wwest

wwwest, thanks for your response. It is similiar to what I have read elsewhere. What I don't know is provided fluid is full and in good condition is this considered normal? Fluid only has a couple thousand on it and its still in good condition. Its a 'lag" upon accelerating right after coasting particulary noticeable when the engine isn't fully warmed up yet. All the seals inside the transaxle, and there are lots of them, will leak more with the transaxle cold than they will with it heated to operational temperature. It would be unusual for the seals in your transaxle to be worn and leaking enough at 40,000 miles to prevent a quick, satisfactory, downshift when you reapply pressure to the gas pedal but that does sound as if that is what is happening. Now I'm wondering if maybe Lexus did a running production change and I was lucky enough to get the high capacity ATF pump and you were not. Do you know your manufacture date? Did you buy it brand new? The car was manf. 2/01. I bought it used with 32,000 on it. I did find the dealer where the car was serviced and I was able to see nothing major was ever wrong with the car and it had been serviced per schedule. I hope I'm just being overly "anal" about it. I'm also thinking that if your driveway did not have the slight decline that mine has you would not even notice the hesitation. This is before the engine is fully warmed up. I come to the end of my drive with my foot off the gas and then begin to accelerate. Thats when I notice the slight hesitation. As I said, w/o the decline you probably wouldn't notice it. Please tell me its nothing and its normal. With your more complete, detailed description it does sound as if your 01 is NOT subject to what is understood to be a somewhat widespread problem with 1-2 second downshift hesitation in 04 and later models. And yes, I do not have an incline at the foot of our driveway, the opposite actually, so I cannot tell you if my 01 acts the same.

Simple replace the bulbs with 50 watt 12 volt bi-pin halogens.

wwwest, thanks for your response. It is similiar to what I have read elsewhere. What I don't know is provided fluid is full and in good condition is this considered normal? Fluid only has a couple thousand on it and its still in good condition. Its a 'lag" upon accelerating right after coasting particulary noticeable when the engine isn't fully warmed up yet. All the seals inside the transaxle, and there are lots of them, will leak more with the transaxle cold than they will with it heated to operational temperature. It would be unusual for the seals in your transaxle to be worn and leaking enough at 40,000 miles to prevent a quick, satisfactory, downshift when you reapply pressure to the gas pedal but that does sound as if that is what is happening. Now I'm wondering if maybe Lexus did a running production change and I was lucky enough to get the high capacity ATF pump and you were not. Do you know your manufacture date? Did you buy it brand new?

On my Porsche I use one of the otherwise unused seat memory buttons to tilt the outside mirrors down just enough at night.

Your description matches, exactly, the one for most Toyota FWD vehicles wherein the owner is complaining of a 1-2 second throttle lag or transaxle downshift delay/hesitation. The problem is that to my knowledge no one with a mechanical gas pedal to throttle valve connection like your 01 RX300 has ever before made this complaint. My 2001 AWD RX300 exhibits the "bumped from behind" and "slingshot effect" symptoms as a result of the transaxle's always upshifting upon full lift throttle events ("coasting") but in my 60,000 miles of driving the only hesitation I experience is if I try to accelerate, WOT, into a tight turn. I attribute that effect to the VSC's anti-rollover firmware. I have little doubt that the premature transaxle failures of the 99 RX300 and possibly the '00 models are the result of the new "safer" transaxle shift schedule. But I also believe that Toyota used a higher capacity ATF pump in the '01 models to help alleviate the failures encountered in the earlier models but pumping more fluid constantly leads to the ATF overheating. Be sure and check your fluid condition and make sure you're not a quart or two low...

Personally I would never risk my life or the life of others driving a FWD or front torque biased AWD during the winter months. That being said Having FWD on an adverse roadbed surface is somewhat compariable to having 4WD, engine weight over the driven wheels, etc. The problem is mostly when you want to slow or stop quickly. Lots of progress has been made recently via changes in the shift schedules of FWD with automatic transaxles. The goal, basically, seems to be to prevent the transaxle from downshifting at all with FULL lift-throttle events and thereby incuring engine compression braking on the front wheels at possibly the worse time. It has been shown that even a slight level of engine compression braking can interfere with the anti-lock system's ability to release the braking so you can retain directional while braking. In any case you should look into the issues with 1-2 second throttle lag and/or downshift hesitation before purchasing ANY FWD or front torque biased AWD vehicle. Ford, VW, and Toyota. Toyota seems to be having the most owners with these problems, seemingly, far out in front of the other based on the number of owner complaints posted here and there on the internet.

