code58

How many miles are on the RX? There are other things it could be but the 1st place I would look is the starter contacts. The starter is ball bearing and is so well made that it will probably last for ever. The only weak point it has (not really a weak point, just natural wear) is the contacts in the solenoid. This is normal for any starter that uses a solenoid. The solenoid doesn't have to be replaced, just the contacts inside and Toyota sells a kit for it that is quite reasonable from what I remember. Don't know if you do any mechanical work or not but the starter is really easy to take off and the contacts are easy to replace. An easy way to tell if it is the contacts is have your wife turn the key and if it does nothing, KEEP it turned while you rap the starter solenoid with a hammer handle or short broom stick. It will jar the contacts to work and will start. If it does, you've found your problem. Good Luck!

dandg- was the leak actually a break in the aluminum or the plastic? or was it the rubber seal that goes between the two? Most rad. shops don't have the equipment to replace those or don't want to be bothered with it, they just want to sell you a new radiator. I have had the seal (looks like an "O" ring but fits the groove around the header in the radiator) replaced by a shop that did have the equipment and did that kind of work. I couldn't see replacing a radiator that looked like new except for a tiny seep. MOST radiators in cars that have GOOD maintianance (antifreeze changed regularly, not when it gets dirty) will last the life of the car. Your case is clearly not normal.

blk on blk- Your friend from the great northwest must have gotten that leak fixed in a hurry, or he decided not to worry about it. LOL

Well, today I got a whole bunch of codes. P0171, P300, P301, P303, P305 and P1133 pending. Why couldn't it be P302,304,306? Would make my life a lot easier! I'll get them replaced and try the injector cleaner. Any cleaner you recommend? Chevron Techron is not the ONLY good one but there isn't a better one for any amount of money. Get the concentrated one- will cost you from $7. to $10. a bottle but worth every penny. Follow directions on the bottle and if that doesn't clean em up in a few miles, they're not dirty! Good luck! Roger, I just added two bottles of Techron Plus to my 99 Avalon (same engine as 99RX300 except no VVTi). Symptons were poor acceleration and low gas mileage. Maybe I am going nuts, but the Avalon was running remarkably better in just 5-10 miles. I had similar good results with Seafoam in the RX. I generally don't go for the snakeoil stuff, but I do believe Seafoam and Techron Plus can make a big difference depending on how fouled your injectors are. Artbuc- As I've said before I worked for a major county transportation department. One of the mechanics that worked at our facility had worked at another one about a mile away. (we had 4 transportation facilities) Had a Chevy S-10 to work on that was running poorly. He had been a Ford mechanic before he came to work for us and though he was one of the very best mechanics we had, at the time he wasn't highly familiar with the S-10. He called a friend at Chevy and the friend told him to use Chevy injector cleaner ( is Techron labeled GM). He put a bottle in and said LITERALLY by the time he drove around the block, it was running smoothly. He was one honest dude so I know it was no stroke job. (he may have put it in less than a tank of gas, the reason it cleared up so quickly).

amazak The original equip. can be bought online from Lexus for $150. and I even got the local Toyota dealer to sell it to me for $162. when I asked if they could compete with an online dealer, and I had printed off the online add. They came close enough and I needed 'em right away. It's a very easy change, should take all of 5 or 10 minutes as long as it's not rusted in. Which it could be since I see you're in Ohio.

Well, today I got a whole bunch of codes. P0171, P300, P301, P303, P305 and P1133 pending. Why couldn't it be P302,304,306? Would make my life a lot easier! I'll get them replaced and try the injector cleaner. Any cleaner you recommend? Chevron Techron is not the ONLY good one but there isn't a better one for any amount of money. Get the concentrated one- will cost you from $7. to $10. a bottle but worth every penny. Follow directions on the bottle and if that doesn't clean em up in a few miles, they're not dirty! Good luck!

TD- Go to www.obd-codes.com and make your way to DTC codes P0100-P0199, Fuel & Air metering. I wish I could post the direct link but I'm not computer literate enough. Excellent site, gives you some tips. You haven't had the air box messed with lately have you? There is a tube that gets knocked of the back side and causes problems. Have you checked for any vacuum leaks. The code says bank 1 too lean. I would make SURE there are NO vacuum leaks. I am assuming you know how a vacuum leak makes an engine run- not very smooth when it's running lean.

