code58

Sorry to hear that (about the Fram (Google Fram filter problems and you'll understand what I mean). I am on several other car and truck forums and many many engine problems and even blown engines as a result of using Fram filters. My son used to use Fram on his wife's RX (because they were easy to get) and since he's not very mechanically knowledgeable and I have done a LOT of work on the car, I told him if he wanted me to continue to do the work on it he'd have to lose the Fram filters or lose me as the (free) mechanic because I (and a LOT of other people) think they are pure junk and do cause a lot of engine problems. I would not use them if they backed up a lifetime supply to my door tomorrow. Needless to say, he ditched the Fram's. Millions of people use them for billions of miles and have no problem, but that doesn't make it right. Ask the people who have had engine problems from using them. Wish I could say what the noise is, but without hearing it that's difficult. Have you ever had the front valve cover removed and checked for sludge? I realize the later RX's shouldn't have that problem, but I have read of a couple that have. What do you use in it for oil, and how often changed? (meaning regular dino oil, semi-synthetic, or full synthetic and also what brand?)

I can virtually guarantee you it's from the mold. I am surprised that running it on outside instead of recirculate didn't cure the problem, except that you live in DFW which is considerably more humid that So. Cal. All I have EVER had to do in several cars (and trucks) that I have had the problem was make sure and run it on outside and if I ever ran it on recirculate because it was a hot day, was to shut the A/C off a couple minutes before I reached home and let the fan dry the evaporator by the time I was home. It sounds like you are going to have to get the stuff made to kill the mold (or else use Lysol, which will also do the trick) because of the humid air where you live. It should not be hard to kill. I am utterly amazed that the dealer didn't just use the product made to kill it, that has been common knowledge in the automotive field for the last 40 years. I would be concerned about their competence in other things at that rate, really!

When you say noisy, what kind of noise does it make? Knock, tap, rattle, ??? My DIL's '99 RX with 140k+ mi. is quiet as can be. What kind of oil filter have you been using on it? (brand)

Sadly, probably not very much. I think you would do better advertising it on Craigslist or the Recycler or on one of the Toyota or Lexus forums or somewhere else that is free. Might even be worth the cost of an add in Autotrader. There are plenty of mechanics or mechanically minded that would be interested in it if it's clean and in good shape otherwise. It's not that terribly expensive to rebuild the trans or put a used Hylander trans in for someone who can do all the work themselves. Wrecking yard isn't going to give much for it I don't think. Sorry to hear the bad luck and hope it works out well for you. if it were mine, I would probably try to locate a good trans guy who would do the work on the side and might be worth keeping then, especially if you could discuss it in detail before he did it and were assured it would be done right. By the way, what state do you live in?

There is only one gasket and it is a formed rubber gasket in the "O" ring family (though not round). I had the IACV off of my DIL's '99 RX twice and the original gasket was in perfect condition so I reused it. That was at 97k mi. and now almost 4 years later and 44K mi later there has never been a trace of a leak. Sorry, that's the reason I don't know the part #.

RSML- Are you sure that the drivers door is locking solidly and quickly when you lock with the remote from outside the car. It's easy to watch the inside lock knob on the inside handle to see if it moves fully and swiftly when locking with the remote. It sounds like the typical Lock actuator problem that is common on the Lexus's when they get some age on them. If it does what I asked, but just just doesn't respond to unlock command, it may be in the drivers master switch assy, which is electronic. I would be glad to look at it and try to diagnose at no charge if you are interested, since I also live in So. Ca. (F.V.)

My honest opinion is anyone who owns and drives a car (is able to pass the drivers test) in this day and age, that has a car newer than '96 (OBDII) should own a Code reader. The reason I say that is when having problems, you can read your own codes, go online (plenty of good sites), see what the problems are and then cancel the codes and see what comes back up. Often, you may have a flurry of codes come up, and you don't want to take all of those seriously. If the same ones come back right away, you can BEGIN To take them A LITTLE more seriously. I've seen people have as many as 8-10 codes come up- not likely that all of those are actual problems. VERY unlikely as a matter of fact. You can buy the Denso Iridium plugs (what your car came with originally) online for about $8. ea. I believe the Denso's at AZ are platinum for about the same price. The Iridium are a far superior plug. They actually list for about $20. ea. By the way, I recently bought a nice code reader at Costco for $19.+ They originally sold them for about $33. They were a bargain at $33. but they were evidently clearing the last out at the $19.+ That way, you don't have to run to AZ to have 'em read, and can clear and see what comes up without a trip back. Beats a $100.-$200. diagnostic read at the dealer any day. This site also has a flow chart of what the probable problems and fixes are also. Just wade a little, a lot of good info on that site. http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/lexus/

