LXPearl

Following up on Jim's remarks, the 04 and newer do not have a dipstick. Replacing it is similar to replacing the gear oils - underneath the vehicle. Ideally, you are supposed to let the dealer do it. The WS is a good product - synthetic ATF. I am using Mobil 1 ATF in my 2001 and like it.

The engine is designed for 91 octane and runs best with premium. However, the computer is also designed to adjust to 87 octane and runs without knocking on regular. The difference is usually slight, but there are differences. The most noticeable is driving along a hilly terrain with cruise control on. With regular gas the transmission will downshift more often than with premium, and the heavier the load, the more it occurs. Admittedly, this is not major for many people, especially if living in flat terrain and lightly loaded. The Toyota technical course on the TIS site covers the ignition control for all Toyota engines with the adjustable ignition feature. Toyota found that all perform better with premium fuel, even those rated for regular (mostly Toyotas). For Lexus, they went back to recommending premium because enough customers noticed the difference in drivability when using regular and complained about it. If you want to run on regular, it will most likely do so very well. It might get a little less mpg depending on conditions. It will get less horsepower and torque, but most will never notice a difference of about 5 HP. If you run regular and have a load and it starts knocking, you can add premium to get it to stop. The computer is designed to adjust quickly when changing from premium to regular, but other than adjusting to the knock, the computer has a staged timing adjustment when moving from regular to premium, so it will take multiple tank fulls to fully realize the true difference in performance when using premium.

My Lexus dealership did not put a sticker on mine. They depend heavily on the Lexus database - it is listed there.

The LX has excellent brakes, so something is wrong. Look over the entire system - fluid, pads, calipers, pedal pressure, etc. Is the braking erratic, or consistently poor? The off roading may have introduced some foreign matter on the pads or rotors... or some brake (ABS) sensors. Other things to note. The LX tends to wear out the back pads 2x faster than the front. The OEM pads work very well. If you have a good Toyota dealer nearby they may save you some money on the brakes - the LX uses Toyota parts. The main thing to watch is their use of the AHC. Lock it in N setting. Don't let them top off the fluids - especially the AHC one.

The vehicle will lower while in Park. With the engine on, select the low position, then close all the doors. It should go down. You can adjust it to all the positions in the same manner. There is an Off button that can maintain the current setting, such as when jacking up the vehicle, or if you don't want it to change while in the garage. However, once moving, the default N position will be taken once the appropriate speed is reached. If the Off button is pushed while in N mode, then pushing the AHC control to H or L will not have an impact. The Off setting will display in the dashboard. Hopefully, you did not have to take off the roof rack because the Off button was activated, preventing the LX from going into Low.

The update disk is primarily an update of the maps and POIs, the computer system itself is not changed. I updated to v7.1 last year because my maps were so old I was coming up with erroneous POIs and many cities we traveled to had streets that did not exist in my original Gen2 version. The graphics of the v7.1 are significantly improved with more colors, icons, and displays available than originally. The streets and POIs are huge upgrades. However, I still have the Gen2 system, so it struggles with the huge increase in data, especially when I set a 1000 mile trip. I get some strange routings (detours) along the way, when I would expect the shortest interstate route to be chosen. I have better success on the route if I pick waypoints within 300 miles of each other. My conclusion, is that my nav computer is memory challenged by the new data DVD and comes up with erratic results when processing all the added data. By selecting smaller data portions, I have better results with the routing. For those with older systems, added data is really nice, but the nav will run slower and may have data processing challenges.

It is for the rear heater.

Add fluid to the reservoir. Even though it appears to have plenty in it, it needs to be full enough to not trigger the sensor. Initially when getting "low" the light will come on while acceleration or when driving on an incline. This happens on all my Toyotas. Once I get the reservoir full - usually a little above the "full" line, the light quits coming on. For mqz502, I do not recall having the buzzer sound. I would still start with #1, then move to #2.

Sounds like the amp is bad.

I have experienced somewhat similar conditions on occassion, and usually it is when the Auto setting is not able to meet the task. In those situations, I have to go to manual mode to handle the challenging weather conditions.

There are several issues with DVD drives. Since you say the disk is only a few months old, that means it was not the original. You could have a bad disk - there was one version a couple years back that was flawed from the get-go and Lexus replaced them, but some people have sold the flawed original on the internet. If you have the DVD v7.1 then the system may not have upgraded properly. You can remove the DVD and try again. If you need instructions, check out the Sewell Lexus site in Dallas. More info is on the landcruiser site. You can go back to the original one (2002), but you will need to remove the flawed DVD, then turn off the engine without a disk in the drive. Disconnect the battery for a few minutes to let all the residual power drain. Reconnect the battery, and start back up. Now you can load the original DVD (or any other version) and it should go through all the steps to load the info, etc.

There were some problems with some early ML amps and were covered under a TSIB. There are several vendors that will service a Lexus unit, but it is good to support a fellow LOC member since the chance to have good customer satisfaction is excellent.

I had a battery go dead on mine, and it started up just fine once I got the new one in it. You might check your fuses and breakers, one or more may have blown. If they are fine, check the battery cables to be sure they are making good connections. New batteries may not be charged adequately if they have been sitting in the store for awhile, however, if there is juice to turn the engine, then the interior lights should be on - so it sounds to me like bad connections somewhere, involving interior lighting and the EFI. Another possibility is a short in those areas that caused the original battery to fail. If you can't get it solved, check out the Toyota Technical Information site where you can download the electrical manual for a modest fee.

