carguy07

Jack up the back end. Spin one wheel by hand, if the other wheel turns in the same direction, you have a LSD. No wires or buttons, it's all mechanical. Works as good as any other LSD.

After doing the piggyback fix, I'm getting some weird stuff. When I first get in the car and start it up, the locks all unlock once. It never did this before. It's also randomly setting off the alarm after unlocking the doors when I first open the drivers side door. Any ideas what is going on??

Thanks!

Huge thank you to all that contributed to this thread! Just fixed my front door using the piggy back method. Several hours, less than $10, works better than ever. I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference between OE and a $5 actuator.

Hi, I have a '99 RX300. Every once in a while it hesitates between 1000rpm and 1400rpm. After that point it drives fine again. This never happens after I just started the engine cold. However, after I drive the car for 5-10 minutes the problem appears. It's especially frustrating because the hesitation won't happen every time. I'd say it happens 50% of the time after the car has been warm and driving for 5-10 minutes. I just accelerate out of the red light and I feel a couple hesitation/jerks in the engine until it passes 1400rpm. The rpm isn't skipping and catching so it doesn't feel like the tranny.

I recently changed the plugs, timing belt and do regular maintenance. My mechanic thought it was the throttle body so we replaced that yet it did nothing.. .huge waste of money. Anyhow, now the mechanic wants to actually open up the fuel injection/throttle system to clean it out manually instead of just adding an additive to try and clean it out. I've had the usual RX issues (IAC valve, MAF, o2) and this is definitely different from those so I'm out of answers.

Any experience with this? Thoughts? Suggestions?

1st find a new mechanic! Check engine light on? What did you use for plugs?

"The honeycomb structure within your catalytic converter is coming apart, crumbling, and partially or fully blocking the exhaust flow."

Or not.

Clear the codes and as soon as the CEL comes on, find out what it is and report back. Guessing maybe a coil is shot. Did you use OE (Denso) parts for the things you replaced?

I'm wondering if it's the sensor in the rubber cap sending a false "low brake fluid" reading or if there is actually a separate electronic sensor to report a low brake lining condition. Does anyone know?

There is no sensor that reports low brake lining. Probably just the cap. Try opening it up and moving the plunger around to loosen it up.

Broken/dirty speed sensor or broken reluctor ring.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-generation/514345-diy-repair-broken-reluctor-ring-tone-ring.html

80 miles is BS, how many miles have you driven since it was repaired? It just takes a few trips and probably less than 10 miles to be ready for testing.

I would guess it is either the tranny slipping or the ABS kicking in. Start with disconnecting the ABS and see what happens.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-generation/528770-brakes-or-vsc-seem-to-kick-in-when-accelerating-from-zero.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clockspring

Very common on these cars. My sprio cable has been replcaed 2x before 60k miles. Not likely to hurt anything or make anything malfunction. But, before doing anything else, try lubing the boot at the firewall and see if that makes it go away.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-generation/164844-steering-wheel-squeak-squeal.html

First of all, Ive been researching to see if another person has had the same issue as me and I came up with this

http://www.fixya.com/cars/t3493357-2001_lexus_rx300_problem_when

This person has the exact same issue as me. However I would like to add a few things. The vibrating/nasty sound (It holds the car back for about 2-3 seconds and does not let it accelerate smoothly) only happens when accelerating from a stand still and when this occurs the traction signal lights up in my dash.

Another thing I would like to add is that I went to a trip 2 weeks ago and I set the parking brake overnight. The next morning, the "problem/issue" occurred for about a minute and I had to forcefully by accelerating get the car to move. Then I heard sort of a whinning noise as I drove, but that went away after about a minute.

It leads me to believe that something is sticking such as the parking brake. This is what the website above mentioned, "parking brake dragging".

Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks

P.S. This is driving me crazy as I have had this issue for about a year and its getting worse and worse...