Just cold as in not warmed up. I just had ATF changed and will do it every 15,000. Its really just a slight hesitation which I notice when I slightly coast to the end of my drive and then begin to accelerate. Do you feel this also when not warmed up? Not noticeable as long as I don't acelerate hard and not noticeable when warmed up. I believe I read a reference to this in another post in that its a result of the modification made to the earlier transmission problem but I'm not sure. It just may be scaring me because of all the trans problems talked about in earlier models. Thanks for your feedback. You should check, or have someone check, the condition of your ATF, Automatic Transaxle Fluid. At ~40,000 miles mine was smelling burned and looked somewhat dirty (2001 AWD RX300. Changed it out and now at ~60,000 it still looks prestine, mostly.

Personally I sorta look at it this way. The Prius was designed, clearly, with FE in mind. My expectation for the RX hybrid was the same, FE was to be paramount. So "my" RX hybrid has still not reached the public. Still waiting......

As an example your worse possible circumstance is on a downhill slope with the need to slow the vehicle. With more traction in the front, a LOT more than in the rear, the vehicle will always want to swap ends in this and other equivalent circumstances. A need to stop quickly, for instance.The best advice is to proceed at DEAD SLOW speeds if you MUST drive with front chains only. If it is not possible to install wheel spacers have you thought about lower profile winter tires all around or , for winter use only, say, smaller wheel and winter tire combination with 2" overall less total diameter, that will allow you the space to fit snow chains on the rear? Here on the eastside of Seattle I don't often have the need but two weeks ago I had four chains on for a few days and felt as if the RX was virtualy "invincable". Even with, or maybe especially because, the VSC/Trac system was inadvertently disabled. As one final thought are you sure the air suspension will not provide enough "lift" to allow the use of rear snow chains?

Haven yet had any re-occurance of failure indication so I have checked the underlying diagnostic codes. I'll do that next oil change. Insofar as VSC/Trac is concerned to the best of my knowledge I've only had VSC activate one time unexpectedly and traction never. All other times were in conditions wherein it was expected and "prepared" for mentally. Personally I have always felt that ABS should NEVER activate unless the VSC sensors indicate that the vehicle is not following my desired direction of travel.

Advice depends heavily on knowing the MY and mileage....

;) Hey I hear you. I see no big advantage to having the air on durring defrost. The old fashioned way works fine. Is there a way to eliminate it from the auto mode on an 92 es 300 ? lso I have seen posts that not running thr comp for a month or more can hurt the compresor? Thanks On my 92 LS400 I added a 2700 ohm resistor in series with the OAT sensor so that below about 45F the ECU "thought" the OAT was below freezing and disabled the AC compressor entirely. I also have a switch mounted near my left knee that adds a small resistance, 200 ohms, to the cabin temperature sensor. Just before engaging the defrost/defog/demist function I flip the switch, the ECU "thinks" the cabin has just gotten COLD resulting in a HIGH volume of HOT airflow to the windshield.

I have always unplugged my AC compressor clutch during the winter months, all the way back to the first car with AC I had, a 67 Mustang. The only thing its good for other than cooling is dehumidification and thereby help with keeping the windshield from fogging. Since we cannot predict nor detect when that will be effective it is always best to rely on HEAT for defogging. The 01 and later RX300s have two c-best options, one so you can disable the AC indefinitely, and the second to unling it from operating automatically in defrost/defog/demist mode. That little green car to your left has a switch within the center console glove box that opens the AC compressor clutch circuit.

It's much more likely that the 906 was resistive, incandescent filament, but wasn't "bright" enough (didn't draw enough current flow) to satisfy the bulb failure detection circuit.

Early rumors involved getting a third row seat which may mean a larger wheelbase. Hopefully the new DFI V6 and a variable displacement ATF pump (as a final fix for the 99 shift pattern change/revision) will be in the mix also. I rather doubt we will see a VSC cutoff but a "trac" off capability is highly likely.

Yes, and remove the halfshafts.

I upgraded mine to two 50 watt "landscape" halogens.

I was really seriously considering an RDX purchase given the SH-AWD design but then I sat down and read the owners manual and it says use tire chains ONLY on the front. Just another FWD vehicle mascarading as AWD.

