grouch

If you get an '04, get one made in Japan. The ones from Canada are not as well made.

Ok, please bare with me on this post. It's my first and the information recieved was via my wife driving to work this morning.

She stated that the VSC, ABS and Brake Light on our '05 RX330 came on while she was driving on the highway. She said there was another light that had two exclamation points with arrows pointing TPS, low tire pressure.to them as well (not sure what light this is for). We recently had the oil changed within the last 30-45 days and a battery replacement 20 days ago.

My wife pulled off the highway and turned off the car and turned it back on and the lights did not come on. Hopefully this was just a glitch or bump in the road rattled something.

On some of the forums I've read it seems the oil change may contribute to the above lights coming on but wanted to put it out there and see if anyone had some feedback on what could cause these lights to appear. Any thoughts?

You might check your tire pressure to be sure all are equal. The TPS reads off the ABS sensors and a low tire could give the system some wierd input.

We are planning on purchasing a 2004 RX 330 FWD this Saturday. Anyone have any advice as to what to look for when checking it out? Any problems I should

be aware of?

Anything will help....(We had a RX 300 and loved it).

Find one that was built in Japan. They seem to have a lot less problems that those made in Canada. Mine was made in Canada and it's better than a Yugo.

Looking to get some winter wheels size 17.

ES 350 wheels in 17's have the same bolt pattern as RX 17's.

The only difference is ES offset if 45mm and RX offset is 50mm.

Not much difference in 5mm.

Anyone see a problem with this?

I thought the RX offset was 35mm although the 400h might be different.

My 99 RX 300 brake lights not working but the bulbs are ok. I checked the fuse box in the driver's side of the cabin and all fuses are ok. Any ideas?

First thing that comes to mind is the brakelight switch is faulty or out of adjustment.

I'm really pleased so many people love their RX. So, my 04' RX330 must have been built in China........It's the worst driving car I've ever owned. We bought it for traveling. Now it's only used for runs to the market or hardware store.

But the odds are still in your favor that you will get a good one. Just don't take it for a test drive around the block, but keep it for a day or two before you buy.

When it's down tight, you can not see the filter.

I don't think the guy who designed the filter housing and the guy that designed engine compartment were talking that day.

Glad you had a comfortable trip. I had a shorter trip to the OR coast and back. We had to stop every 100 miles to get the feeling back into our butts from the hard seats. That was two months ago and I still can't sit on a hard seat for very long.

If they don't respond to a sales question, then they sure won't respond to a "trouble" question.

If the dealers wife has been driving it for a year, make them pay the registration. Some states will make you pay all of the back reg. even if it's bought from a dealer.

If you've seen some of my post, I'm not thrilled with my 04', but others love theirs. Is it a Canadian or Japan built?

In doing a little research, I've noticed that people either love or hate the seats. It makes me wounder if there is a common denominator such as made in Japan Vs. made in Canada.

Mine is from Canada.

Where/how do you determine it?

If the first number of the vin is "2" then it's from Canada, if it's a "J" then it's from Japan....I think that's right.

In doing a little research, I've noticed that people either love or hate the seats. It makes me wounder if there is a common denominator such as made in Japan Vs. made in Canada.

Mine is from Canada.

Oh no, don't tell me it's true! :(

I thought only the IS MK 1 suffered from this with their hip-squeezing too short seats. As I have to accomodate 3 child seats in the back I was contemplating an RX300 as it won't fit/be legal in my IS with a 4, 2 and 0 year old.

I'm 6'3" so I'll better take a long test drive

BTW anyone know from what year on the RX300 has Isofix child-seat latches in the back seat? 2001 or all models from 1999?

A close friend has a Lexus LS430 and he can't stand the seats. Too short and hard.

One of the members of our car club is the owner of a automotive upholstery shop. I might take a run over to his shop when it stops snowing. Every other car that I own, except the 57', has had sheep skin covers. I was afraid that the sheep skin in the RX would raise me into the headliner.

I hear ya on the truck. I've got a built 77' Ford 4X4. Lots of space, but 11 MPG.

My wife loves the heated seats here in Montana and the prior owner was in Minnesota. Could extensive use of the seat heaters collapse the seat foam?

__________________

I'm 6-2 @ 180 and my wife is 6-1 and a lot less (I know my limits). The good thing is that after your butt goes numb, you don't feel your legs.

We have friends in both North and South Carolina and were thinking of a trip that way, but that's on hold for now.

help help i'm going to look at one later and the owner, "older person" doesn't know if it is fwd or awd

Look under the rear, past the spare tire. You should see the rear differential and a drive shaft going to it. I guess Lexus doesn't think there AWD is good enough to put any markings on the body.

