RX400h

Word to the wise: Never assume that your dealership has the smartest technicians in your county. Many years ago, I had a nagging problem with one of my cars. The dealership closest to me could not figure out the problem, so I started calling around. One of the furthest dealerships had a technician who had been working there for over 20 years. I took my car there and he figured out the problem after keeping the car, overnight. RX vehicles have been incredibly reliable, but of course, things occasionally happen to a few unlucky owners. Our RX is just about 18 years old and it's never had any driveability issues. This is the norm, not the exception for RX vehicles.

Have you thought about pulling the proper fuse?

I sold my 1989 Mazda MX6 GT for just a few hundred dollars to a scrapyard. It was in great shape, visually but no one could figure out how to fix it. You may want to call around if there is more than one in your area.

P0120 Lexus: Code Meaning, Causes, Symptoms, & Tech Notes (engine-codes.com) This web page has plenty of good information regarding this code.

OR.....it's time to move on and scrap the car. I know it's hard, but you don't want to spend that money and then see other things pop up as part of a large money pit.

Give it up! If the repair is 50% or more of the value of the vehicle, it's time to move on. Sometimes, faithful cars are like dogs. We had to let go of ours, last year, due to massive stomach cancer. Yes, we could've spent many thousands of dollars to have surgery with little chance of an extended life so reluctantly, I had him put to "sleep".

The parts department person may be able to tell you approximately where it is, over the phone. I searched but did not come up with anything.

I would guess that they plan to replace the entire wire harness, rather than the knock sensor, itself. That could be rather involved, depending upon how many parts need to be removed to do this. You could save hundreds of dollars by having a Toyota dealership or an independent shop do the work. One way to find out where it is would be to call the parts department and ask counter person. He or she may be able to tell you where the sensor is, but if the wire harness needs to be replaced, that person would likely not know how involved it is. If there are just chewed wires and I were doing the work, I'd be tempted to solder the wires and cover with high temperature heatshrink.

Hello, Kam. Did you check with auto wrecking yards?

Your category choices are: All season Performance all season UHP (Ultra High Performance) all season UHP Summer Once you choose the category, I can make some suggestions based upon Consumer Reports ratings.

Would this help? All Wiring Diagrams for Lexus LX 470 2005 model – Wiring diagrams for cars (portal-diagnostov.com) It looks as if all wiring diagrams are for $15.

First take a good look at the connectors and wiring. Some owners have found that one or the other had failed. Hopefully someone can post a drawing showing their locations.

Seatbelts fastened?

Once you fix an intake leak, the computer most likely needs a certain amount to run cycles to adjust the air/fuel mixture. Sometimes disconnecting the battery, waiting awhile, reconnecting and driving the car a certain (minimum) number of miles will do the trick.

It looks like the carbon side is facing up because otherwise (I would think) the top would be white. My filter is made by Wix or other NAPA brand, so there is no dark side.

Do you have a battery charger? If so, what happens if you start-boost the battery? If you can get the battery running, measure voltage at the battery with a multimeter to see what the charging voltage is. It should be over 13 volts. If not, the alternator could be bad. Also when the engine is off, try to rotate each battery cable, near its post connection but do not touch the metal clamp or post. If you can, the clamp is not tight enough. If measuring battery voltage with the engine off shows less than 12 volts, the battery could be bad and should be load-tested.

You're welcome, Frank. This is something any ASE-certified mechanic should be able to repair.

According to this Lexus mechanic, the timing belt should've been replaced at 90,000 miles. Fortunately, the engine is not an interference type.

I believe the arrow on the side of the filter should be pointing upward.

What exactly is leaking? Our RX had a seeping valve cover gasket after 14 years and over 110,000 miles, but that repair was not very expensive at an independent auto repair shop.

My Interstate batteries at Costco last between 4 and 5 years. Short trips that do not allow the alternator to fully charge the battery are often the reason for reduced life. If doing so is not practical, then you may want to buy a Battery Tender to keep the battery fully charged. When take our RX out, the minimum distance traveled is a total of 20 miles, round-trip unless the short trip occurs within the same week of the longer trip.

That's a good idea, Frank. Please let us know how it works out.

A future congrats to you and your wife, Bob. That is an amazing color. 👍