Thi

After pressing the "learn" button, you have 30 seconds to press the designated button in your car. Press the button in your car for 2 seconds then release. You may have to repeat the sequence press, hold, and release the button for 3 times (don't press the "learn" button again for the subsequence cycles). After programming the button, try to press the button and hold it down and see if your garage openner works. You can find some more info at http://www.homelink.com/program/rolling.html Thi

I had to replace my battery before; got one from Autozone. It's a little smaller in width but taller than the previous one which was from KMart. I had to discard the lower tray. I got the higher cranking AMP and it was around $70. With the Alldata system, it takes some "digging" around sometimes. For the engine, they have a nice diagram that you can click on the part and it brings you to a sub section. With the system, you have access to the a lot of diagnostic information for your transmission. Thi

When I bought my car, I did not check that it has a tool set (learn something <_< ). I ordered a set from Toyota in order to check the spare tire's condition. When I placed the multi-piece tool in the hole in order to lower the tire, it cought in the inner bracket. Maybe the previous owner damaged the bracket or something. It was not a smooth operation for me. It's good idea to check the spare tire condition. Mine was shot; so I replaced it with another one. Thi

There is 4 and 5 tires rotation (include the spare tire). I don't think that the 5 tires rotation is a mandatory anymore. I replaced the spare tire once; it was a pain using the special tool in order to lower the spare tire. Thi

If you decided to get the manuals, there are 3 of them (as I know of) for the Lexus: Service manual ($96.48), Electrical ($48.58), and transmission manual ($15, number RM491U). You can call this Toyota/Lexus # and get them: 800 622 2033. I noticed that if my car is locked and I unlocked it manually from inside; when I try to rearm it twice. For the first push of the button, it "thinks" that the car is still lock. When the system is not arm properly, the interior light stay on. After replacing a battery, on my other car (Mitsu engine), it takes some time for the ECU to "learn" and set up it own parameters. While that's going on, the car has some idle surge. It should settle down after a few miles of driving. This may be the case with your car. Thi

Andrew, The name of the web site is www.alldata.com. There's a section for professional shop and a section for DIY (home use). I used the DIY section mostly for TSB (technical service bulletins), OEM part #/cost, labor hours, & some service information. I was surpised that they include the transmission information. They do have quite a bit of information, but NOT everything in the manuals. For example, they don't have all of the electrical diagrams. For me, it's a nice supplement to the manuals. Thi P.S. If you have a second car, you can add on for $15/year.

There are some other causes for overheating such as clog/restricted exhaust system (car's been in flood), head gasket, fan clutch, bad timing. Good luck with your finding.

I will look again for the rear drain holes. When the sunroof is all the way back, it's sandwiched betwen the metal roof and headliner. Is there any special trick or procedure to clean the real drain holes for the LX 450? Thi

Thanks all for your suggestions. Bonknhead, I did a few things as I described in my previous post. There's no rain around here lately so I cannot know for sure. I will post a result after the next rain shower. I washed the car last week and did not see any water around the front pillar; that's a good thing. I poured a little water into the drain holes which is located at the corners of the sunroof. I saw water drained at the bottom of the running board. You can try the same thing. If it's the problem with sunroof/drain holes, it's a good change that you see the fabric of the front pillar getting wet. If not, it's maybe a problem related to windshield, or door trim as posted by other members. Let us know what you find. Thi

Yeah, the spare tire is really in the way. That's good idea to run a long hose as you suggested. In the LX 450, the rear differential takes 3.4 quarts! Thi

Just replaced front and rear differential oil on my LX450. If you decide to do it yourself, get an oil suction/pump gun (looks similar to a grease gun except there's a platic tube at the end), it will make the job a lot easier. Thi

I'll look for the plug. Thanks. So far, I cleaned the drain hose using a flexible wire, caulked the plastic trim around the sunroof, checked/repositioned the retaining pins for the wind deflector. Now, when I pour some water in the drain hole, I see some coming the bottom of the running board. I like to see exactly where is the drain plug though. Thi

If you cannot find it in the user manual, it may be an add-on for some other purposes such as after market alarm (valet parking switch), fog light, towing light... Look underneath the dash and/or in the engine compartment near the firewall and see if you notice any wires that stand out of the ordinary. I don't have a differential lock on my car either, but I believe that there is an indication (light/icon) on the dash when you activate it. Thi