The timing belt is designed to last longer than 120K, but it is rubber based and climate, heat, wear & tear all factor in the proper replacement. It will be extremely rare to fail before 90K, after that it become more risky as you go. NC does not seem as prone to dry rot as Arizona, so 120K is probably a reasonable risk. However, if you judge wrong, it will cost you the engine. I chose to have mine done by Lexus, and it was under $1K. I could have saved about $200 at Toyota (special price), but I had a CPO and wanted to maintain the warranty (though LFS/TFS would have honored the Toyota work also). Lexus was on target with the cost, did exactly as I asked them, and everything worked great. It also shows that I had the 90K work done on the Lexus maintenance printouts. AHC was risky with Toyota dealers - though better now that the 06-07 LC had it as an option. Toyota may opt to use green antifreeze instead of the Toyota brand at some dealerships - insist on the Toyota antifreeze (red/pink). At 120K you will have the 30K increment on maintenance that involves replacing fluids, lube, front wheel bearings, AHC fluid (60K), and plugs (120K). If you haven't been running through streams and deep water, the front wheel bearings will typically last longer than 30K miles.

There is a slight clunk in mine, always has been. However, it sounds like you are talking about an irritating level sound. This has been discussed a lot on a landcruiser site and hoser has conveyed the solution. If the driveshaft has not been regularly lubed, it tends to get hardened and when attempting to "catch up" by adding fresh lube, it will not get to the needed area. The best solution is to do as hoser said, clean out the old and start fresh. To prevent recurrence, many will lube the drive shafts with every other or even each oil change. Once the lube is right, the clunk will return to being a slight one.

I have heard of some who say they need to take their AC out of Auto and then activate it again to get it to work. Can't recall if they found out why it was acting that way. Mine has been fine with just leaving it in Auto, with occassional activation of defrost, then back to Auto without incident.

The spark plugs are to be changed at 120K miles. Mine were still fine at that point. You don't want platinum plugs, get the proper iridium plugs from Denso that have the 0.7 mm tip. These are the ones that last 120K miles. The platinum plugs last 60K miles and so do the 0.4 mm iridium tip plugs. It is not hard to change the plugs. You can get the Denso plugs from Toyota (Land Cruiser), Lexus, or from an auto parts store. The 0.7 mm ones cost about $10-15 each, depending on the store. The 0.4 mm is a performance plug and usually costs less (less quantity of expensive iridium in it).

If the CV joints are actually worn (not just a boot that split open), it may be more cost effective to replace the axle assembly instead of just a CV joint (part cost + labor).

The key issue on safety for tires and chains is control of the vehicle, not simply whether the vehicle can go up or down the hill faster or better. The ability to stop and steer at the point of losing traction are critical - this it the issue that many 4x4 drivers forget when gleefully driving like crazy in the snow or ice. Recent recommendations on tire placement on vehicles has been overwhelming that the best tires need to go on the rear of the vehicle. Tests of FWD vehicles with the best tires on the front have resulted in sudden and severe (very unlikely recovery) when the car loses control - e.g. braking on ice. It is easier to recover when the front loses control rather than the rear, regardless of FWD or RWD. Years ago when FWD was relatively new, people primarily thought about the traction issue. It was noticed that once traction was lost on FWD it was difficult to recover or control it. It is only recently that I started seeing a change in practice based on improved recovery when the best tires were on the back wheels - even on FWD. The current recommendation is to assure that your best tires (also chains) are on the rear to enhance your ability to recover if you lose traction. On FWD, I would go with chains on all 4 tires for safety. For the RX AWD, chains just on the rear may work OK because slippage up front will transfer power to the back. Too bad Lexus does not provide space for chains on the rear tires - that would be a problem if chains are needed. Thankfully, the AWD does quite well without the need for chains in most winter conditions.

I would not worry much about it in a garage where it doesn't run down the battery with the locks and security system activated. It might help to get a Battery Minder to keep the battery in good condition.

Approx 1.5 inches each level, but it varies front and rear. The owners manual and repair manual give the actual numbers.

A bunch of LX engines prior to 02 had the exhaust manifold problem. It tends to crack in an area that is not easily seen, and it gets worse with age. Lexus replaced the ones that went bad during the warranty period. The replacements do not seem to have the problem. If you find a used one, be wary - it may have the same inherent weakness. Ordering the replacements should give you the updated parts - whether from Toyota or Lexus. If you know of a good mechanic, they can replace the manifolds. I just would not get a used part for fear of getting one of the faulty ones.

For 01 I have a flash memory and can program up to 10 keys. In more recent years (03?) the number of programmable keys was reduced. Typically, the dealer will erase all the old keys from the ECU then reprogram them all to a new code. They can program the ECU of newer models by connecting to TIS and update the VIN coding. This beats having to replace the ECU on older models if the master keys are lost and increases security with fewer keys accessible at any one time. It should be easy for the dealer with the flash programming, so their cost may not be as high as feared - less than 1 hour.

Head over to ih8mud.com and read all the posts on fixing the AHC or converting to LC suspension as Jim mentioned. New accumulators and a full flush with new fluid could fix your problem, but that is expensive.

It is the coolant composition that matters. The Toyota LL is red and is the specified coolant. The common green coolant is not the same. In the many Toyotas I have owned, the results speak for themselves. When I used the green stuff, I replaced hoses, thermostats, water pumps, etc on a regular basis, along with periodic flush treatments (there always seemed to be a "normal" level of gunk that precipitated out of the coolant). In contrast, with the Toyota red LL coolant, I have gone over 100K miles on several vehicles without replacing any of the components in the cooling system, some I did not remember to replace the coolant until about 50K miles. I always use distilled water for diluting the coolant. I have seen Toyota dealerships who used the green stuff and mechanics who claimed there was no difference except the color. Not true. I would replace the green stuff asap and flush with distilled water, then add the Toyota LL coolant. It is not worth the risk of the gunk and repairs encountered down the line.