monarch

The 2007 Camry / ES350 / RX350 has the same all new 3.5 liter V6 as the 2006 Avalon. I havn't heard of complaints from 2006 Avalon owners about hesitation problems nor have I read about any such complaints in auto road test magazines. I'm guessing the hesistation problem may have been largely resolved.

If the noise started immediately after the oil and oil filter change then install a genuine Toyota part# 90915-YZZD1 oil filter to see if the noise will go away. If the noise began before the oil and oil filter change then you might have an exhaust manifold gasket leak when the engine is cold that goes away as the engine warms up. Using Mobil 1 oil alone could not have caused the noise. 115K miles is low mileage for a Toyota engine and there could not likely be enough internal engine wear to cause strange noises.

Have you seen the prices the luxurymods website offers for common OEM maintenance parts? http://www.luxurymods.com/ProductList.php?CatID=5&fid=1022

Nice write up EXTECH and pretty much mirrors my experiences.

What I've noticed after renting alot of '04-'06 Toyotas and other Asian cars recently is that the duration of the hesitation on the Toyota / Lexus 1MZ-FE / 3MZ/FE V6 is greater and long enough to be annoying. The duration of the hesitation in the other Toyota engines and other Asian cars is less noticable and not seriously annoying.

The Asian automakers warn owners not to use gasoline or oil additives http://www.saber.net/~monarch/nis.jpg I havn't used any additives in my 1992 Toyota for 468,000 troubefree miles. The Asian automakers only recommend cleaning the throttle plate http://www.saber.net/~monarch/tbclean.jpg which is best accomplished using small amounts of cleaner in combination with a toothbrush and some old rags to scrub the plate clean and wipe up the carbon like goo.

You have an Asian car so things are different compared to American cars. The Asians don't use throw away paper filters. They use metal mesh filter screens that you can remove, clean and reuse. They also use magnets in the oil pan that you can clean and reuse. It's also foolish to attempt maintenance without first consulting the factory repair manual. For example, if you remove the transmission filter you may find the filter has its own gasket. If you don't buy a new gasket the filter won't seal properly to the transmission after you clean it. The factory manual has exploded diagrams to show whether or not the filter has a gasket.

What did you have done for $2,000 @ 90,000 miles?? At toyota.com you can click on OWNERS and download a Scheduled Maintenance Guide for the Land Cruiser (mechanically the same vehicle as yours) and look through the list of services that should be done at different time and mileage intervals. . At around 90,000 - 120,000 there are additional services that need to be done that aren't listed in the Guide. Maybe the dealer already did some or most of them at 90,000, but we won't know unless you list what the dealer did for $2,000 at 90,000 miles.

I agree with SRK. I also feel tire rotations every 4-5,000 miles help prevent tire vibration and noise problems from developing as the miles pile up in almost any car, not just Toyota's and Lexus's.

Measure amount drained in a 99 cent orange juice pitcher from Walmart. Takes the guesswork out of figuring out how much new fluid to add.

For 30 years the durability limit of nearly all Toyota engines that have been perfectly maintained and unabusively driven since the day they were brand new has been in the range of 600,000 - 800,000 miles, regardless if they were inline 4's V6's, inline 6's or V8's.

If the CEL is on it means something is dirty, worn or wrong with a sensor or other part and it's causing your engine to produce less power and get worse gas mileage.

5000 rpm without any or much gain in acceleration is usually a symptom of transmission slippage which in turn is usually a symptom of excessive transmission clutch pack wear. On the other hand, these transmissions have internal electronic shift controls and sometimes a weak / failing shift control solenoid can cause wierd shifting behavior. Lastly, these transmission require Toyota Type T-IV fluid. If Dexron fluid is used it might cause excessive transmission slippage. If it were my car I'd drop the transmission oil pan and inspect the magnets in the pan and mesh of the metal filter screen for signs of excessive clutch pack wear debris. If there was not excessive debris then I would breathe a sign of relief and look for an electronic cause for the wierd shifting behavior. Excessive debris = spoonful amounts of debris clinging to the magnets and bottom of the transmission pan and the filter screen.

An extended powertrain warranty on a 2001 RX300 that covers failures up to the year 2011 or 200,000 miles, whichever comes first? Wow, I never knew any extended warranty beyond the intial 100,000 miles was even available. What company is offering this amazing 200,000 mile warranty? Thanks for the info.

Replace the starter or else the grinding and screeching will ruin the teeth on the flywheel ring gear resulting in a monumental expense that involves transmission removal. The flywheel teeth don't wear out if the owner replaces the starter at the first sign of grinding / screeching.