This is an issue with the ABS system getting bad info from a sensor. You can start by cleaning the sensors and see if that makes it go away. It is very likely a cracked/broken reluctor ring. You can pull the relay for the ABS and it will stop kicking in, but of course you won't have ABS anymore.

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-generation/514345-diy-repair-broken-reluctor-ring-tone-ring.html

I have the KH16's very good tire over all.

what is P0171 "system too lean"? and what can i do to fix it?

thanks ppl

Clear it and see if it comes back. If it comes back try cleaning the MAF sensor.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/knowledge/index.php?page=index_v2&id=152&c=11

A few months ago I needed to replace my front pads and rotors. I had a very bad “shimmy” when braking. Apparently a warped rotor. After replacing both, drove great for a while, braking was a smooth as can be. But now only about 3k later, the “shimmy” is back, and as bad as ever. Is it possible my rotor is warped again. Seems to be the case. I haven’t been doing any harsh braking as such.

This is really irritating, since the rotors are not exactly cheep to replace.

My question is. Before I go ahead and replace the rotors again… or maybe get them machined, should I be looking at anything else. Can there be anything that may be contributing to this... tire alignment, wheel balance. I don’t know. But I really don’t want to be replacing my rotors twice a year. Heck if that’s the case, I might just have to live with it. Which is something that I REALLY don’t want to do.

Any advice would be great.

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_brakedisk.shtml

I've been reading possible causes. One of which was to clean the MAF sensor. I tried this using MAF sensor cleaner from the local auto parts store and also changed my air filter. I then had the codes reset. The car runs a lot better now; however, the check engine light just came on again? My 2001 RX 300 has 107,000 miles on it. Even though it's running better, could the MAF just need replacing? Or could it be something like the Vacuum hose; fuel injector dirty? Maybe an o2 sensor? I really don't want to get reamed by the dealer again. Every time I go in that place it's over $500. Please help!!

By the way, this site is great! Before coming to this site I didn't even know what a MAF sensor was. So far you guys helped me change a tail light bulb;the rear marker light; replace the front marker light assembly; and change my air filter. The last time I got my rear marker light changed at the local dealer, it cost me $120...Doing it myself cost $2.50(for the bulbs) at the local Walmart. This site saved me over $500 so far!

Maybe? http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-generation/494817-cel-p0171-my-experience-fixing.html

Hi everyone,

So I blew a rod straight through the oil pan on my 1999 RX-300. The motor, with only 143K miles, is dead. The dealer alternative Lexus repair shop in Austin (has good reputation) sourced a used long block engine with under 60K miles for around $2,000. However, they say the labor would be $3,000, which my uncle the car expert says is outrageous.

So most likely the plan is to scrap the car and move on, but I'd appreciate your second opinions. While you're at it, what do you think about a Lexus certified used 2008 Rx-350 with about 35K miles for around $30K? will it make it past 143K miles ;)

Thanks for the help!

-Drew

Should be more like $1,500 in labor. IMO

Have a 2005 Rx 330, thinking about adding a computer chip to improve gas mileage and HP. Any ideas of what make chips are good? Thinking about RS4 brand.

That one is a joke/junk 100% for sure.

Checkout the web-site: http://rs4performance.com

I did, that's how I know for sure that it is a bunch of nonsense. There is not much out there for these cars.

Have a 2005 Rx 330, thinking about adding a computer chip to improve gas mileage and HP. Any ideas of what make chips are good? Thinking about RS4 brand.

That one is a joke/junk 100% for sure.

It is time to get 4 new tires for my 2005 RX330 and I would appreciate suggestions anyone may have regarding a high quality and economical set of tires. My max price is $175 per tire and the vehicle is primarily driven on the freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area. If anyone has a trustworthy shop they can plug in/around San Francisco I would appreciate that as well.

Thanks for any suggestions you may have!

17" or 18"?

That's so close I would not worry about it. An under inflated tire would be off that much and not hurt the transfer case.