cduluk

Thanks guys! I'm doing well, very very busy unfortunately. I haven't had any time to do anything fun w/ my RX in a while... I can barely make time to fix the things that go wrong! A while back i did inquire about converting the turn key to a push button system (i started a thread about it on this forum somewhere) but none of my leads looked promising. Too much work...

Well, the issue was with the motor itself. I took the entire fan asy. out of the car and removed the fan blade. If i turned the pin of motor with my hand, i could hear the chirp. Something internal must have gone bad... I ordered a new motor and installed it, and now the sound's gone!

Definitely nothing blocking the blades, and it doesn't have any more/less play when wiggled compared to the passenger side fan. The chirping has quickly turned into a loud rattle. No doubt it's coming from the drivers side fan. Attached is a short video clip of the sound. If i shake the fan while it's running, it starts to rattle, then goes away for a second, but ultimately comes back. It sounds like a jet engine running with broken fan blades on the highway. I can shut the fans off by turning off the heat, but... it's kind of cold outside up here in RI! Thoughts? Dealer is quoting $200+ for the part... IMG_1633.MOV

Hi all, Last night the front left radiator cooling fan in the rx400h started making a chirping sound when running. It hasn't gone away. Any ideas?

The only way to get to that wedge light bulb is to pull back the wheel well liner (only the front half) and reach up.

I would ulplug the battery and try to re-program them again. Or, simply pry off the silver trim panel (containing that switch) on the door, unplug the switch, and plug it back in (this will have the same effect as unplugging the car's battery). Then try to re-program it.

They should be lit, only at night with lights ON. Very faint green. They're illuminated by small green SMDs (tiny LEDs). There's very little probability that they've burned out. There's gotta be an electrical error. Are any interior lights out?

How long have you had the car? Did the needles quit illuminating all at once, or did they gradually burn out? Each needle is illuminated by several (maybe 20 or so) tiny tiny SMDs (surface mount diodes, similar to LEDs) placed in a row within the needle itself. Due to poor engineering, the SMDs are given too much voltage and current, causing them to heat up when in use. Over time, the heat causes them to burn out. They usually start flickering, one section at a time. There's no cure, only replacement--OEM or aftermarket. There are people on eBay who offer aftermarket fixes. They usually look like crap, however. In re: to the speedo needle only ranging between 0 and 20mph, it could be a number of things. The needles themselves are driven by stepper motors which receive electricity sent by the car's computer, which receives messages from sensors. Attached to the pin coming out of the stepper motors is a "coil" that delivers voltage from the cluster circuit board to the needles for needle illumination. If this coil has dirt built up on it, it might be restricting the range of the needle-but i doubt it. My bet is on the sensors or on the stepper motor itself. In any case, you're gonna need another cluster. I'd buy a used one from ebay (with working needles) and see if the speedo works. If so, you know the cluster is to blame. If it still doesn't work, you know there's an issue with the car's sensors or main computer.

Well, my service advisor at Lexus e-mailed me back with: Trany flush 269.95 diff service 199.95 and I will help you with some discount. What's that mean? What's a differential service?

Hi all, Have any of you had the CVT and rear differential fluids flushed on the 06-08 RX400h AWD? So far i've contacted my nearest Toyota dealer and they responded: I can't see any reason why we wouldn't be able to complete the transmission and driveline services on your Lexus. The cost of the trans fluid exchange is $269.95, the differential fluids are $279.11. But Lexus hasn't gotten back to me yet. Do these numbers sound right to you??

Who's David? It's a nice name, but i'm stuck with Chris. I agree, the "mouse" feature for the nav is really irritating. Lexus called this afternoon letting me know the part for the recall is on back order and that i "have to" keep the loaner another day. :whistles: I'll take it! But it's still not enough time to learn how to navigate through the nav menus. The new ES350 has an "option" for that "intelligent high beam" feature you mentioned, but that's simply a feature that turns the "high beams" ON or OFF if an oncoming car is approaching (as to not blind them). The low beams however do not have AFS (left or right) nor adaptive active auto-leveling (up and down) like the 07-12 ES did. With the previous gen, if you hit the throttle hard--effectively raising the nose--you'd see the low beam "lower" so the beam doesn't shoot in the air. Likewise, if you slammed on the brakes--effectively lowering the nose-- you'd see the low beam "raise" so you could still see in front of you. I did the test with this 2013 ES, and it doesn't do that. It's very strange in my opinion that Lexus would remove such a nice feature. It must be some cost savings thing?