Micklex- Glad it worked out well for you. I agree, even the cheaper pressure bleeders aren't justified for an occasional bleed. I have used the hand vacuum pump for some time because it's a 1 man job that way and no concerns about damaging anything or finding a "pedal buddy". :D

I find this very helpful. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-g...de-p1135-2.html Before I invest in ramps and a new A/F sensor, I would like to measure the resistance of the B1S1 sensor. The question is, which connector is for B1S1? JJMM- B1S1 is on the rear bank next to the firewall. It is pretty well centered on the engine, actually sticks off to the passengers side of the cat that comes right off of the exhaust manifold. You can't see it from the top, only the bottom, and even if you could see it, you definitely can't get to it from the top, only the bottom. The really nasty part is getting the plug on apart. It is on the wiring loom that runs across the firewall area and it's very difficult to almost impossible to get to the tab that locks the 2 parts of the plug together. You need 2 hands and you can't get 2 up there together. I finally got it but it wasn't easy. You will have no problem seeing it when you get underneath. Looks just like the front one. My suggestion would be to not use anything but original equip. DENSO! They can be found on the net, even from a Lexus dealer as low as $150.

TD- the 1st thing you want to do is switch those into 2 different holes (keep track of where you switch what COP's to. Then read the codes again to see if the codes follow those COP's. TC's are a guide and not always an absolute arrow to what's wrong. Always confirm! With the price of parts, you don't want to throw parts at the wrong place (a lot of people do!) I believe if you ask for COP's for a Camry you should be OK. Toyota and Lexus parts do not often, if ever, cross over in part #'s. Done for a reason, to protect the overpriced Lexus profit margin. I checked parts #'s on www.toyodiy.com and it was confusing without the frame #, but the actual part situation is a lot simpler than the smoke and mirrors that Toyota/Lexus makes it with the part #'s situation. When I buy from a Toyota dealer I always just say it's for a Camry, Highlander, or a similar Toyota model that uses the 1MZFE engine since they have no cross over for Lexus parts. They can look it up without you giving them the #. toyodiy has the #'s but seems a little confusing with foreign #'s possibly thrown in. Hope that helps.

Buddy- since no one has jumped in here I will try to give you a little help. A lot of experience if the field but have never worked on one of them. I can tell you with the thinking today that it shouldn't be hard to get off. They're not so much worried about you, the simpler it is to change, the less it costs them to assemble the vehicle. There should be a couple of screws when you open the rear lid. Once you remove those, the light probably snaps into clips on the outer part. If it seems like it is NOT BOLTED, you should be able to get a good hold on the light and a quick yank straight back should release it from the clips. Better than trying to pry it loose on the outside, where you might chip the paint. At least that's the most common way that tail lights are attached in recent years. Scale of 1-10, most likely a 1. $100 seems cheap for that tail light unless it's a Tiawan aftermarket.

blk on blk- The Olds was something she bought on recommendation of a mechanic friend (not me for sure, your assessment was dead on) because it was owned by an old lady and had very low miles. Both kids are college students and needed DEPENDABLE transportation! I recommended the Ranger (he wanted to buy a used V-6 S-10) in a 4cyl. because they are within about 3 HP of the 3L V-6 now that they use the all aluminum twin overhead cam engine. And though they aren't glamorous, they have a reputation for being bullet proof. They have been very happy with them. As far as the Fusion, his sister was thinking something smaller and cheaper but when she realized she could get that much car for that little she was ecstatic . Has the same 4 cyl. as the trucks and it gets up and moves and is very well loaded with full power & auto. I recommended that because I have never read anything bad about them since they came out and Edmunds gives them a 10 in reliability. Maybe not glamorous but good solid reliable transportation at an incredible price. That's what they needed and they were both thinking used. As far as the deals, I almost always go for "advertised specials". There was a day when those were old stock, purple with pink polka dots. NO MORE! they put the kind of stuff that people want to buy with the equipment you want. The 2 trucks were XLT Super cabs with Auto, P/S,P/B, Air, Am/Fm, Cd,bed liner, jump seat, P/L, one red and one white, just what they wanted and both with build dates 2 months old. The Fusion was brand new stock and a medium silver gray, just what she wanted and full power and auto. A lot of the dealers put up to 5 on at specials like this and generally never an oddball. I don't always buy on special, but I ALWAYS BUY RIGHT and NEVER buy what I wouldn't at full price. Probably a lot of areas of the country that you can't get those deals and probably not often on Luxury cars. Although my son and DIL bought a new Suburban last July (new stock also) that listed for over $52,000. for $39,xxx+ and that was before the bottom dropped out.

Before I started using the vacuum pump to do one man bleeds I always (or whoever was helping me) pushed the pedal to the floor (not hard, but to the floor) and have never had a problem as a result. That is only my experience though and am not questioning the practice of limiting the travel. I personally would prefer a pressure bleeder and have thought of building one since they have always been too expensive for casual use. I recently saw one (I believe Harbor Freight) that was fairly reasonable but I don't do enough bleeds to justify even that so I'll stick with my trusty vacuum system.

