wwest

Let's see... You are about to spend $5400.00 for a used car and you think 30 miles is too far to go for a VIN check and maybe a pre-purchase inspection... Offer the selling dealer a copy of the PPI anbd see if they will let you take the car that 30 miles.

First, I would disable the VSC/Trac system by disconnecting and then reconnecting the MAF/IAT sensor. Disconnect with the engine idling, the engine will die, reconnect and restart. The VSC/Trac system will then be disabled for the next few drive cycles. Assuming your's is actually an RX300, not a 330 or 350, you have a VC, Viscous Coupling, across the center diff'l that will tighten the coupling coefficient between front and rear drive but only after a few seconds of desparate F/R wheelspin/slip. The only disadvantage of the above is the loss of the "virtual" rear LSD, assuming that firmware actually exists in the RX300. Mine is an '01 AWD RX300 and I fully expect the trnasaxle to fail prior to 100,000 miles. At that point I will DIY the overhaul, remove/toss the the center diff'l front drive side/spider gear and weld the rear drive side/spider gear in place. I will then have a SOLID drive coupling to the rear and a "soft", VC, coupling to the front. It would be nice if I could find a quicker reacting VC but that's likely beyond my reach. Florida and yet the RX picture is of one from "off-shore"...??

You may have enough miles on the engine that it's a bit tired and can no longer, when cold, produce the torque required at the low RPM required to be in OD. Or the OD lockup clutch is worn enough that it is simply slipping a bit until the ATF/transmission warms. Checked the ATF condition lately?

The concern about timing belt failure is SERIOUSLY OVERBLOWN. Does anyone know of a timing belt that actualy failured prior to say, 250,000 miles? Of three LSes that I know of, the 95 had the belt changed at 90,000 miles, the mechanic said it appeared to have been needless. The car now has 210,000 miles and there is no plan to address the timing belt issue again until maybe say 300,000 miles. My brother's 91 LS has over 150,000 miles as does a friends 92 without the timing belt be changed out. I happened to walk into a garage bay as a 92 LS's belt was being replaced at ~150,000 and even the mechanic had to agree that it did not exhibit the typical timing belt wear criteria for a change over.

$131.49 including shipping.

Be sure and check the high mount stop light and you may have inadvertently purchase "LL", long life, bulbs which sometimes do not draw enough current to reset the bulb failure sensor.

I believe, firmly so, that your '94 LS already has FACTORY LEGIT fog lights... If you want to, or need to, make them fully functional you will have to revise the circuit somewhat because "as shipped" they can only be turned on with the low beams.

The '95 LS uses two bulbs in the headlamp assembly, three if you include the fog light. One of the headlamps bulbs is dual filament wherein one of the filaments provides low beam coverage. The second bulb is single filament and is used along with the high beam section of the dual filament bulb for "good" high beam coverage. This second bulb is also used as the DRL light source if the vehicle is of canadian origin as mine is. The HID hi-lo coverage is so good, excellent, that I have disabled the power to the second, single filament, high beam bulb except for DRL use. The HID hi-lo is accomplished with an electric solenoid in the base of the bulb that moves the HID arc center back and forth from the low beam position to the high beam position when the high beam wire has voltage. We also have a '92 in the "family" and I plan to try another hi-lo set there soon. IMMHO it was the early LS that really had POOR headlight pattern coverage. You could adjust the beam upward and have good low beam coverage and have the high beam illuminate the night sky or... weird, when i converted mine, the high beam is so bad that i dont even use it and i didnt disable the high beam bulb. what kit did you use to upgrade? From the Ebay vendor linked above, previous post. And don't let anyone sell you anything other than 4300K for "color".

There is a TSB for the 95-97 series (may apply to yours also, didn't take note) that involves relocating a portion of the wiring harness near the connector to the telescoping position feedback sensor.

Actually one might wonder (I do) if driven sensibly the air suspension might just endure those potholes somewhat better, comfort and relaibility, over a spring/strut system. I know of two LSes with air suspension, a '91 (brother's) and a '92 (mine) both approaching 150,000 miles and no problems other than PS pump.

