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Mark Levison is the guy that making amint licensing Lexus for the use of his nameplate on ROTM (run of the mill)audio equipemnt.

sitting an enclosed quiet garage and with windows closed and the engine and accessories off anyone can tell the difference. Traveling at road speed with the typical noise level of ~70db (LS430) no one can tell the difference.

There are two brake fluid bleed valves in the engine compartment, one new the ABS manifold, and one near the Trac pressure accumumlator.

Over-filling will lead to the fluid being stirred/whipped and foaming will occur and there is no doubt that will affect the shifting points/functionality but likely no long term harm.

Fitz auto parts up our way, owned by greenleaf now. Bought replacement digital dash, climate control and Trac pumpmotor assy for my 92 LS for under $500. Replacement alloy wheels for my AWD Aerostar, 4 for $200. They will, sometimes, let you wonder around once they get to know you.

I would most certainly have someone have a look at it and it is possible that a full and complete** brake fluid flushing would clear any debris that might be around blocking a check valve. *** Several extra bleed valves inside the engine compartment.

Averaged 23.3MPG 500 mile round trip Seattle to/from Portland. 01 AWD RX300, 235/65-r17, A/C disabled, 87 octane. On the return trip from Portland the OAT varied from 43F to 45F, it was overcast and raining lightly the whole way. Upon leaving Portland the climate control was set to 72F and fully automatic. within 20 to 30 miles the cabin had apparently reached 72F as the system automatically switched to cooling mode. My wife and I were both discomforted by the cool airflow to our faces so I switched the system to footwell only. I can only imagine how much more discomforting it would have been were it "cool" and DRY airflow due to the dehumdification cycle of the A/C were it operational. By now the blower speed was at the lowest icon mark and we were both feeling fairly "chill" althought I am quite comfortably certain the cabin atmosphere was at 72F. Turning the heat up to 75F definitely increased our comfort level until the cabin air reached the new setpoint at which time the blower went back to low flow mode. After experimenting a bit I came to the conclusion that the best settings, wherein we were both most comfortable, was with the blower only one notch below maximum on the icon display, the setpoint still at 75F, and the airflow distribution set for footwell and partial defrost/defog/demist. At these settings the footwell airflow temperature was about 115F, the windshield airflow was 72F. AND. I WAS MISTAKEN. Apparently warming airflow can to some extent greatly overcome the chill the human body feels from radiant cooling (the lack of otherwise normal radiant heating, really.) on a cold sunless winter day.

"had the same problem two years ago...." No, you had check engien AND trac failure indications. Trac is always disabled automatically, resulting in the indication, on any engine diagnostic check. Trac indication ALONE....: Each time you apply the brakes the ABS ecu checks for accumulator hydraulic pressure and if it's low, restarts the ABS/Trac pumpmotor to build it back up again. If it finds the pressure low ten times in a row, ten sequential applications of the brakes, it illuminates the fualt indication on the theory that for some reason the system is no able to hold, sustain, the brake hydraulic pressure even with a backup accumulator nitrogen pressurized to 3000PSI. If I remember the system plumbing correctly the Trac system will no longer function at all but ABS will. For a sensible driver Tarc is useless anyway. Trac is only for the idiot drivers taht don't have the good sense to get off the gas when a tire slips and then reapply moderately, feathering the throttle to get the vehicle initially moving. On the 92 LS Trac will instantly apply both rear brakes with slippage and just as quickly dethrottle the engine. Useless.

Fuel injector make a ticking sound/noise (sorta quiet, hard to aurally discern except at or near idle) normal thing. Valve lifters are more like clack-clack, and grow louder with RPM.

Antenna mask has a long flexible nylon tail with cogs that are used by the gear drive to retract and extend. Apparently some of the cogs are so worn down that the motor gear doesn't always catch. There radio sets the antenna to different heights for different freqencies.

YES.

The very best thing you can do once the system switches to cooling in automatic mode is to simply return it to footwell air outflow mode. If you raise the temperature you will end up being discomforted from over-heating and then when the system reaches the new setpoint is will again switch to cooling mode. A possible alternative, just thought of, is to lower a rear window slightly so the cabin air temperature never approaches the setpoint. But at the very core, the problem remains that the NipponDenso engineers haven't a clue regarding human body comfort effects. All warm bodies continually radiate heat OUTWARD, including ours. IN the summertime when the surrounding "landscape" is predominantly warm or hot the "net" of the outward bound radiant heat versus that recieved keeps us reasonably comfortable or we might need an A/C for cooling. In the wintertime, or in the wee hours of the morning, driving along in that glass greenhouse we call a car the surrounding landscape to which our body is constantly exposed readily absorbs the radiant heat from us but gives virtually nothing in return. The really bad news is that our "designer" decided for some reason that raising the air temperature dramatically around our bodies in this circumstance, to make up for radiant heating losses, would only further discomfort us. Raising the temperature setpoint a few degrees will help but the very best thing to do is manually over-ride the system into footwell mode. And bye-the-bye, leaving it in footwell mode will also serve to delay or prevent any instances of windshield fogging or even hazardous sudden windshield fogging. After 15 years of production Lexus has finally figured out this latter point, see the operational modes of the new RX330 regarding windshield fogging prevention. Idiots (Lexus, Toyota, NipponDenso, Denso).