The wife and I took a 1300 mile trip to see the grand kids in our Rx.

We had to stop about every 100 miles, get out and walk around to get the numbness out of our butts. It didn't make any difference if you were driver or passenger. It was like sitting on a leather picnic bench. After a long stretch with the wife driving, we stopped to get a bite to eat. The wife had to stand and lean against the car for about 2 minutes before she could walk.

We got back yesterday and our butts are still sore. We don't have a lot of "built in" padding. We're both over 6' and slim.

We got this car to travel in, now it's only the grocery getter to us.

Are we the only ones to have this experience?

I Have an engine air filter for my RX 330 (2004). Can someone please tell me where the filter housing is located and instructions for removal of old filter so new filter can be installed.

Open the hood and look down and to the left. Big black box. Remove screws, push, pull and yank. Oh wait isn't that the spare tire?

Joking aside, it's not a difficult job. I did mine for the first time last month and it took longer finding the right size metric socket then it did to change it. Don't press down on the screws as the come out and you won't push the nuts out of the lower housing. The first time always takes longer as I "over think" the work and take more things loose than I need.

You might look here http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...mp;hl=headlight

I spoke to my Lexus mechanic about changing plugs. He said the easiest way was to remove the plastic trim around the W/W's and the hardest thing was to remove the wiper arms. This will give you all the room you need. I haven't tried it yet, so it's only hear say at this time, but I figure he's changed a lot of plugs and coils in the past.

I've been trying to practice not lifting slightly for shifts and just let the car do what it wants, and that has improved things quite a bit.

Stab and steer. That is the only kind of driving the automatic trans understands. Don't try to "help" it shift. There are way too many factors like the TPS, ECU and other sensors designed to shift under load.

When it arrived several months later, the battery was dead, but fired right up with a jump and holds a charge just fine now. The first thing I noticed when I finally got the car registered and was able to drive it, was that the idle would jump up to around 1800 rpm within about 5 seconds after the engine was started, and then would gradually return to normal within 3 or 4 more minutes. This is very similar to a carburated engine with an electric choke, but I knew the RX was not so equipped. Also, it most definitely did not do that before it was shipped.

The second thing I noticed was the hesitation in the transmission. As I said above, it hadn't done it when we first bought it, but now it was very noticeable. In the past few months, I've tried to adjust my driving to the transmission, but nothing seems to help....and the problem seems to be constantly changing a bit. It will be fairly nice for a few minutes, then gradually gets worst until it feels almost dangerous, then works its way back to only slightly annoying. The problem seems to lessen slightly when there is more of a load on the engine....i.e. when I have the A/C running.

The lastly, my mileage has been getting progressively worse. It's now down to 18 overall from the original 25-26 overall. I am using 93 octane super unleaded. Most of my trips are short (under 5 miles commute), but at least once a week there is a 45 minute, fairly high speed (80-90 mph) trip. Neither of these two types of trips changes the symptoms.

So, did Lexus/Toyota come up with a fix? Could having the problem show up after the battery ran down have any bearing on the problem? Did the ECU "forget" what it was doing when I first bought it and revert to some older program that has this shifting problem? Or, is there a separate ECU for the transmission (TCU maybe)? Would the strange-acting idle be related to this? Could the decreasing mileage be related? Do I ask too many questions?

I am surprised that the original thread just stopped all of a sudden 3 years ago and hasn't cropped up again (or not that I can find).

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Mac

Is there a Lexus dealer there?

There was an upgrade program for the CPU. It's possible that if the battery was dead long enough that the CPU "forgot" the re programing.

Most FI unites have a cold start enrichment program that runs a little fast until it warms up.

Anyway, I've got less than 18 months to go here, and then I'm outa here.

Enjoy the good income, I mean weather. I use to live in the high desert area and remember when I would get tired of working outside in the yard and then realize it was 110. Pool time............ B)

Your original post was about oil. Keep an eye on the radiator. Some RX's start to leak in the lower tank area. Lexus has a TSB for extended warranty repair.

I am in Kuwait, so from May to October, the daytime temperatures will be over 120 and peak in the mid 130's in late July/early August. Overnight lows will still be over 100 for that entire period.

THAT'S why I live in Montana.

Your biggest problem is the short drive. It takes about 8 miles to warm up the crankcase to evaporate any condensation that could mix with your oil. Hopefully that is not a concern in the summer months (May to Oct.)

Wow, 130. Anything over 55 here is short sleeve weather.