want to open the one fill plug, pull both drain plus, drain three quarts, yet be able to put back only one. Ack. Those screw-on tube extensions for bottles are worth every penny. Saves a really expensive, and never-ending, cleanup. Hmmm. You say the front diff is connected to the tranny, eh? Not on the '02, least not *this* one. There is a fill plug on the back of the T-case, and two drain plugs, one for the diff, one for the T-case. Ah, mabye the transfer case, which to me looks more like the rear differential, really *doesn't* share the diff's oil. Hmmm. Well, I'll crack open the fill, drain, see how much of what comes out, then open the other drain plug 'till I can touch/see/smell what's in the diff, and go from there. If it's tranny fluid, I'll leave it, as it just had the 20K service at a Reno Lexus dealer. Like you, I'm a Mobil 1 guy. Any idea on what I'll have to prove should I need some sort of warranty stuff yet do all my own maintenance? We've yet to have a car with more than a year warranty, so this is new ground. Nice to see I'm not the only person who subscribes to 10K Mobil 1 changes. There is a guy on an RV list whose brother has a GMC 4x4 with 350K+ miles on it, and the guy claims to have changed it to Mobil 1 when he bought it at 75K, and hasn't changed it, since. Three filters over those 275K, and occasional top off, doesn't burn/leak anything, still passes emmisions. Works for me, and while I'm *really* tempted to try....mmmm, maybe with my junker Suzuki Grand Vitara....

Don't feel bad if it takes years to show up. MS Streets & Trips 2001, well, it doesn't surprise me the street we live on isn't in the database, as it was completed that same year. The Lexus is an '02, still not there. Still not bothersome. Now, S&T 2003 doesn't have it, either. Guess we're 'off the map'.

The rear diff was a cake walk, but the front...well.... I can see a 15/16'ths inch socket is gonna be okay for the T-case fill plug, but looks like the drain plug is going to require investment in a 23MM wrench, as I have 20-22, and a 24, but no 23. Grrrrr. No 15/16ths open/box end wrenches, either. Also, does the differential have a fill plug, or is it connected to the T-case, and there are merely two drain plugs? I had something similar to this on an '83 V45 Honda Sabre, where you had two drain plugs on the engine oil, but that was an obviously weird situation.... The front set of cylinders, being at the angle they were, held a few ounces of oil in their own little resevoir. Guess I'll be investing in manuals, soon. Thought this would be more straight-forward, but it's our first primarily FWD, yet AWD, auto. Jeep Grand Cherokee was obvious, as is the Suzuki Grand Vitara...T-case is out there all by itself.... Have to admit, I'm surprised at how much metal was on the rear diff's magnetic drain plug, though it *does* appear the factory put in synthetic fluid, as it didn't have the really dark color, or funky smell of dead dino's in a 90W oil. Thanks,

Hey, thanks! I've been 'stuck' with ATF+3 in the Intrepid, and it still is on the OEM tranny at 110K, so non-synthetic can't be all *that* bad. I think regular changes are probably most important, as it's not like we're gonna be towing anything with the RX....

I've been surfing all over the place, and the RX300 uses Toyota type T-IV fluid, yet I don't see this listed on Mobil1's site as compatible with their synth. Anyone? Yeah, I could get Amsoil, but won't. Don't like their biz model, and I've been a Mobil1 guy since early on. I'm guessing the Lexus dealer has synth Toyota fluid, but, ouch...my wallet is kicking me for even thinking that.... Thanks!

skperformance, it isn't as simple as a relay. Regardless, that isn't why you posted. I don't see where I mentioned driving for a living, but I did put myself through college with that kind of a job. Liked it, in fact. Oh, wait, no capital letters, and not much punctuation...*you* drive for a living. I hope you enjoy it, as it can be quite enjoyable, especially if you drive people around, as I did, driving a tour bus and airport shuttle for a few years. Let's see, saving car drivers, who have a decent amount of crash protection built-in, not to mention a *bunch* of other safety devices (seat belts, crumple zones, air bags, etc.), by minimizing the admittedly *small* safety factor daytime headlights add to motorcycles is **MINOR**?!?!?!?!?! So, what you're saying is, saving one kind of driver is okay, even when it means sacrificing another.... That's okay, as long as you're not in the group being sacrificed, I guess. <sigh> So, let's take that logic another step. Those who drive small cars, yet get taken out by oversized SUV's/jacked up pickups, well, those people were expendable, as the small cars weren't safe enough. I agree with your Europe is ahead of us bit, but sealed beams have been around as a US standard since at *least* the 60's, not the 80's. Even with 'modern' aero-light housings, you'd be surprised how bad some are. Go drive a 93-94 Intrepid some evening, you'll see.... It seems, in reading your reply, you missed my point, *entirely*. Let me make this as obvious as possilbe... DRL's *aren't* *really* *NEEDED* in the lower-48 states or Hawaii. Hello!! McFly.... They *do* help in areas located at extreme latitudes, which the lower 48 ARE NOT. Read up on it more, you'll see. Sweden, Norway, etc., *those* folks benefit quite a bit, as would those in *way* South America. Look on a world map, see those places near the top and bottom, *those* folks really have value in DRL's. You reference a 'controlled environment'. Um, driving on US roads is *anything* but 'controlled'. Being as I *always* have, and will, wear seatbelts, and wish I could have full-on four-point belts. I consider airbags another one of those 'nanny' devices which tends to protect those who obviously haven't thought about the inherent danger of traveling faster than human running speed, and the sacirfices made to make them more effective for *unbelted* occupants which actually causes harm to those of us who use seatbelts. I really thought antilock brakes would help with avoiding wrecks, but it seems people slam on the brakes, panic, and don't steer, so they *still* slam into stuff, just like before ABS was commonplace. Can't protect people against themselves, though we *are* trying hard! Equating DRL 'value' with that of seatbelts is just plain stupid. Game over.

Oooh, 'tire roar', when it isn't tires, is either U-joints, which you'd know by a rather unpleasant 'clank' after putting it into gear, or worse, a cracked pinion gear. Be glad it's under warranty. The one in the rear end of my Suckzuki Grand Vitara cracked at 53K, and I've been pretty gentle with it. Replaced it myself for about $260, but it took a couple of hours, and I've *never* had to replace rear end parts, even on college-era beater cars.... High-pitched squeal from one wheel? Sounds like a brake caliper is sticking, or maybe the e-brake cable is hanging up when you turn. Bummer. Good luck!!! Wow, warranty longer than 12 months or 12K miles...what a concept! ;-)