Such as... http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAP...em=320223720575

The '95 LS uses two bulbs in the headlamp assembly, three if you include the fog light. One of the headlamps bulbs is dual filament wherein one of the filaments provides low beam coverage. The second bulb is single filament and is used along with the high beam section of the dual filament bulb for "good" high beam coverage. This second bulb is also used as the DRL light source if the vehicle is of canadian origin as mine is. The HID hi-lo coverage is so good, excellent, that I have disabled the power to the second, single filament, high beam bulb except for DRL use. The HID hi-lo is accomplished with an electric solenoid in the base of the bulb that moves the HID arc center back and forth from the low beam position to the high beam position when the high beam wire has voltage. We also have a '92 in the "family" and I plan to try another hi-lo set there soon. IMMHO it was the early LS that really had POOR headlight pattern coverage. You could adjust the beam upward and have good low beam coverage and have the high beam illuminate the night sky or...

On a resent trip to Portland and return (390 miles) our well worn, 211,000 miles, '95 LS400 got almost 27 MPG (14.55 gallons) with an average moving speed (Garmin) of ~66 MPH.

No problem, just use reasonable speed judgment on the gravel section and GO......!! Especially since you have an SUV for backup during the winter.

It's probably cheaper to go to Ebay and buy another seat...

For LED retrofit/upgrade... http://superlumination.com/images/auto_bul...eo_b_led_wm.jpg On the following page down to mid-page.....Neo-wedge LED http://autolumination.com/74.htm

Those are small 12 volt "grain-of-wheat" bulbs that can be purchased every day at Radio Shack. http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search Look closely, the grain of wheat bulb can be removed from the special "holder" and simply replaced. Remove the bulb from the holder carefully and the "color" sleeve/condom can be saved for use on the new bulb. Sorry, cellphone camera wouldn't focus that close but you should be able to see enough to get the base idea.

Steve, Thanks for the tip, I was unaware of the adaptive driving memory. Confusion STILL reigns surpreme...!! Modern day cars do have adaptive "learning". But of two separate types. From the time it leaves the factory it continuously learns and adapts to variances in the sensors and servo devices. Some of those are kept in non-volatile memory and can only be erased via a factory technician. Some others are in volatile memory and can be erased by disconnecting the battery or pulling a specific fuse temporarily. As a for instance my '93 Ford Ranger, 140,000 miles, has an idle air bypass valve, basically a simple electrical bang/bang, on/off, solenoid but through the use of PWM, Pulse Width Modulation, of the applied voltage it becomes a LINEAR servomotor. Every time my PU cames up for the emissions test I have to remember to clean the idle air bypass port, disconnect the battery so the ECU forgets the previous PWM parameter, and then give the ECU time to learn the new parameters by going through several drive cycles before going for the emissions test. Most modern day automatic transmissions have as many as 4 of those "simple" solenoids used as linear servomotors via the same "learning" process. So when you disconnect your battery, yes, YES, the car will drive differently for the next few drive cycles. BUT NOT BECAUSE YOU HAVE ERASED THE DRIVER'S DRIVER STYLE/TYPE HISTORY.......!! Driver style/type history is ERASED each and every time you start the car in motion and many of the driver style/type parameters are updated as you drive. Could it be any other way and still be acceptable to the driving public...?? How many divorces would result if it were not so..??

I would be VERY surprised if the E-brake switch that turns on the brake icon isn't the same one that disables the DRLs. Penny-pinchers and beancounters abound within the automotive manufacturing industry. And even if you have two switches there is the issue of the car-to-car randomness of which switch "switches" first....

And with any luck at all you'll never have anyone sue you for hitting you headon due to poor visibility at or near dusk, just before sunrise or on a dark cloudy day. If you feel you MUST be in control then wire the DRLs into the street/parking/tail lamps for FULL protection.

SOP... Normal ocurrance. Not unusual when the filament burns open and then due to vibration what's left happens to momentarily make electical contact.....FLASH...!! 18 watt bulb becomes a 50-200 watt bulb for a brief instant...VERY brief.

So can we say that a softer driving style and not frequent fluid changes are a possible remedy for early RX trannys? I'm not so sure the circumstances that lead to dowshifts for acceleratio quickly subsequent to an upshift are predictable enough that one could adapt your driving style. And I'm now more comfortable tha ever that my theory of a "quick fix" via increasing the ATF pump volume for the '01-'03 RXes is correct. The problem was/is that the higher pump volume results in extraordinary "localized" heating of the ATF for which the cooling arragement could be of little help. The DBW system obviously allowed them to go back to the low volume ATF pump but put owners in danger.

Hi-lo HID pics.

At those prices you might want to buy a surplus one one Ebay, use the bulbs you need and sell the ones you don't. LEDs at V-LEDS.com...??