1. Are the front and rear differentials the same. Same oil rating in the shop manual 2. Do either of the differentials have limited slip features. ( My rear feels as if it does ) I think so, but need to check 3. Do you have locking Differentials. ( I Don't ) I don't either Where are you located that your time is 4 hours later than mine??? I'm in Missouri, US. Where do you locate? Thi

Does anyone use Mobil 1 differential oil for your car? It's rated at 75-90W fully synthetic. The shop manual called for 90W above zero degree F and 80-90W when below zero degree. Thi

On my 450, the idle fluctuated very little, but not in the 100 of RPM. When I replaced the air filter, I got the air intake hose out; so I clean the throttle body also. I helped the idle a lot. On my Laser (Mitsubishi engine), I had the wild idle problem when the engine warmed up. It turned out to be bad Idle Speed Control motor (ISC motor). The coil's resistance in the motor goes bad when there's change in temperature. I think that the motor controls the amount of air misture by turning a spindle in or out. The motor is controlled by the engine's ECU. I'm kind of new to the Lexus world so I haven't looked into the air control mechanism for it. Thi

Rain, and rain,....and more rain around here lately. Yesterday while it was raining, I went in the car and looked at the sunroof. I was able to see water sipping in at the corner of the right side. When the rain stopped, I inspected the car and found a Q-tip that someone had used to lubricate the rail before. It was blocking the drain hole on the right hand side. I found 2 holes (left and right sides) that I believe to be drain holes. I got some flexible metal wire in order to clear the drain holes. I was able to get the wire down pretty far but not all the way down to the bottom of the car where I can see the end of it. I did not see any plastic tubing inside the drain hole. Should there be any tubing inside it? I inspedted the carpet this morning. It was wet but seems a little better than before. If you have tried to clear the drain hole, can you see the end of the wire? I saw a section on sliding roof in the shop manual, but the did not mention about the drain holes. I would like to see where the end of the drain holes so I clear it all the way. If you know a section in shop manual, please let me know. Thanks. There's a black piece of weather seal on the front of the sliding roof itself. It looks like a U shape and has another flat piece inside the concave of the U channel. The flat piece does not run all the way across so I'm kind of puzzle about that. Thanks for all inputs and any additional information. Thi

There has been a lot of rain last couple days; it looks like the leak starts somewhere around the front of the sunroof. I did not know that they have shops specialize in leak dectection. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks. Thi

There was a moderate amount of rain around here today. I noticed that a little section above the passenger side along the door trim and pillar were wet. The carpet on the passenger side was wet also. Does anyone experience the same problem? What do you do to fix it? Thanks. Thi

Thanks gslx4s for recommending Mothers Plastic Polish. I bought some through the web. All I can say is that the stuff is amazing! I applied the product several times in order to remove the spots. The pannel looks great now. I even polished my watch afterward Thi

As far as I know, the level does not change. Currently, the car has 71K mile on it. The radiator looks fairly new and has no visible blocking of its fins. The temperature does not creep up when idling in traffic. It seems to climb a little after some hard acceleration or on off ramp from highway. Just got me a ODBII+datalogger. I noticed that the coolant temperature went as high as 220 degrees F on a 95+ degrees day. The thermostat is rated at 180 degrees. Thi

I bought the car used; so I don't know if it's the original radiator. Recently, we did a reverse flush and replaced the thermostat. The fan is running constantlly since it's driven by pulley. There's a fan clutch, but I have not check it yet (don't know how yet). I believe that it's a single thermostats system. Thi

The engine temperature is usually points at the middle of the gauge or slightly lower. After driving on highway and pull into smaller road on a hot day, the needle points pass the middle a little. Is it normal? I'm still chasing the intermittent AC cut out problem with my LX 450. I moved the fog lights out of the way of the front grill. That seems to reduce the cut out situation, but it's still there. Thanks for any insight. Thi

Tom, Are those codes generic or some belong to Lexus? How do you read the code without a scanner? Thanks. Thi

Thanks for the info. The thing that concerns me is that the service manual and user manual specify 2.1 qts for "drain and refill". Could it be the info in the manual is incorrect? I also check in the Alldata system. By the way, I use Mobil 1 synthetic transmission oil.