Being a curious type, I'm wondering if they explained to you how the idler pulley was incorrectly installed? I have had them off on my DIL's RX twice and installed new once (total of 3 times) and have a hard time even imagining how they could be installed incorrectly. If they actually explained how, I would appreciate that information. I have known way too many times when the service people made the stories up. (if you put me in charge, I'd pass a rule that they would be mute if they were not telling the truth! Things would get a whole lot quieter all of a sudden. LOL) P.S. By idler, do you mean the top pulley? Roger, I would guess they meant the tensioner pulley which could be installed incorrectly if they didn't compress/lock the piston before they bolted it up. I think it could get cocked before both mounting bolts were home. Your comment reminds me of an experience I had at Wilke Lexus re a rear CV boot. It is a long and interesting story which I won't go into here. At one point I was walking out of the shop with the Service Manager after having caught the mechanic with his pants down, so to speak. The mechanic had just tried to talk his way out of the problem by telling one of the most ridiculous stories you ever want to hear. I said to the Service manager "Your Tech is either a liar or incompetent. Which one do you think it is?" The Service manager said "I'd rather not answer that question." :lol: Thanks for the response and the laugh AB. Can't imagine any competent mechanic not compressing the tensioner but stranger things definitely have a way of happening, don't they?

A suggestion was made recently on one of the Lexus forums to remove the battery and take a wood pencil with a good eraser and clean the contacts for the battery in the remote. That's a long shot, but it's easy and costs nothing. It worked for the person asking for help. Next, if you have the glove box manual, check to see if it addresses the problem. Are there any directions for reseting? One other thing you might try after the things mentioned is disconnect the battery for about 20 min. and see if that changes anything. Do the locks respond well with the inside lock button? All 4? Let us know if any of this does any good. ALWAYS best to try the simple things 1st, even if you think they may be a long shot.

blk on blk- About 6 mo. ago my Dil's brother asked about getting a used mini truck for his son. I told him don't think used, think new, I'll help you get a better deal new than you can get used. I located them 2 '08 Ranger PU's, XLT quite well equipped w/4cyl. Listed at $19,305. each and were fresh stock. Such a good deal at $11,488. that both father and son bought them. His daughter bought a used '88 olds and within 1 month dumped $2000. into it in addition to what she paid, and then it blew up! I said think new, not used, you need something dependable. I found her a fresh stock, '09 Ford Fusion very well equipped. Listed for $20,635. and she got it for $13,000. It's a buyers market like never in my lifetime. These are real deals, and I could have gotten even better if his daughter could have waited a little but she needed a car then. You can't get those kind of deals on everything but you understand why I said think new, not used. Every local has a good indie somewhere, you just have to find them. I much prefer indies that specialize in one brand, not all brands.

Being a curious type, I'm wondering if they explained to you how the idler pulley was incorrectly installed? I have had them off on my DIL's RX twice and installed new once (total of 3 times) and have a hard time even imagining how they could be installed incorrectly. If they actually explained how, I would appreciate that information. I have known way too many times when the service people made the stories up. (if you put me in charge, I'd pass a rule that they would be mute if they were not telling the truth! Things would get a whole lot quieter all of a sudden. LOL) P.S. By idler, do you mean the top pulley?

blk on blk - I buy my vehicles new (have at least for the last 25 years or so), but having worked for dealers mostly for my career, I know how to buy 'em right and for the last 10 years or more have been able to consistently buy new for the same or less than the same vehicle used a year or two old. I only ever go for warrantee if it is a fairly sizable or major repair and take care of anything more minor on my own. I have been fortunate in having almost NO repair under warrantee on the vehicles I have purchased new. I have (against my better judgement) bought a factory extended warrantee on 2 of those vehicles and not used a SINGLE PENNYS WORTH of it on either the new car warrantee OR the extended warrantee! Don't think I'll waste any more money on extended warranty's, especially since the factory warranty's are as long as they are now. Sadly, I agree with your assessment of the quality of work that you get today, and then when there is problem that they are obviously responsible for they look under every rock to find a way to blame you for it and escape financial responsibility. Disheartening and disgusting to say the least!