Toyota brand Dexron automatic transmission fluid was not available for sale to the general public in the late 80's so I used Mobil 1 Dexron automatic transmission fluid instead in a couple of my Toyota's. I used it in the power steering systems of two of my Toyotas too. I was younger and more impressionable back in the 80's and was a sucker for all the advertizing hype about synthetic fluids and oils. I found the Mobil 1 turned dark over time just like conventional auto trans fluid does.

I have 16 years experience with Mobil 1 synthetic automatic transmission fluid. I have found the synthetics will turn dark too if not changed on a regular schedule. I think the cheapest and most effective way to preserve the life of the tranny is to drain and refill the 4-5 quarts of Toyota Type T-IV fluid in the pan / differential yourself every 10,000 - 15,000 miles. Even on the 10,000 mile schedule, an owner would end up using no more than 100 quarts of fluid over a 200,000 mile period and the cost of that fluid would be about $400. A $400 investment in preventive maintenance for 200,000+ miles of life from the transmission ain't bad.

Boot life varies between 10-15 years or 100,000 - 250,000 miles depending on driving habits (life is reduced by city driving and cold winter weather). Boots should be inspected frequently after 100,000 miles for signs of splitting and gease leakage. If caught early, before alot of grease leaks out, you can simply buy two $30 boot kits from Toyota discount dealers like 1sttoyotaparts.com Each kit comes with two super high quality genuine Toyota boots, Toyota boot grease and Toyota boot clamps. Have a Toyota dealer or Toyota speciaty shop install the new boots and then you can drive another 10-15 years or 100,000 - 250,000 troublefree miles. Most owners do not understand the factory original axles / CV joints will last 500,000 miles if never starved of grease due to torn boots, so they let auto shops and parts stores talk them into buying replacement rebuilt axles whenever the boots tear. Then they end up with auto parts store quality axles and boots which only last half as long.

Good news! Your engine is fine. The white smoke at start up is caused by power steering fluid entering the intake manifold because of a faulty air control valve on the power steering pump (sometimes also called an idle up valve). The valve is about $63 at 1sttoyotaparts.com part#17630-16040. You just unscrew the old valve and screw on the new valve and reconnect the two vaccuum hoses to the valve. Search the LS400 forum archives for more info. using "air control valve" as your search words.

Mechanically, your RX330 is a Toyota Highlander and has the same engine and transmission so it shares practically all routine maintenance parts and filters with the Highlander. So you can buy parts like oil filters from your local Toyota dealer part #90915-YZZD1 . Best prices of all are from online discount Toyota dealers like 1sttoyotaparts.com or online Lexus dealers like irontoad.com

No, the main problem is owners fail to regularly inspect the condition of the fluid and to change it BEFORE it becomes seriously darkened - before it has lost it's ability to prevent heavy transmission clutch disc wear and the subsequent side effects of heavy wear like clogging of the transmission filter screen. If the RX transmission was truly a defective design, even the owners who regularly inspect the condition of the fluid and change it BEFORE it becomes seriously darkened would experience failures too. But so far they have not.

The mechanic probably didn't follow factory procedures for refilling the cooling system so there's probably some air trapped in the system. Hopefully the system will purge itself of this air. I hope you've been keeping an eye on the temperature gauge and noting whether or not the reading is higher than it used to be. It might be reading higher because the radiator might not be completely full.

The factory original starter lasted 7 years. So a factory original replacement should last 7 years too if the usage pattern is the same.

Toysrme, where did you read / hear that red Toyota Long Life Antifreeze "is not formulated to work with iron block engines". On every bottle of Toyota Red Coolant it says: "Genuine Toyota Long Life Antifreeze/Coolant is a new generation Ethylene Glycol base premium antifreeze/coolant specifically formulated for all Toyota engine cooling systems." "Helps provide outstanding protection for all vehicle cooling systems". Case in point: In Feb. 1989 I bought a new Corolla with the iron block 4A-F motor and it came from the factory in Japan filled with the red coolant. Over the years I never flushed the cooling system or even drained the engine block - I just drained and refill the radiator every year or two with the factory original red coolant mixture (a 50/50 mix of Red Toyota Coolant and distilled water). My 1989 Corolla is now 17 years and 248,000 miles old and it's radiator core tubes and engine cooling passages are 100% free of rust and scale thanks to the Red Toyota Coolant and distilled water. This car even still has it's factory original water pump. I figure the water pump has lasted 17 years because the Toyota Coolant does not contain silicates that can abrade the water pump seal and because it also contains molybedenum lubricant.

The red was the factory fill in every Toyota & Lexus made since 1987 (1988 for some models)