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Thanks PK I just check the items you suggested. The coolant looks good, No signs of oil. I mark the res tank yesterday And just checked it, I only drove 15 miles today. The engine is cool and its at the same mark, right at the top of the Denso logo. The oil looks good too. should I go ahead and drain and replace the oil? If you have any other ideas Im all ears. Thanks again for the reply Jeff Jeff, I doubt that it is leaking coolant into the cylinder if there is no coolant in the oil and no pressurization of the cooling system and no lose of coolant. I have noticed on my DIL's RX and even my wife's '02 Camry with 55k mi on it that there is a very small continued lose of coolant over time. I have never figured where it goes, but the lose is very small. One way to find if there is moisture in the cylinder (not easy on the rear cylinders) is run it just a little while, maybe a minute or a little more, just enough to get it warmed up about half way to normal. This can be all the way to normal, just harder working around a hot engine. Then quickly pull the COP's and plugs 1 by 1 and hold a small make-up mirror right over the plug hole. If it fogs up. you have moisture in that cylinder, no fog on mirror, no moisture. The mirror will fog immediately if there is heat and moisture. Kinda hard to get the rear ones out quick enough to check 'em though. We bought the Camry new and there is no sign of any leak internal or external and it has done it pretty much since new. Jeff, have you ever checked or had checked your front valve area for sludge? Meaning removed the valve cover and physically checked. Not saying it's that, just curious.

I'm pretty sure I did remove the throttle body to do the rear plugs, or I already had it off to clean it. At any rate, you don't have to remove the intake, it's not a piece of cake to do the rear, but definitely doable.

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Please enlighten those of us curious souls just what a "gel pack" is. I have never heard of it . :)

Pamelar- Welcome to the wacky world of Lexus service. What cduluk showed you is the normal way to repair the problem you have. It would be totally insane to replace the whole wiring harness for that damage. I have installed many of those over the years and the ones we normally used came with a pigtail of wire on the plug and you simply used "butt" connectors to connect them to where you cut the old one off. The only place I disagree with cduluk is that the ends (fittings) have to be crimped to the wires BEFORE they are inserted in the plug. They are not designed for the wires to be inserted and then crimped. That would only destroy the plug and not provide a proper crimp. Hope that helps. :) By the way, anyone who charges you more than $25. for that repair, including the plug is ripping you off. I have some and would do it for free if you were only local, but there are a few miles between Ky. and Ca.

Solace- I'll try and find the 2 colors in the morning and post them. I have them written down in the garage and I've been re-organizing it and it's a mess but i'll find 'em for you.

If you were talking about the heater resistance, and with the #'s, I assume you were, I can't say it won't make ANY difference, but I doubt it will make much. If you do a search on Google and read up on the function of the heater, especially in Florida, you'll see that it doesn't function much anyway in the summer. It shouldn't have done any damage. The new sensor may function better in what it's supposed to do, but the heater will have little effect on it.

What are you testing, the heater which would be the 2 black wires? If so, the reading should be .8- 1.4 Ohms at 68 degrees F. The 13 Ohms is definitely not correct. They told you correctly when they told you not to use aftermarket sensors. They often don't work and your light comes back on. I would buy a Denso and be done with it. By the way, your caps lock is stuck on.

My understanding is that it WILL damage the drivetrain in an AWD because the odd tire either more worn or less worn causes different input speed to the transfer case. I am not telling you this IS FACT, simply saying I have read it a number of times before. Most knowledgeable tire companies will tell you the same thing, quite a few of them even refusing to sell you the tire. You should never put a worn tire with a new one on a vehicle with LSA (limited slip axle) as it will wear the clutches in the LSA out from constantly trying to compensate for the different speed of the wheels, be it ever so slight.

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Did you do the work yourself? Did you used original parts? Have you looked under the hood to try and identify where the sound is coming from when it is making it. If the A/C/Alt. belt is not tight enough it could make it. If you have Harbor Freight Tool stores in your area, I would suggest getting a "mechanics stethoscope". It is one of the most useful tools that I own, and will aid you tremendously in identifying what is causing the noise. You can probe any area you think may be the source to identify any rotating noise, bearings or other wise. I use it around the fan belts and other moving parts, JUST BE VERY CAREFUL!

True, you normally smell a sweet smell (with most anti freeze) when the HEATER CORE is leaking. Also, fog on the inside of the windows. The heater core and the evaporator are in the same area but obviously are not connected at all. One cool- one heat. You need a really competent and honest mechanic to give you an evaluation and estimate. Both problems are easy to diagnose. I assume your name is Pamela and that you are a woman. Seems like honest and competent mechanics are hard to come by and even more seem to take advantage of a woman. Maybe the 1st guy is OK, but things just aren't adding up. Good Luck!

NJD-I wouldn't personally worry about it. The rear one is the one that goes first about 90% of the time or more because it gets so much more heat on the back side of the engine. Even if the front one does go, it doesn't really hurt much of anything, just slightly rougher running for a minute or so until the exhaust warms the sensor up. You can still replace it when you have time, with no worries. If you feel you'd rather do it on your schedule, go ahead and do it. I figure most of the time, if something like a sensor is still working fine, what if you trade the car 6 mo. from now or it is stolen or totaled- you didn't lose the new sensor that you didn't really have to replace. Your call - your money.