Always possible. Most of the time cleaning does the job but once in a while they need to be replaced. There is a way to check to see if the IACV is working properly. I have posted the procedure before. You should be able to find it with a search either on this forum or the other popular Lexus forum. The IACV should keep the RPM's at a correct (approximately 700 RPM, warm) even if it needs a tune up. Have you had the codes read? If not, have them read at AZ or somewhere that reads them free and report back and we'll see if we can't help you further

Yep, definitely a small coolant hose that goes to the IACV. About 1/4-5/16 hose. Look around, it's got to be hanging there, it goes straight up from the bottom. Before you take the IACV off, you have to drain some coolant out so that it doesn't run out of that hose when you take it off. Probably 2-3 qts I think should do it. You said there was a hole. There should be a tube (pipe) that comes straight down on the back side of the IACV (about 1-1 1/2in long) that the small hose came off of.

. Sure sounds like a key issue, not a lock issue at that rate Mitch. If the valet key works fine, it wouldn't be the lock.

Mitch- I think he meant the drivers and passengers (sides) and rear gate (hatch). Have you tried what was posted 2 years ago on all of those 3 doors? Hard to imagine that it wouldn't work on any of them unless the key has worn that much since it was last used in any of the doors (hard to imagine the key would ever wear that much anyway).

Thanks Thomas!

MBP- There are plenty of instructions and good pictures on this forum and the other popular Lexus forum. What you are doing is "piggy-backing" the "universal" actuator on to help the "old helpless" door lock actuator that can no longer do it's job because the little 2 cent brushes in the motor have worn out. DO NOT remove any part of the existing system!!! I have done several of these and it is actually a pretty simple operation if you have tools and any mechanical ability at all. If you have NEITHER of these I wouldn't attempt the job, or at least find someone with those and the ability to follow directions. You only "piggyback" the 2 actuator wires (often blue and green) on to the blue/yellow tracer & the blue/red tracer. Blue goes to B/Y tracer & Grn. goes to B/R tracer. It's that simple! Everything works just like it did from the factory. NO functions lost at all.

You don't have to worry about damaging the sensor if all you're testing is the heater. How much voltage do you think the heater uses to get to about 1200-1400 Degrees? Just do a continuity test, that's all you need to do on a heater. It's the 2 black wires, pretty simple, don't even have to worry about what you hook to what, it's just continuity. You're not testing the other 2 wires, just the 2 black wires.

This is not the only engine that may not run right with Botch plugs! NGK and Denso make some of the worlds best and longest lasting plugs in the OEM Iridium plug. Why change to something else when the original Denso Iridium plugs I took out of my DIL's 99RX at 97K mi. looked in beautiful shape. If I had not already bought the plugs (for about $8. ea., they list for about $20.), I would not have replaced them even then. They looked like they had 15-20k mi on them. I no longer use Bosch in anything.

Alex- I can only say that you need to look under your hood more often. you really should have stopped and looked when you 1st heard anything that indicated something was not right. It sounds like your belt started to come apart (break) and then it got caught in the rotation of the other belt. That can happen, and you may not have any other damage, but you really need to look under the hood more often, or have someone else do it for you. You're Lucky that it didn't do a lot more damage, because I have seen that actually break a crankshaft when a belt goes through another belt, from the quick snap.

Do you mean an IACV problem? Shouldn't be idle air control valve at that speed. That only deals with idle. Do you have a scanner, and if you do I'd scan it to see if you have any pending codes, since you didn't say anything about a CEL (check engine light) Give us some more details about history of the problem.

