lemon

First, mileage will be worse in the winter. Several factors - winter gas (with gas line antifreeze (more ethanol?) added) will give you lower mileage; the engine has to run more often in winter to keep the catalytic converter at operating temperature and to keep the coolant hot for cabin climate control. Second, make sure your ISC reset (do a search) is done. If the battery has ever been disconnected or run below 7.2 volts, the ISC needs to be reset. Many people (myself included) have seen mileage really improve after doing the ISC reset. Still, 25-27 mpg in the warm weather is pretty good.

If you 'just' installed the K&N, then I doubt the stain would appear that quickly. However, as someone pointed out, K&N filters that are over oiled can cause all sorts of trouble, especially if oil gets on the MAF sensor. Also, just so you know, there is some evidence out there that K&N filters let more contaminants through than a regular air filter.

Same here. Sometimes I have to turn the vehicle off, then back on before it connects. My old phone Samsung Instinct worked flawlessly, but my newer phone HTC Legend does some weird things with the Lexus Bluetooth. Too bad Lexus wasn't forward thinking enough to have some way to upgrade the Bluetooth firmware in the system.

What he really means is the MGR (motor generator rear) in Toyota hybrid speak - but I think when he said differential, we all knew what he was talking about. On the hybrid, the rear differential (MGR) is electric and not mechanically connected to a front tranaxle or tranfer case etc.

I agree the NAV sucks....large. Worn struts/wheel bearing...normal wear and tear on any car. Replacement key? Only $110 were I am, unless you don't have the transponder inside, in which case probably more. Maybe you have a lemon - bought used, who knows how the previous owner(s) treated it. I will say, go to any car forum (Mercedes, Acura, any domestic) and all you'll see is complaints. Really, how many people post at forums about how their vehicle has been perfect?

The TSB about the use of 5w20 was for the 3MZ-FE engine (the 3.3 V6 in the RX330/400h). The RX350 uses the 2GR-FE engine (the 3.5 V6) so that probably explains why the later model's manuals state 5w30. However, in 2010 models (which still use the 2GR-FE engine) Lexus specifies 0W20 oil only. Now, did Lexus spend all sorts of money retooling the engine building plant to make tighter tolerances in the engine so 0w20 could be used, or did they just do some (cheaper) research and discover that 0W20 would be fine in the 2010 without making any changes to the engine from 2008 and 2009? Or did they switch to 0w20 for some small improvement in fuel economy? The same question could also be asked of 2005 RX330 owners who have the same engine as 2006 owners who can use 5w20 per the Lexus TSB. In the end, it's your vehicle and your call. But I wouldn't hesitate to run 5w20 or 0w20 if it were me.

Check your owner's manual - then you will know if it's available on the 2005 (I think it is). One tip I can give you is regarding the five seconds. The system is VERY picky that you wait exactly five seconds. Someone suggested using the flashes of the : on the car clock. Each flash of the : is one second. When I used this for my five second timing, the programming went flawlessly. Prior to using the clock : I was having trouble getting the programming to work.

Per this Toyota chart http://us.lexusowner...showtopic=68152 you can run 5w20 or 0w20. Take your pick and don't stay up at night worrying. However, I wouldn't hesitate to run 5w30 in the vehicle if that floats your boat. By the way, I'm using the Highlander HV recommendations for you 2008 RX400h. Mechanically, the vehicles are identical.

That actually functions as both. It's an ambient light sensor for the headlights and a sun sensor for the climate control. ***edit*** Just flipping through the service manual - I shouldn't say it functions as both - it seems that there are two sensors there - one for the light control and one for the amount of sunlight. Per the shop manual, it's actually called a 'solar sensor'. ***edit part 2*** THe solar sensor actually has a left and right side (driver / passenger) in addition to the ambient light sensor for the headlights. These are all in the one sensor on top of the dash.

I hope it's an ad for the M35 hybrid. I like that vehicle....a lot.

As far as I know, there is no "Distance to Empty" display on the 400h, with or without NAV.

