Parker Lewis

Code58, OK, so today i removed the door panel and sure enough the grey-collared cable (top cable in the pic above) had slipped off the black plastic frame. I slid it back in place and used two plastic zip ties to "lock" it back in place and everything works fine now. Just thought I'd update my post in case it should help anyone else. Thanks again to all of you that contributed on this thread, it helped me a ton.

Guys, check craigslist.com. I see these Lexus update discs on there all the time for $20. Mine does not have navi so it's of no use to me.

On my RX those little plastic flaps at the far left and right sides on the upper part of the rear seat (I believe they are for folding the seat) rattled. It's just a small plastic flap but it'll vibrate up and down at the right RPM. It can be frustrating at times. Also, if you have the OEM Lexus first aid kit be sure nothing in there is bouncing around, even the zipper tab on the little kit can rattle, mine did. I know these are little things but if you're like me you can't even drive once you hear one of these rattles. Good luck.

Code58, Thank you for the reply, I appreciate you taking time to offer advice. I had wondered if my electrical tap location (I tapped down low near the OEM actuator, not near the switches like you did in the photos) was the culprit, but now I agree with what you said. I'll have to make time to pull the door panel again and inspect that grey cable. My problem was that I was not able to see the pictures on Saturday when I was doing the work, so I was piecing it together by reading the posts. Had I seen the pictures I would have realized to drill my hole for the new actuator rod farther from that existing slot where the grey cable rides. I guess some common sense should have kicked in, but too often mine doesn't. I'll have to check it out and then come up with a way to secure the grey cable once it's in the proper place and functioning. Zip ties might be just what the doctor ordered. Thank you again. I'll post a reply once I get it tore down and inspected, might be a couple weeks since my schedule is pretty full. Thanks, PL

I bought the Akebono ceramic pads from Rockauto.com for the front and rear on my 2001 RX300. I am very happy with them....smooth braking, no dust, no noise, reasonable price, I would buy them again if I ever need to. I was able to have my OEM front rotors turned (they had about 66k miles and were still within spec to be turned/cut) and I am slightly embarrased to say that I bought the cheapest Made in China cheapo rear rotors from my local parts store for about $20 each. I figure if there is one spot to skimp on brake parts it's the rear rotors. To my surprise those rear rotors still look great and perform well and I've got about 5,000 miles on the new setup so far. I planned to have my rear rotors turned as well but once I removed the stockers I knew they were toast. I already had the car up on stands and didn't want to wait to another day to order rear rotors, so that's why I decided to buy the cheap ones from the parts counter.....and honestly they are great and probably not too far off from what a chain brake repair shop would install, if not the exact same. So my setup is stock front rotors (turned/cut), new cheapo rear rotors, and Akebono ceramic pads front and rear. I think the total cost was around $150 for everything....$40 for rear rotors, $20 to turn front rotors ($10 each), and around $90 for the new pads from what I remember. You might want to try here for some additional brake parts advice: http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-g...elp-please.html

Hi everyone, I joined this forum because of this topic. Thank you to Code58, Deus85, Indiana, lmnop, and all the others on this post that took time to give advice. I used the information here to attempt to fix the drivers front door on my 2001 RX300. I appreciate you all taking time to share your advice. I set up my allelectonics.com actuator and used the same method as shown in Deus85's pictures on page 7 of this thread. The only difference with mine is that I tapped the two electrical wires down low near the OEM actuator, instead of near the switch bank like it's shown in the photos. I do have a problem though - The door lock "flapper" near the handle now opens and closes as it should thanks to the new actuator, but my door still does not lock/unlock. I have to put the key in the lock cylinder in the door to get the door to acutally lock/unlock. I am thinking this is because the OEM cable with the grey fitting on the end (see the photo below, thanks to Deus85 for this photo, it's the second photo from post #96 in this thread) is no longer working properly? This cable is what acutally trips the locking mechanism, right? I had to drill the hole for the new actuator's rod very close to the exisitng slot for this grey cable, and i think the grey cable may have slipped out of whack, does that sound right to you guys? Would that be cause for the door lock not locking/unlocking when the "flapper" opens or closes? I am assuming that's why this grey cable cannot just be removed altogether as part of this fix, since it controls the physical lock/unlock mechanism. I'll have to pull the door panel again and check it out. If you have any advice please share it here. Thank you!