VGR

Toyota has a 40 year track record of building overhead cam engines with long timing chains that don't break. Long before a Toyota chain breaks it will rattle loudly which warns the driver the chain tensioner isn't working anymore and needs to be replaced. Two reasons Toyota is switching to timing chains in its newest engine designs are: 1. All it's engines now have variable valve timing which means the valves and pistons will collide and self destruct if the timing belt breaks. Since chains don't break, this catastropic potential problem can be avoided. 2. Toyota Timing chains are maintenance free and very rarely ever need to be replaced. Notice I am constantly specifying TOYOTA timing chains. Those of you who read and learn about timing chains vs timing belts on internet websites or in automotive textbooks need to realize your getting only generic information, not Toyota specific inforrmation. Big difference

Sounds like someone installed aftermarket brake pads at some point. Genuine Toyota brake pads are low dust, long wearing and minimize brake rotor wear. You can order them from newlexusparts.com and irontoad.com for FRONT PADS, RX300 99-03 $49.77 REAR PADS, RX300 99-03 $48.31 You don't pay sales tax so that offsets most of the shipping cost.

I'd use the 90915-YZZB9 Denso's because they are factory quality filters. The latest Denso filter for the ES300 / 330 is the 90915-YZZD1 Horror stories abound on the internet of owners who took risks by using aftermarket oil filters. Here are two examples: http://t4x4pickup.com/dgroup/messages/324.html Posted by Scotty on June 11, 2005 at 02:54:32: Aloha dudes and duddettes, My gf's 2005 SR5 4Runner V6 engine is all messed up cause I put in a wrong oil filter and she just ran it to the ground. Any case the Toyota dealer wanted $18,000.00 to replace the engine. Is there anywhere else I could go to get a rebuilt (replacement) '05 Toyota engine? Any help is appreciated. Thank you very much, Scotty -------------------------------------------------------------------- http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...&st=0&p=135225& Hi everyone, I own a 96 ES300 with 97k miles. I had a problem yesterday while I was changing my oil. After I finished, I cranked up and I'd say about 4 quarts gushed out from the filter. Needless to say, it was defective.

I don't believe internet forums like this one represent a good cross section of RX owners, because of the hundreds of RX owners that have filled out the Consumer Reports owner surveys, very few have reported engine or transmission problems and most report an excellent level of ownership satisfaction. Based on Consumer Reports and JD Powers owner surveys, the RX300 is indisbutably the most reliable / durable luxury SUV on the market and the SUV with the highest level of owner satisfaction. Check out the April 2005 issue of Consumer Reports if you want to see this data.

Your engine will likely keep on running for a pretty long time, but might get more noisy because the finely polished surfaces on some recriprocating metal parts like the valve lifters could have been scored due to the lack of oil for 5 seconds. It doesn't make any sense to inspect for the damage because the cost to fix it would be about the same or more than the cost of a replacement engine. I wouldn't worry unless engine noises become substantially louder than before the oil starvation incident. You have an Asian car that was designed to be exceptionally reliable and durable if maintained with Asian (genuine Toyota) replacement parts. Asian car owners who use auto parts store filters and other aftermarket replacement parts risk damaging or ruining their engines, transmissions and other components in subtle ways such as you experienced. Mobil is constantly changing the names of their oils to maintain public interest and enthusiam for their products. Mobil's "5000" oil is merely a new name for their lowest priced grade of dinosaur oil.

The RX300 engine and transmission are very durable, but more sensitive to the consquences of maintenance neglect than the LS400 engine and transmission. So when shopping for a used RX300, it is very important to review service records. Buying a "Lexus certified" model is no substitute for personally verifying that oil changes were never extended beyond 5000 miles and that the transmission fluid was changed at least every 30,000 miles. All wheel drive models need even more frequent transmission fluid changes. Some non-mechanically inclined owners wrongly assume that a Toyota that is sensitive to the consquences of maintenance neglect is "weakly engineered" and should be avoided. Due to their lack of mechanical experience with Toyotas, these owners are not aware of the stunning durability capabilities of Toyota mechanical components always bathed in clean lubricants and coolants http://www.saber.net/~monarch/460k.jpg Also due to their lack of mechanical experience, these same owners are not aware of how American car mechanical components are intentionally designed to wear out rather quickly no matter how clean the lubes and coolants. So Toyota / Lexus owners who switch to an American brand end up being dissappointed again. Basically these owners are caught up in a revolving circle of automotive poverty and they will not break out of it until they switch back to an Asian brand and change the drivetrain lubes and filters regularly and more frequently than the intervals suggested in the Maintenance Guide since those intervals are merely MINIMUM ALLOWABLE intervals, not intervals condusive to obtainsing hundreds of thousands of miles of troublefree service.