This car/dealer has been one " screw-job " after another since it has been out of warranty. I can't see us buying another Lexus. In fact I can't see us buying another NEW anything. Both Toyota and Honda have excellent " Certified " vehicles which seems like a much better value than a NEW anything. A 2-3 year old Highlander, which is virtually an RX [ same engine, drive-line, etc. ] can be bought for less than half the price of a new RX and can be serviced by the Toyota dealer who services a hundred times the vehicles that the Lexus service department does. My experience with the Lexus dealer here in Virginia Beach is a " Bummer ". If a computer doesn't tell them what the problem is, then there ISN"T a problem. At least twice since new they have installed the oil drain plug " finger tight ". I always check after them when I bring the car home. This is the competence you get for $105.00 an hour? Kind of " pricey " for a doughtnut and coffee! P.S. The Toyota dealership in Virginia Beach is owned by the same person who owns the Lexus dealership, therefore the Toyota dealership's policy is " we don't service any Lexus vehicles ". So to service the " same " vehicles, Lexus owners must pay double what Toyota owners pay for the identical parts/service. Such as $1000-1200 for timing belt/water pump replacement service. The Toyota dealer charges about HALF for the SAME parts/labor! Bowtie- Having spent my life in one form or another of automotive work it always distresses me to hear these kind of stories. The independent or dealer that treats their customers with respect and honesty (I can't stand it when my intelligence is insulted, not because of ego, but because how am I supposed to trust them once they've lied to me), will always prosper and have to turn work away. I would certainly look for a GOOD independent shop that specializes in Toyota/Lexus. I have done my own work my whole life (and my family's) so I don't have to worry about it. But we have several OUTSTANDING indie's in this area that can totally be trusted in all areas, and they do indeed thrive. Once they have a customer by word of mouth, they have a customer for life. They don't have to do any advertising.

Dandg- sure hope you're able to get to the bottom of this. You're pretty close to Canada aren't you, but then you could easily tell if it was Canadian built. That still wouldn't explain why the replacement failed in that short a time. When 2&2 don't add up to 4 I want to know why. Somehow I still think there is a chance they replaced it with the same thing from the same manufacturer that failed the 1st time. And I wouldn't doubt there's a chance it wasn't limited to Canada any more than the sludge problem was limited to the first couple of years of RX's. Auto Manufacturers DO DO THAT from time to time. As Lenore said, our DIL's 99RX still has the original radiator with 0 problems at 130K mi. and 11 years.

I realize you were between a rock and a hard place with the car not starting. I am almost certain I have read of an online advertiser (one of the Lexus forums) in the Midwest that will do an overnight on a computer and is able to do the programing that you are talking about. Not close to $800.!! I think it would be a rare day that you found a dealer that would do anything but change parts, even if they knew the computer could be reprogramed. I am almost certain I have also read (some time ago) that Lexus (Corp) would do a ONE TIME computer replacement for key problems (lost or non-recognize). Sort of a perk because you bought a Lexus and they know it is so expensive. I believe it is about $2000. to replace the computer and keys if you have lost the keys

Bowtie- Are you SURE the plugs are Iridium? The reason I ask is the iridium plugs list for about $22.-$24. each. I was able to find them (Denso Iridium) online for about $8.+ and since the seller was local was able to pick them up. That was the BEST price that I found. I can't imagine Napa selling them for that. Are you sure they aren't PLATINUM? Sounds more like the price for platinum. There is a huge difference in the quality of the 2 plugs.

I seem to remember a problem with the radiators in a certain period of time along in the early to middle of this decade. I think your car fits in the period of time when they were having the problem, but surely they would have corrected the problem since yours has already been replaced once under warrantee. Very strange. A little more digging is in order.

MBam- I wouldn't think you would be having failure of the lock motors on an '06. Seems too new for that. Anythings possible I guess. It could be the switch assembly (the electronics in it). I would think the first thing would be to disconnect the battery for about 20 min. and see if it can reset itself. I don't know if that's possible, but it's easy and costs nothing. If that doesn't do anything I would pull one of the front door panels and jump juice directly to the window motor. If that doesn't do anything the lock is probably bad. Both of them would have to be checked in this way. I'm sure there are other things that can be bad but at least that that should narrow it down.

Being the curious type, I have still to decide in my own mind all of the why's of engine sludgeing. I can see why some do it and yet there are other times when the history would give no explanation for it. I have done some reading in the past, on Toyota sites, before T/L took responsibility for the problem and you could not make sense of why some did it at such low miles, and they had always been serviced at Toyota dealers. I am a firm believer in synthetic (though I've never used it), just that using top quality oil and filters and changing at 3k mi. (all my life), I didn't feel the need. I let my wife's Camry go to 4k one time because it was SO CLEAN at 3k, but have since gone back to 3k. I have no intention to extend beyond 3k. It is not as well known as the Toyota sludgeing but there are other cars in the last 10-15 yrs. that have also had unexplained sludgeing problems. I have not yet used the German Castrol (Syn.) but have used Castrol for MANY years and trust it. I love to hear others opinions and experience (especially knowledgable and intelligent). Have a great weekend Lenore- Roger