I actually brought my 400h to the dealer late last week to get the newest nav update (v13.1, released Oct 10, 2013) and my service manager told me the recall needed to be done. I never got any letter or anything, which i guess is normal since i bought it used.

Hi all: Yesterday i left my Rx400h at the dealer to have the recall completed, and they gave me a 2013 ES350 as a loaner. I wanted to share my thoughts. The 2013 ES350 they gave me is very well equipped for a loaner, complete with NAV and HIDs. However, i noticed that the headlights do not have AFS nor active adapting auto-leveling! Why would Lexus eliminate this feature? Usually you'd see the headlights turn left and right around corners and up/down when speeding up and slowing down quickly--but nothing on the 2013. Very strange... I'm also not a fan of the joystick controls for the navigation. It's very difficult--at least for a beginner--to use while driving. I'm partial to the touch-screen. Onto the things i like... The heated steering wheel! Getting into the car on this 45 degree (winter) Rhode Island morning was brutal, but i must say the steering wheel--at least the 3 and 9 o'clock leather sections, heated up within minutes! Very pleasant. I also like the quiet cabin and available power when in "sport" mode. The "blind spot" lights on the side mirrors are also helpful, however i fear that drivers will trust them too much! For the most part, i am really enjoying this 2013 ES350 and i'll be sad to drop it off later tonight. Any thoughts/responses?

Glad it worked out! :)

Well, you could buy them new from the dealer, but you'd be looking at thousands unfortunately. I'd try to score a used seat from eBay or a local junkyard. Do a search on car-part.com also.

Yeahhh, it all depends on the voltage being delivered to the needles. Lexus didn't add enough voltage regulation. If you lower the dimmer you can extend the life considerably. Glad everything's working now though-if they worked before, they should work with the dimmer lowered. :)

Buy a used tail light on eBay. This is an isolated incident; there must have been a defect in yours.

The needles will flicker/dim when more voltage and current are delivered to them. When you lower the dimmer switch, less power is sent to them and so the flickering should reduce.

Is this for your 02 ES? The battery on that type of remote should be lasting YEARS. I had my '03 RX300 from 2005-2009 without ever changing the battery, and it uses the same key. Do you have another master key or just the one?

Does the said headlight participate in the "dance" both headlights usually do upon start-up when the lights are on? Or is the said projector "stuck" left no matter what?

You can certainly purchase a new cluster from your dealer, but the cost will most likely be more than the vehicle is worth. There are "refurbished" clusters on eBay for a much better price.

Do you care if it's used? eBay would be a great place to get a nice used one. Or, you can get it brand new from Parts.com. They outsource ONLY OEM parts- none are aftermarket. I've bought a lot of oem lexus parts from parts.com and they're 100% oem, directly from lexus dealerships across the US. All of their parts have HUGE discounts, also.

Ah yes, "flicker"--that's the dead giveaway. This is a very, VERY common problem. In fact it's almost impossible to find a 92-96 ES300, 92-97 SC or 93-97 GS gauge cluster that still works! The needles weren't wired correctly and cannot take the voltage and current being delivered to them by the cluster. Over time, they get overloaded, begin to flicker and fail one section at a time. There's no fix, only replacement. There are several companies (lextech for example) that re-build the needles and clusters for ~$200-300.

The "cover" cannot be easily removed and replaced on the headlights. If there is oxidation on the outer surface of the lens, you can use rubbing compound (similar to these headlight restoration kits) to bring back the clarity. If there is moisture or "fog" on the inside however, you'll need to replace the headlight. I'd look for a used set on eBay.

1990LS400, that's an extremely good point, i hadn't thought about that. If both the inner and outer lamps illuminated together, it'd be incredibly difficult to differentiate between "on" and "brake". If it ever resulted in an accident, i could see a lawsuit!