Pam- Seems a little bit high for the evaporator, and that's not a part that normally ever goes out, so I definitely would get a second opinion from someone who doesn't know the mechanic or that he gave you an estimate. Doesn't make sense that the evaporator would go out without you smelling anything or seeing anything in the car, since that's where the evaporator is. The labor cost is awfully cheap if he is going to remove the dash, change the evaporator and charge the system, all for $400. There's something not fully understood about this picture or there is something wrong with this picture. Just my opinion. Get another one from a competent mechanic, but don't tell him about the 1st. mechanic. By the way, the statement about the RPM going up and the car not speeding up doesn't make sense either. How long have you known this mechanic?

NJDan-My only input would be to use ONLY Denso. The price from SCP is very good. The same thing as the original Toy/Lex sensor but a lot cheaper with the Denso # on it. I doubt that you will be able to get near that price from a local store. NO aftermarket sensors!

Glad you found the problem- and I trust it is fixed also. $180. wasn't bad at all for that.

Dan- the 2 wires you want are the black ones. You can test continuity either way on wires. The resistance should be .8-1.4 Ohms at 68 degrees, but I'm betting the heater element is broken, in which case continuity is all you'll need to know. Since the P1135 is specific to the heater, nothing else in the sensor, you won't need to test the other functions. The factory doesn't give a way to test them anyway.

I did water leaks many years ago in the course of the work that I did and I never had a leak that I couldn't find the source of. I am amazed that you said you ran the water for a good 10 minutes and found no leak. Water is a good lubricant (only in this circumstance) and sometimes wouldn't show up for a little while with one on the hose and the other in the car watching (generally standing on your head). But even in tough leaks, as soon as it "lubed" it's own path, it came in with ease. If you have that much water coming in, it has to show it's ugly head after while. It's not raining INSIDE the car is it? I don't know how you did the water test, but I wouldn't do it with a sprayer end on the hose, just straight hose so you can introduce plenty of water.

Did you replace them personally or just pay to have them replaced? I can't imagine it making any noise if it actually had new strut mounts installed. If you payed to have them replaced I would check to make sure they were actually replaced or that they replaced the right thing. wouldn't be the first time someone payed for something that they didn't actually get. If you replaced them yourself then something is wrong somewhere. I removed them on my daughter-in-laws 99RX and actually repaired them and got rid of the noise. And it sounded nasty before I repaired them. Won't go into the reasons for repair vs replace but it had to do with critical time constraints. The noise is nasty because it is metal against metal! Y/t- Roger Roger, I just discovered this thread! How the heck did you repair the rubber bushing in the strut mounts????? Is there anything you can't fix?? :D Art- It's even a little hard to explain, but time was such that I had no choice. The car was leaving at 4:00 AM the next morning for Seattle (when our grandson was in Ch. of Seat.) I didn't even know what the noise was, I only knew I couldn't stand it. When I got it apart and could see what the problem was I had no choice but to repair it. I turned the rubber around so that the side that hadn't had the pressure against it was now carrying the (camber) load. I remember reworking the metal some to tighten the fit up and somehow reworked things so that the end of the strut that is able to jump out of the hole on the down- stroke and then slam up against that edge where it make the noise that makes you sure the whole front end is ready to fall off, was no longer able to do that. If you remember, a very stressful time for me, and things were pretty much a fog. You might be able to figure out that I am very much in tune with a vehicle when I'm driving and absolutely can't stand ANY kind of abnormal noise. Somehow I lived through that period (figuring what I was going through was nothing compared to my grandson), but I only found the forums AFTER I had done all that work! :cries:

Good morning Gruss- The WD-40 might do the job, and it might take something a little better suited to breaking rust. A suggestion I've made in the past that, I understand, won't do most people any good, is to use an ACETYLENE torch. (because most people don't have an acetylene torch) I used it for all the years I was in automotive work. I have NEVER had a rusted bolt or nut that would not yield to heating to a medium dull red and immediately removing. It breaks the rust bond and expands the nut away from the bolt. A life saver in rust country. They actually sell equipment now that operates on 110 AC V that heats very quickly by high speed magnetic pulse that does the same thing more safely. Can heat ANYTHING made of metal that is magnetic, and it's like magic! We had one at work and I loved it. Just take it easy, you sure don't want to damage the fitting- there is really no reason too. Good Luck!

PL- Glad it was that simple- we're all here just to help (and learn a little along the way)! :D

You may find that some of the scanners read MSC's for American cars, but not foreign.

The connector? Not real easy on the rear one. My suggestion is to have a friend lean over the drivers fender and reach behind the engine and hold the wire loom just where the sensor lead plugs into it. That way you can reach one hand up and release the tab and pull the plug out of it's socket. I did it alone but it is not easy because you can only get one hand up there at a time. Forget what you've been told about disc. the battery. The only reason to do it is if you don't have a scanner to cancel the codes. There is NO danger of the air bags going off unless you're working directly with them, and then you need to disc. the battery for a while to let the system completely drain of any latent energy. The only time I have EVER discon. the battery for SAFETY is when I was working DIRECTLY with the air bag system or air bags. Good Luck!

Not familiar with a Davis CarChip but it might be the sophistication (or lack of it) of the DCC. Since the P0135 lists 02 sensor and P1135 lists (Lexus specific) A/F ratio sensor and I'm sure , though you're from Pa., that by '03 they would definitely use A/F there rather than 02 on those sensors. Have you tried reading it with anything else? You do realize it's easy to check those sensors for failure of the heater? It very possibly is that because it seems to be the most common failure in those sensors, especially the rear one because excess heat seems to destroy them quicker back there.

Since I don't own the RX (it's my DIL's), I can't go check but don't you have a light for brakes or ABS? Not sure that an ABS would show CEL since that isn't engine related. Seems that you have NO caution lights showing, right? Wish I could give you a better answer but I would still clean those parts. May not be the cause, but it only involves labor at this point, not parts.