I was recently in a 2006 Infiniti M35X and it had a slot for the remote as well, however, the remote only had to be put in the slot IF the batteries were dead. The rest of the time it worked wirelessly. Maybe the Lexus is the same?

Good point. I'm over it - rickety wooden bridge with fraying ropes. There's a recall - you will be notified if it affects you, and you will end up with a shiny new part (maybe an inverter, but more likely some piece inside the inverter). If your inverter is simply leaking, this recall will not affect you. Here's a response from Lexus Canada to my inquiry regarding this (Transport Canada also PHONED me today to advise that it would also be posting and enforcing a Canadian recall) "Thank you for your recent correspondence. Please be advised Lexus Canada will be releasing a similar campaign as approximately 1,500 Lexus vehicles in Canada are affected. We would like to take this opportunity to explain inside the inverter assembly is an Intelligent Power Module (IPM) which contains a control board equipped with transistors. In some of the affected vehicles, the transistors on the control boards may have been inadequately soldered and as a result, they could be damaged from heat caused by a large current during high-load driving. If this occurs, a number of warning lamps, including the malfunction indicator lamp, slip indicator light, brake system warning light, and master warning light will illuminate on the instrument panel in your vehicle. If this condition occurs, in most cases, the vehicle will enter a fail-safe driving mode, resulting in reduced engine power so the vehicle can still be driven for short distances to a safe location. In rare instances, the fuse of the power supply circuit could blow when the transistor is damaged. If this occurs, the hybrid system will stop while the vehicle is being driven, and the vehicle will coast to a stop. Please be advised Lexus Canada is currently preparing the campaign remedy parts. In the interim and in the near future, owners of affected vehicles will be notified by first class mail. An interim owner notification will advise owners of the following information: 1) This recall affects their vehicle; 2) When the campaign remedy parts are available, Guests should make an appointment at any Lexus dealership to have the IPM in the Inverter Assembly inspected and if necessary, replaced. 3) Steps Guests may take before the campaign remedy is performed on their vehicle to help determine if this condition might exist on their vehicle or if they have experienced this condition and steps they may otherwise take at this time. Once the campaign remedy becomes available, Guests will be notified again and asked to make an appointment with any Lexus dealership to have the campaign remedy performed on their vehicle. This repair will be performed at no charge to Guests. If you experience this condition before the remedy is available, please contact an authorized Lexus dealership for diagnosis and an appropriate repair as soon as possible. If you have previously paid for to have the IPM in the inverter assembly replaced to address this specific condition, please contact your Lexus dealership for reimbursement consideration. We hope this information is helpful."

Mmmm, I think most folks would say your "something not right" comment in reference to the first quote somehow implied that the recall is related to your leaking inverter. I think not! I'd like it if 'most folks' would chime in then. I think most people would read that as I had concerns over the inverters failing and contacted Transport Canada and the NHTSA. My concerns were leaking (mine) and complete failing (not mine). End of story - they were contacted. Now, months later, there is a recall for the bad soldering in the module. You must have some weird way of linking events if you equated that to my leak was caused by bad soldering.

Really now. Give your head a shake. The recall specifically states it's bad soldering. You'd have to be really obtuse to somehow connect bad soldering and leaking coolant (and you're the one that linked them, not me). It was also convienient of you not to notice that in the same line I made note of a friend whose inverter failed competely, no leaking involved. Now that is one incident that you could put two and two together and come up with the likely cause being the bad soldering. I guess to paint a better picture for you, I could also mention the rash of Toyota Highlander Hybrids that suffered inverter failures (do a search on here, I'm sure I posted it). Those incidents, along with the less common (maybe there are more Highlanders on the road?) RX400h inverter failures plus my leaking inverter are what caused me to believe that there were problems with the inverters.

And in the world of auto mechanics, how long have inverters been around, and how well are they understood internally by someone outside of Toyota's specially trained 'hybrid' technicians? Have you ever heard of, or seen a transmission fluid leak because the metal of the transmission housing was too porous? No gasket involved there. Or a leak from a crack in an oil pan? Again, no gasket. For all I know, my leaking inverter may have been a cracked housing. Regardless, cracked housing, porous metal, or bad gasket, I never said the bad soldering was causing my leak, which is what you somehow read my post to be.