EZ- Don't mean to put you off but there is a lot of information on the blend door issue and how to deal with it on this forum and the other popular Lexus forum. Can't imagine where the $1k price is coming from. That seems excessive to me, to the max! The "Search" feature is your friend.

BR- It can't hurt anything, a small chance it could help, but I don't think that is probably going to do it. In the case I mentioned, with the F-150's, Ford had come out with quite a few reflashes over time to fix complaints and problems that weren't necessarily complaints but that Ford had rethought and decided should be reprogrammed. I don't know how often they have to do reflashes currently nor do I know how often other auto co.'s have to do them. Maybe the others have better programmers to begin with. :( I only know that for those that had the problem with detonation (that you clearly shouldn't have with knock sensors and computer controlled timing) were generally told to go to high octane fuel as the answer. That is a totally unacceptable answer when a vehicle states in the owners manual that it is designed to operate on reg. (87 oct.) fuel. There were at least 2 if not more that got the truck reflashed and it cured the problem. It is CLEARLY not normal, and there should be a fix and NO dealer should be telling the owner to go to premium fuel to eliminate the detonation (spark knock) , especially when that cure seldom ever does any more than a partial fix at best. Spark knock is destructive to an engine and the real problem needs to be addressed. P.S.- I'm not computer knowledgeable but I would think a "reflash" would be different than a "reset" which you would be doing by removing the batt. cable. Try it, it can't hurt. P.S.S. - Sorry BR and Adam, I went back and re-read the OP and see that it was sluggishness, not spark knock. I would definitely try the batt. disconnect.

E-Bay is an excellent place to pick up factory manuals, either on DVD (more likely) or paper. I have purchased Chilton and Haynes (same co. now) several times and have found them to be more about frustration than anything else. They just leave out and skip over too much.

David- The test for the sensor is: 68 degrees F, looking into the socket inlet to the meter (pins), use a DVM with + on the far left pin (E2) and the - on the next pin (THA) the reading should be 2.21-2.69 k ohms resistance. Inspecting the MAF Meter operation: with the MAF meter out of the intake tube but CONNECTED to the plug, turn the ignition ON and using a volt meter probe the + test probe into the center wire (past the insulator) and the - probe into the one next right (4th over from the left, this is all facing the same way you were when you identified the E2 &THA). Blow air into the MAF opening (where the intake air would pass through) and check to see that the voltage fluctuates. Turn the ign. switch off. If it fails either one of these tests, it's bad. That is straight from the Lexus shop manual. Hope that helps. Don't chase any of the other codes, when you have that many, clear them all and see what comes up 1st.

This is an excellent site and though it takes a little wandering and sorting, you probably can find some good help there. http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/lexus/ They have section that will tell you the probable cause and fix for those codes. I realize what the codes say, but there is more help , including forums for specific codes (that's a little loose). I believe the page I linked is the Lexus specific page, but branch out from there. Good luck!

What does your book say about what fuel you are supposed to use? My DIL's RX is a '99 (I'm only here because I'm the mechanic for it) and all she has ever used is So.Cal. 87 octane. It has always run fine on it and they have put over a 100k mi on it since they bought it with 32k on it. Her mother bought a new RX in '07 or '08 and it uses premium and she was was complaining about it because of the additional 20 cents a gallon. I am assuming yours does not call for (mandatory) use of Premium. I know that I have read of a spark knock problem being cured in a Ford F-150 PU (a number of them have the problem, I drive one but don't have the problem) by a reflash of the computer. Have no idea if that would help yours or not, but I agree with PK3, it is not normal! By the way, my "04 F-150 has the larger engine (5.4 3V) and has NO spark knock on the 87 octane.

It's galling and you definitely don't want that to happen. It may be to late at this point. What you want to do in a case like that, where once it's broken loose but is hard to turn is to try repeatedly to get the "rust buster" (whatever you are using) in the threads and only turn it back and forth about a 1/16 of a turn or so until it frees up. That way it won't gall and destroy the threads. Trying to turn it when it won't get freeer galls the threads and then with the metal from 2 different parts "marrying", it's all over. Don't you at least have a box end wrench? I would never use a crescent wrench to remove an A/F ratio sensor.

:rolleyes: