wwest

Rather than buying into right wing talking points that have an obvious bias and agenda, I would suggest you view the Inconvient Truth movie yourself and make up your own mind. This isn't about a political agenda... its about our collective moral obligation as the top life form on the planet. I decided not to go with a third Jeep for two reasons, Chrysler, and the traditional Jeep "box" was discontinued.

I don't see any reason not to flush the fluids. Transmission fluid certainly does wear out, as any informed Taurus owner can tell you. If it's changed every 30k they'll run to 200,000 miles, if never changed The AX's fail from 60k or in the rare case up over 100k. Also, I wouldn't assume that your PS problem is fixed. If it's the '92 it's probably time you replaced the ACV, before it kills your alternator. Also check the solenoid screens and you'll see why it's a good idea to flush the system, contaminants clearly build up. As well known as 1st gen LS400s are for having power steering problems I can't see how anyone could ever advocate a "don't touch it until it fails" approach, especially if you can save your alternator with a little prior care. Isn't most ATF, like engine oil, just specially refined 250 year old animal fat? 250 million years old and it hasn't worn out yet when you put it in the engine/transaxle yet it "wears" out in just a few 10's of thousands of miles...?? I think NOT. How many times do you suppose used engine oil is recycled via re-refining before those molecules wear out or change. Back in my Boeing machine shop days, over 100 NC machines, all of the hydraulic fluid we drained went out to be re-refined. Back a few years ago (153k miles ODO) the alternator failed in my 92 LS and I assumed for the aforementioned reasons as my power stearing pump had been leaking slightly. But it turned out upon opening the alternator up that what was wrong was the copper/brass(??) commutator ring was worn all the way down to the steel alternator rear shaft while the commutator brushes themselves seemed to have at least 50% wear left. Apparently Lexus used some extremely soft metal in those early commutator rings, failure seemingly had nothing to with the PS leak. I did fix the PS leak anyway, simple seal replacement.

Keep in mind that all RXes are first and foremost FWD vehicles. In the case of the AWD versions, including the RXh, so heavily front torque biased as to make no difference over FWD. Additionally absent owner modification tire chains CANNOT be used on the rear due to poor tire/suspension clearance. Going from a Jeep to an RX with FWD torque bias can be an interesting experience on ice or packed snow unless you already have wintertime FWD experience. My own 2001 AWD RX300 has 1.5" wheel spacers all around so rear tire chains can be used initially and the front added if conditions warrant. I also run on nice quiet and comfortable riding Bridgestone Turanza summer only tires all year around here in the Seattle and rely on the tire chains on those rare occassions of need. For winter snow skiing we use the old reliable AWD Ford Aerostar. There is also the issue of the flawed climate control design with regards to windshield fogging in cool or cold and humid weather. Google for wwest, demist, and denso for more info on that. Personally were I you I wouldn't buy the AWD version, keep the RX in TX where it will be most happy, and the Jeep in the northern reaches where its AWD/4WD system will be more than adequate. We retired our second Jeep, a 1992 AWD/4WD Jeep Cherokee Limited, to a cattle and wheat ranch in north central MT in 2001 when we bought the first RX. It's still doing stellar duty there, winter and summer.

"..makes some starting noise..." Noise of engine turning over or sharp/rapid clicking sound...? Clicking sound would normally indicate poor battery connections or low battery. Clicking sounds and then start would most likely be poor/corroded connections. "..won't shift smoothly..." "have to pull it hard to change..." There is no mechanical connection whatsoever from the shift level, shifter, to the transmission, transaxle, involved in drive to reverse, just electrical. No transmission problems there, seemingly.

"..makes some starting noise..." Noise of engine turning over or sharp/rapid clicking sound...? "..won't shift smoothly..." "have to pull it hard to change..." There is no mechanical connection whatsoever from the shift level, shifter, to the transmission, transaxle, involved in drive to reverse, just electrical. No transmission problems there, seemingly.

I often wonder about that, and the fact that after I wash and wax the LS it always seems to run quieter and smoother......

Engine oil is subject to contamination from the products and byproducts of combustion, or sometimes just gasoline alone. Engine oil is also specifically formulated to hold those "products" in suspension so they will drian away when you change the oil, which is one of the reasons why it's a good idea to drian the oil just after running the engine until it's up to normal operating temperature. ATF, on the other hand, is not only operating in an environment completely SEALED against contamination, it is also specifically formulated, but this time NOT to hold particles in suspension. Drop a transaxle pan at 50,000 miles and you will see clutch frictional surface and other wear "debris" on the bottom of the pan but with the ATF remaining pink and clear. Absent serious abuse or the poor design of the 2001-2003 RX300 series. And PS fluid... Other than a poor design that results in overheating why would just plain hydraulic fluid operating in another SEALED environment need to be drained and refilled?

SK, when you changed your power steering fluid, did you lift up the car, so that the front wheels could be steered freely? Also, when you disconnected the return line to direct it into the jar, would the fluid come out continuosly when you started the car, or would it come out only when you turned the wheels? This coming weekend I plan to help my father in law change his PS fluid on his M3, and apparently BMW forums don;t have much much info on how to change it on those E36 models. Why would anyone, absent some sort of failure, change the power stearing fluid..? Other than a failure(***) or overhaul I have NEVER changed out the ATF in an automatic transmission and certainly not the PS fluid, and we're talking 150,000 to 275,000 miles for FORD transmissions. *** 2001 AWD RX300 at 40,000 miles due to poor design.

First, there is a much easier, and safer, way to test your radiator cap. Look at the coolant level in the expansion tank with the engine COLD. If it isn't full up to the cold mark then make it so. Now run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature. The coolant level in the expansion tank should now have increased substantially, hopefully up to the "HOT" marking, indicating that the radiator cap pressure release is functional. Also.... Sorry, but using a new radiator cap to (presumably) increase the pressure would result in "allowing" (the thermostat is the real determining factor) higher temperatures of/for the coolant before "boil-off" into the expansion tank. But. Higher coolant temperatures does result in more efficient heat transfer to the atmosphere via the radiator. And higher coolant temperatures will also result in more efficient fuel burning in the cylinders. The fan clutch is engaged/disengaged as a function of the temperature of the airflow downstream of the radiator. Given that the (180F, 210F{??}) thermostat is the main deterministic CONSTANT factor for heat flow from the radiator, then the ambiant air temperature, the use and duty cycle of the A/C, and the engine POWER production level will be the primary variables involved in fan clutch engagement. By-the-by you can increase A/C efficiency dramatically, maybe even a 10:1 ratio, by turning the temperature setpoint to max cold and then using the blower speed to regulate your comfort level. Absent actual use of pressurized power stearing fluid in helping to STEAR the car, clearly a MINOR issue, the major loss there will be the CONSTANT pumping and then bypassing of pressurized fluid back into the sump. Seems to me a "thicker" fluid would result in higher FE. Might it be better, best, to recommend a new thermostat along with that radiator cap?

My 01 RX300 will not shift into O/D until I reach a point about one mile from home. There is a temperature sensor in the transaxle but I don't know if it uses that or engine temp to keep it out of O/D until warm-up. In any case apparently a temperature sensor failure, always indicating "cool", could be your problem.

No, and NO. You can't make it any cleaner than those 800F exhaust gasses do.

Yes, but at your speed you were undoubtedly pushing a "bow wave" so a tall vehicle didn't matter much. You were just plain lucky..! Now don't do that again!

You can "normalize" the window full up stopping point by disconnecting the battery, insert a small object to keep the window from going full up and then hold the window up button depreesed for ~10 seconds after it stops against the object.

Keep in mind that it doesn't take water very deep to "float your boat". If you car starts floating (surprise, surprise!) you'll be going downstream.....

The RXh FWD (ONLY) model uses the front electric motor for reverse as does the Prius. The AWD RXh may use both or just you imply, only the rear. For the Rxh, Hh, and Prius, the ICE cannot be used to drive the vehicle in reverse, only as a counter-balance, counter-drive, to the electric motors.

Is there any further information on possibly being able to order this kit? Am not interested in the dialogue on fog lamps as we use the lamps more as driving lamps anyway. Thanks. Ken H Ken, I think even Jim would agree(***) that unless your forward speed is quite slow, not more than 20 MPH, the OEM fog lamp fixture cannot, can NEVER, be used as driving lights. The design of the OEM fog lamp fixture/reflector is such that the beam pattern is not only LOW and WIDE but has a sharp upward cutoff to actually help prevent water (fog) droplet reflection into the driver's eyes. If you have ever driven in actually foggy conditions, say a ground fog, you will know why this is the case. Living here in the stunningly beautiful Pacific northwest I find myself fairly often driving in those circumstances so I always modify my asian origin cars so the fog lamps can be used without even low beams. Most cars of european origin come that way, I don't really know about American cars as I have not bought one of those for many years now. So beyond ~20 MPH you would be over-driving anything your fog lights illuminate with their LOW beam pattern long before you can react. ***Quote from Jim: " Fog lights are designed for the intended purpose to forcus light wide and low...."

It seems to me that if the ECU commanded a move to O/D and the transaxle didn't actually engage the O/D clutch and/or didn't move to the O/D gear ratio there would be a diagnostic indication in the instrument panel. Whereas if the ECU never tried to move to O/D..... Fill with premium fuel to slightly increase engine performance, disconnect the battery for 10 minutes, and then discover if the ECU commands O/D until it "discovers" that the engine lugs/knock/pings at the "lower" RPM in O/D, well OFF the engine's peak power point. And be sure and check that the "O/D off" lamp comes on without starting the engine, hasn't failed.

169,000 the rx seems to be producing good consistent rpms in first 3 gears...it will stay in 3rd gear and than the rpms just continue to rise as the speed increases...where typical the vehicle engine would be running @ 2,000 rpm at 60 mph now the engine pushes to 3500 rpm at 60 mph. you can tell it is at that point to "shift" but it does not and the only way to get to higher speeds is to continue to push engine rpm higher...which of course outs greater strain and gas consumption on the engine. right now at 2,ooo rpm in drive i am getting @ to speed @ 40 mph. both in auto and manual shift mode the car / engine seems to move through the L-2-D (1-2-3) shift gears w/o too much issue or problem but it will not go into O/D. If I engage or disengage the O/D switch it has no affect. any thoughts, insights or ideas as to the problem or solution? my o2 and air flow sensors , I believe are shot and in need of replacing (check engine light on and codes accordingly). This is the first and only significant issue I have had with the 2000 rx 300 since new original owner. please let me know as it is difficult to drive at low speeds and the starin on engine gas consumption at higher speeds is costly. At 169,000 miles you shouldn't be surprised that the engine/transaxle ECU has "learned" that it cannot rely on the engine to produce enough power to "cruise" along in O/D. Unplug the battery for ~10 minutes and the O/D will probably work again until the ECU (re)learns the (tired) engine's power limitations.

Well... Wait just a gosh durn minit...! If the MDX does have the SH-AWD system then its AWD capability will be head and shoulders above the RX, "ANY" RX. But, overall, I think I would choose the RX over the MDX. Now start comparing the RX and the RDX and that's where I get more indecisive... If the RDX dash weren't so busy and my current RX were ready to be put out to pasture...

If your '06 has SH-AWD you have just made a STELLAR improvement in wintertime AWD capability.

If the engine cannot provide the power level required at the low RPM in O/D at a specific roadspeed then O/D will not be engaged. Miles...?

Why do you say so? It's running purely on electric, just like the PS, and it appeared to have no effect on fuel mpg nor acceleration performance last summer. Plus, it's instantly cold irrespective of engine speed. Maybe a load on the standard battery, I can see, but not the hybrid system. See also discussion Denso A/C The electric power to run your A/C either comes from the ICE running to charge the hybrid battery or the ICE running to move the vehicle so that during coastdown/braking the energy can be recovered to charge the hybrid battery. Either way it initially came out of the end of the fueling hose at the station. There are NO free lunches nor perpetual motion machines. When it's hot, A/C is worth whatever it takes, electric or belt driven (getting us back to an RX 350 topic, not hybrid). And the switch on the dash disables it. Maybe the new models are different but my 2001 AWD RX300 A/C control button would only turn the A/C off until the next engine restart. It was only after I had the dealer (re)set the c-best option that turning it off once would disable it indefinitely. I also had the dealer set the c-best option that unlinked the A/C from automatic operation, with no indication of same, in defrost/defog/demist mode. I could see that with an RXh the c-best option might already be set for the most economic mode but I'm not so sure about any "regular" RXes out there. But its easy enough to check, turn the A/C off and then depress the "auto" button. If the A/C indication comes back on then you need to visit the dealer and have the c-best option "set".

Why do you say so? It's running purely on electric, just like the PS, and it appeared to have no effect on fuel mpg nor acceleration performance last summer. Plus, it's instantly cold irrespective of engine speed. Maybe a load on the standard battery, I can see, but not the hybrid system. See also discussion Denso A/C The electric power to run your A/C either comes from the ICE running to charge the hybrid battery or the ICE running to move the vehicle so that during coastdown/braking the energy can be recovered to charge the hybrid battery. Either way it initially came out of the end of the fueling hose at the station. There are NO free lunches nor perpetual motion machines.

The VSC light comes on with any CEL, factory has never explained why.

Yes, Auto will default to having the compressor run. It controls temp better, and it dehumidifies. I believe the compressor will turn itself off at about 32 but I just punch the A/C button whenever I don't feel A/c is needed. Fortunately, it stays off until you reselect it or hit Auto again, even with car restarts. Most cars I've had recently operate this way. Regarding noise, although you don't describe it, there should be none but low fan sound. It could be something entered the system and is hitting the fan or some piece was improperly aligned at manufacture. Without a description, that's a guess. Take it to the dealer. Since you have an RXh some of the c-best options are set differently from the RX series. The A/C compressor is a HUGE load on the hybrid system so it comes from the factory with the c-best A/C mode set in the default condition.