Excuse me, BUT.... Screw the distance to accelerate to some specific speed! In adverse roadbed conditions what's really important is what is needed to save or preserve your life! And yes, on rare instances that might involve acceleration. But in the clear majority of instances the time it takes to bring the vehicle to a stop or to change directions of the vehicle's motion is what is most important. If you have any doubts at all about what might be under that layer of snow then use (drag) chains on the rear first and add front chains only if really needed.

It's the serpentine accessory drive belt that often slips when wet, say in a heavy rain, and the dealer is correct that is normal. Sounds like it's the transmission fluid that's over-heating and turning on the "icon" not the engine water jacket which is what the guage indicates. I would park it immediately and have the dealer tow it to his shop. If you continue to drive the dealer may justifiably hold you responsible for some level of the damage.

The EGR tube is stainless steel, at least mine is, and has an "accordian", expansion/contraction, area to relieve the stresses of continuous vibration. You can call me a doubting thomas but I find it hard to believe that brazing the broken joint will stand up for very long. Just take out the bottom half and use a hammer to flatten and then bend it over so its completely blocked and reinstall.

The Lexus series is so relaible buying warranty is a waste of money.

It sounds like you're looking at used in both cases.... Overall, I would always vote for the RX300, but if good traction is a high priority then I would yeild to the ML320. The RX is FWD, even the AWD version, 95/5, and therefore can be really dangerous on adverse roadbed conditions. The entire Lexus series is also highly prone to sudden windshield fogging due to a design flaw in the climate control system. It can also be very discomforting in the wintertimes since it insists on switching to cooling mode on the coldest day of winter.

1990 LS400 formerly owned by Bill Gates, gave it to friend who later donated to a Charity auction. 1991 LS400, 30k miles, formerly owned by Eddie Bauer Corp, used it as company car for 5 years and then gave it to my brother. 1992 LS400 purchased new, still own. 1995 LS400, purchased used at 30k miles, Canadian origin, company still owns. 1992 LS400, owned by Turkish citizen who returned home, purchased at 153k miles. 91 had rear main seal failure immediately upon return from Bellevue Lexus for oil change. Currently over 100k miles with ONLY oil and filter changes. 92, new, now has about 90k miles, one oxygen sensor replaced, three batteries. otherwise ONLY oil and filter. Will soon replace factory anti-freeze due to murkiness. 95, over 100k miles, EGR tube bent over to block, otherwise only oil & filters. 92 at 153K miles timing belt and water pump replaced, used digital dash installed, new brakes, new struts, refurbished climate control LCD, All struts, lower ball joints, new refrigerant pressure sensor, R-134a, used ABS pump/motor/pressure accumulator. New 92 had a propensity to suddenly fog over the front windshield so I installed a few mods to help overcome the problem. 1. Resistor that can be switched into series with the cabin temperature sensor and thereby make the climate control ecu "think" the cabin is extremely cold. Activate switch anytime defrost/defog/demist function is used to give instant max heat and high blower for the airflow to the windshield. 2. 2800 ohm resistor to be switched into series with the OAT sensor to prevent A/C operation below 55F OAT in the wintertime. 3. Four 12 volt exhaust fans, two each side, mounted inside the rear quarter panels to move humid and/or stagnant airflow from the cabin when front or rear defog function is used.

I used 1.2" spacers all around and 17X8 wheels/tires

NO....

Darn.... Now I find myself needing to defend the RX300 AWD system. So, with snowchains only on the rear there is a definite difference in driveline rotational rates F/R, so the VC stiffens UP. 75/25??? But the BMW X3 is certainly feeling much more attractive than the RX330.

EGR was broken so bottom end came out "free", car has passed emissions twice now since.

Good news! You can unbolt the EGR pipe at the exhaust end, bend it over flat, and simply reinstall. No exhaust noise and the engine ecu doesn't seem to give a hoot about recieving fresh airflow.

It's prewired for the CD.

The OAT sensor has been in the LS from the very beginning. It was initially only used for HVAC input/control.