Other than the "groaning" or "rat-a-tat" of the braking, which aren't really always audiable, the indicator light and beeping sounds are the only way to tell if the system has activated. Since the indicator goes out and the beeping stops as soon as the VSC/Trac ceases operation it is sometimes hard to tell that it has activated absent having someone else to watch the instrument panel while you concentrate on driving.

During the recent snow and ice storm here in the Seattle area I noticed that my 2001 AWD RX300, 60,000 miles, was not "acting" quite right. In situations where the VSC/Trac would have normally activated they did not. So I did a couple of "test" runs in an empty parking lot and sure enough the front wheels would spin free with the engine RPM rising accordingly. Also "throwing" it sideways did not result in VSC activation, only the little instrument light (no beeping) on indicating a skid. No real problem as I soon had tire chains on all four. Last week I contacted the service advisor at Lexus of Bellevue who proceeded to advise me, profusely, that the VSC/Trac system will always be operational unless an indicator is lit on the instrument panel indicating otherwise. When I persisted he insisted that it was probably working and I wasn't familier enough with its actions to know. So I fired off an email to customer_satisfaction_inquiries@lexus.com. In response I was told to contact a dealer. Over the weekend I got out the shop manuals and discovered that the ABS was indicating codes 31,32, and 33, apparently a temporary or intermittent failure of both front wheel speed sensors and one rear wheel sensor, and VSC was indicating a code of 43, ABS control failure. According to the manual the ABS will continue to work with these codes but it was unclear, undefined, as to what the result would be with the VSC code 43. So I contacted Lexus of Seattle and after a long discussion I was told that a VSC code 43 would result in the VSC/Trac system being non-functional but that there should have been a VSC failure indication on the instrument panel. The Lexus Lexus technician suggested that I might have inadvertently ignored the failure indication for enough drive cycles that it would have extinguished. I'm quite sure, VERY sure, there was never an indication of VSC or Trac failure on my instrument panel for multiple drive cycles. When I suggested that the firmware might be flawed in that no indication was displayed the technician allowed that the 2001 was the first year of VSC/Trac implementation on the RX series but refused to speculate further. He did tell me that the wheel speed sensor faults could result from ordinary wheelspin that occurs in low traction conditions. So I have cleared the fault codes but have not yet been able to test the VSC/trac system for operational capability.

Sounds as if the one of the position feedback potentiameter's "wipers" (moving contact) for the airflow outlet routing servomotor might be open/failing, but my best guess would be an open or intermittent connection to the entire servomotor assembly. There is a simple test procedure you can use that puts the climate control through a full function test sequence and that will tell you which component has failed or is intermittent.

Remove the dress plate by simply prying it loose and off. Then compress the high mounted brake light assembly toward the front of the RX to snap it out and off. Now replace the bulb and reverse the procedure.

Since my first purchase of a Lexus, a new 1992 LS400, I have learned quite a lot about the shortcomings of the Toyota and Lexus automatic climate control system. The best procedure is to NEVER allow the A/C compressor to operate if the climate is cool enough that it is not needed for cooling. As of 2001 Lexus had two c-best options that allowed you to, 1, disable the A/C indefinitely, and 2, unlink the A/C from operating automatically in defrost/demist/defog mode. In the meantime you should make it standard practice to prevent the system from automatically switching from footwell, heating mode, to dash, cooling mode. It will do this automatically even in cool weather as soon as the cabin temperature rises nearly to your setpoint. raise the setpoint it switches back to footwell, but as the cabin temperature again rises to your setpoint you will again get very discomforting cool and dry airflow to your face and upper body via the dash outlets. NipponDenso, Denso US, has a US patent that decribes a unique (flawed) technique of their climate control design. Basically "upper" airflow from the system can be as much as 20F cooler than lower system airflow. So yes, when the climate is such that your landscape "surround" is on the coolish side the Denso cliamte control can be very discomforting if left to itself to manage automatic functions. Shame, really. Oh, newer Toyota and Lexus vehicles have a third c-best option that prevents the system from switching from footwell mode automatically. Google for "wwest denso demist" for a LOT more information.

Call a dealership.....???? Might as well TELL them you have VERY deep pockets while you're at it. Change the oil and filters, oil, air, pollen, and DRIVE... Anything more is a waste of money.

Strange as it may seem you may have vapor lock. Sometimes a large air bubble will form in one of the heater hoses and basically block most of the water flow. The only procedure I know to move the bubble downstream and out is to remove the end of the water heater RETURN hose and let the coolant free flow into a bucket while being sure the radiator remains filled.