Yes it is an all or nothing procedure. Either the ISC procedure is 'complete', or it's 'incomplete' per the Lexus computer that they hook up to it. Unfortunately, when you are doing it yourself without having a Lexus computer handy, you can't tell if it was completed or not. You can't "fine tune" it for better or worse mileage as mentioned above. My guess is that you may have followed the directions, but the procedure didn't complete properly. You also need to drive for some time to get an average of your gas mileage. If you do the ISC reset, then immediately reset the mileage computer, then drive like a madman, you will see low mileage. What you're looking for is an average over many kilometres.

I have no idea how you extrapolated bad soldering to leaking gaskets. In fact, I never mentioned gaskets at all. My inverter was leaking - I was never told why, who knows if it was a gasket?? No where did I link bad soldering to leaking inverters. All I said was that I contacted the NHTSA and Transport Canada about failed inverters - mine was leaking, another had failed completely.

Maybe by the time the 2008 models arrived (or by a certain VIN number) they had rectified the bad soldering on this unit in the inverter. Still, woudn't that indicate that they KNEW there was a problem with the bad soldering on previous inverters and this means they would have been aware of the problem as far back as 2007 (when the 2008 models appeared). Why then, was there not a recall IMMEDIATELY upon the discovery of the bad soldering. Or maybe, on the other hand, after reports of inverter failures (or after the NHTSA made some pointed inquiries), they investigated and discovered this problem and THEN traced it back to some point in the past when the soldering method was changed?

I knew there was something not right with the inverters on these vehicles, so much so that I recently used the nhtsa website (and Transport Canada website) to voice my concerns over inverter failures (mine was leaking coolant - a colleague at work had his 2006 RX lose all power on the highway at 100km/h - diagnosis was failed inverter). I doubt my emails caused any widespread investigation, but it's nice to see action being taken.

Just found this at clublexus.com Thanks to caveman at that site for posting... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43574776/ns/business-autos/ Safety Recall BLD (B2D - Interim) - Certain 2006 through 2007 Model Year RX 400h Vehicles Intelligent Power Module (IPM) Replacement What is the Condition? The Intelligent Power Module (IPM) is located inside of the Hybrid System Inverter and contains a control board with transistors. Certain transistors on the control boards of some of the subject vehicles were inadequately soldered and could be damaged from heat caused by a large current during high-load driving. If this occurs, various warning lamps will be illuminated on the instrument panel. In most cases the vehicle will enter a fail-safe driving mode, resulting in reduced motive power in which the vehicle can still be driven for short distances. In limited instances, the fuse of the power supply circuit could burn out when the transistor is damaged. If this occurs, the hybrid engine system will stop while the vehicle is being driven and the vehicle will coast to a stop increasing the risk of a rear collision.

If they really want to impress me, they should come up with one that cleans the tail lights, which are almost invisible when driving in slushy winter weather.

You know I flipped through the owner's manual already and was aware that it sprayed with the headlights. I guess I found this part a bit ambiguous. "the headlight cleaner operates once automatically" I assumed it meant it sprayed once each time I used the windshield washer, but I'm guessing it means once every ignition cycle (i.e. once if the windshield washer is used, but only that one time until the ignition is turned off and started again, no matter how many additional times you use the windshield washer) I don't even think it should be linked to the windshield washer - it should be exclusively activated with the dedicated button under the radio, which can be used as many times as needed during a driving cycle.

Finally had my washer pump replaced (extended warranty, thank you). Now I know the headlights have to be on, but here's what I notice. If I use the headlamp washer button below the radio, I can wash the headlights over and over. If I use the windshield washer (on the turn signal stalk) I can only wash once. It won't wash again right away if I use the windshield washer again right away. I haven't checked to see if this is a time delay thing (or mileage) but if I shut the car off and then back on, it will wash with the windshield washer again, but again only the one time. Tomorrow, I'll wash them with the windshield washer switch, then drive to work (60km or 40 mins) and see if it washes again after my drive. Is this normal?

Look at the stickies at the top of this forum.