Measure the amount of old coolant drained so you'll know exactly how much new coolant is needed. If you don't measure there is a danger you will underfill the system and harm the motor. In a separate container, premix a 50/50 blend of Toyota Long Life Antifreeze and distilled water and add it to both the 17mm coolant filler nut opening above the thermostat housing and to the radiator overflow jar opening.

Toyota antifreeze is red / pinkish. Havoline Dexcool and Prestone Dexcool are orange with a rather radically different chemistry. So you should get rid of all the orange by removing the block drain plugs. Also a good time to change the thermostat and thermostat gasket

Depends on what coolant is currently in the system. If the factory original coolant mixture (50% Toyota Long Life Antifreeze + 50% distilled water) was used by the previous owner at replacement time, then you can just drain the radiator and refill with this same mixture. However, if an aftermarket brand of coolant has been used in the system then yes the two engine block drain plugs must be removed as different brands are not compatible with one another and also aren't compatible with the factory original coolant mixture. Owner failure to use the factory original coolant mixture at replacement time is one of the leading causes of premature Toyota / Lexus engine failure.

There's a long list of OEM stuff that can increase power, gas mileage, engine reliability, durability, smoothness and quietness: 1. New factory original spark plugs, plug wires, distributor rotors and distributor caps. 2. New factory original oxygen sensors. 3. Check and adjust the clearances on the engine's 32 valves 4. Clean the engine's throttle plate(s) 5. New factory original air filter With regard to aftermarket mods, first ask yourself if you really can afford them? Example: Do you have $1000 already set aside to cover items 1 -5 above? $1000 already set aside for when your starter fails? $1000 already set aside to repair a wide array of fluid leakage points in the power steering system? $1000 already set aside to replace various bushings and mounts? $1000 already set aside to fix the climate control LED display and dash instruments? etc. In other words, if you paid $7,000 for your '93 LS400, you may need as much as another $7,000 to keep it on the road for the next several years.

Any AC Schraeder valve with a BLACK colored cap can be used to charge the refrigerant. Example from an early 1990's LS400 http://www.saber.net/~monarch/acrecharge.jpg Black colored caps are always low pressure valves. Red colored caps are high pressure valves.

I've only seen 1 in about 20 OEM thermostats that were defective. Most of the time the problem is that owners and their mechanics fail to use the correct factory original replacement thermostat, thermostat gasket and fail to install the thermostat correctly because they jump into do-it-yourself work without consulting the factory repair manual. The early 1990's 3VZ-FE engine takes the Toyota part# 90916-03075 thermostat and #16325-62010 thermostat gasket. The factory manual tells how the thermostat should be installed. Typically the "jiggle" valve on the thermostat needs to be aligned in a certain way to assure the cooling system will bleed itself of air pockets which can interfere with proper cooling performance. I don't have a factory repair manual either at the moment so I can't tell you specifically how the jiggle valve needs to be installed.

You can buy and charge R12 yourself for mere pocket change. http://www.saber.net/~monarch/acrecharge.jpg Takes about 5 minutes if you know what your're doing because it just like filling a tire with air. Search the AC archives for more details

The ES300 forum is full of early 1990's owner reports of overheating and cooling system related engine failures. Not one report has involved an owner that had used the factory original coolant mixture at replacement time (50% Toyota Long Life Coolant + 50% distilled water). The reason for that is the factory coolant mixture has the capability of keeping the cooling system immaculately clean, free of corrosion and performing like new for many decades. Green coolant cannot do that, not even when mixed with distilled water, although using distilled water will slow the rate of system deterioration.

Different owners will have different opinions on what constitutes good service. For example, I know of one person on this forum who thought it would be great if car repair shops tried to save their customers some money on air conditioning service by: * subsitituting hardware store quality "O"-ring seals in the air conditioning system instead of using genuine Toyota seals. * Not replacing the receiver-drier of the air conditioning system when performing a R12 to R134a refrigerant conversion as is required by the Lexus Factory Repair Manual * Not evacuating the air conditioning system using a vacuum pump during the process of converting from R12 to R134a as is required by the Lexus Factory Repair Manual * Using an aftermarket brand of refrigeration during the process of converting from R12 to R134a instead of the Densoil #8 as is required by the Lexus Factory Repair Manual Other Lexus others would be appalled at the thought of a shop cutting corners in this way by using servicing procedures and products that are not Toyota / Lexus approved.