sam2004

Cannot believe your spark plugs and a coil is bad. I am driving a 2004 Rx330 with 332,000 Km. Never replaced the plugs. Motor still runs smooth. Never had ant problem with emission. Please check at another dealership.

Thanks Mason.

It helps to mix the hot air & cold air according to the information from climate control. Motor controls the opening with a damper connected to it. There are two motors for Driver side & passanger side, which are bit difficult to reach under the dash board.

Look at this link to get an idea of a different car http://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-second-generation/501372-diy-repairing-air-mix-servomotors.html

Thanks for the interest.

Hi!

Is there anybody who had to replace the driver side servomotor? I was told by a dealer It cost lot of money as they got to remove the dashboard. Part is not costly but the labour. I want to make sure whether it is true. Thanks.

Thanks Mason. looks like I cannot go through this procedure myself. Is it necessary to remove the dashboard to access these parts? In that case, I have to go to dealership anyway.

Hi!

I would like to get some help to resolve this problem. I am using 2004 RX330. I is cold in Toronto now and I was trying to use my heater last week. I found that there is no hot air coming to drivers side. Only the passenger side is getting hot. Can somebody advice me how to fix this? several weeks ago, I heard a clicking sound (like a relay) from under the dashboard on passenger side. It stopped after couple of weeks. Thanks for the advice in advance

I have done 311,000 km on my RX330 (2004) without any additives or Injector cleaning. Even the spark plugs were not replaced. It is still running like brand new.

Hi!

please go to any Lexus dealership. With the VIN, they will find out when and at what mileage the Timing belt was replaced, provided previous owner replaced at a dealer. Most people replace the belt at dealership first time.

To my surprise, I cannot find power steering fluid change in my owner’s service manual. Even the dealer never mentioned that. All other changes are mentioned with interval but power steering. Anybody got an idea why? Also can somebody tell me how often the fluid change to be done? It was never performed for my 2004 RX 330. Thank you!

I've switched from regular to synthetic (Mobil) on two Lexus LS400's - a 1990 I bought new at 50,000 miles when Lexus finally approved synthetic for use and my currently owned 2000 LS400 when I bought it used at 38,000 miles. I drove my 90 LS400 to 183,500 miles and have driven my 2000 LS400 to 155,000 miles with zero oil consumption or leakage between oil changes. Many others have reported similar experiences on Lexus forums. Regarding the original question, I have never altered the oil change interval rather using regular or synthetic oil - always 5,000 miles and always change the OEM filter.

Thanks a lot.

First of all, conventional wisdom is that you should NEVER switch to synthetic if you've been using dino juice. Especially if the car is 8 yrs old.. Don't be suprised if you start getting oil leaks around gaskets..

Thanks for your reply. But I am pretty sure that there will not be any oil leaks due to the change. Long time ago when they first invented synthetic oil, that problem came up. But new oils are compatible with regular oil. You can switch back & forth without any trouble.

Can someone please tell me what the best mileage for the oil change is if I use synthetic oil (for RX330)? I have changed my regular oil @ 8,000 km as per maintenance manual and switched to synthetic recently.

Thank you!

Where..EXACTY, which seal..?

AWD?

The front (& center[??]) diff'l(s) uses/shares ATF, pickish ATF. The PTO (AWD) uses clear gear oil).

Thanks for the prompt reply. It is AWD. Front seal I believe.

There should be 3 "external" seals, left and right front drive halfshafts, and rear driveshaft.

One of those..?

Common failure, more common, is the internal rear crankshaft seal between the engine and transaxle.

That is the one. Between Engine & tansfercase. Is it a difficult job? Do I have to go to dealer or a local mechanic shop can do it? Thanks for your help.

The configuration is: A)engine, B)transaxle case/housing, C)diff'l case, D)PTO, transfer case.

Passenger side A - D

Driver side B - C

I went to the dealership today. It is internal rear crankshaft seal between the engine and transaxle. Just as you said. Not transfercase as i suspected. It cost more than C$1,500.00. Since the oil leak is not significant ( I did not notice the oil level drop), they asked me to use the truck & keep eye on the oil level. Sooner or later, I got to replace it anyway. Thanks for your help.

Where..EXACTY, which seal..?

AWD?

The front (& center[??]) diff'l(s) uses/shares ATF, pickish ATF. The PTO (AWD) uses clear gear oil).

Thanks for the prompt reply. It is AWD. Front seal I believe.

There should be 3 "external" seals, left and right front drive halfshafts, and rear driveshaft.

One of those..?

Common failure, more common, is the internal rear crankshaft seal between the engine and transaxle.

That is the one. Between Engine & tansfercase. Is it a difficult job? Do I have to go to dealer or a local mechanic shop can do it? Thanks for your help.

Where..EXACTY, which seal..?

AWD?

The front (& center[??]) diff'l(s) uses/shares ATF, pickish ATF. The PTO (AWD) uses clear gear oil).

Thanks for the prompt reply. It is AWD. Front seal I believe.

I got a oil leak around Tranfercase area. No change in Engine or Transmission oil levels. So I assume it is from transfer case. Dripped oil spray on to exhaust & burn while during driving. I smell the burning oil smell once stopped. Anybody have a idea, what to do? Is it a costly repair or just change the oil seal?

Thanks a lot. Your prompt reply is very much appreciated.

Can anyone please tell me lug hut torque for RX330 - 2004? I cannot find it anywhere. Thank you.

Can anyone please tell me lug hut torque for RX330 - 2004? I cannot find it anywhere. Thank you.

There are some paint chippings due to road chips and I can see some rust at these places. Can somebody tell me the best way to fix these places? I am driving on 400 series highways every day.

Thanks.

This is probably our culprit; the air servo motor:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-g...-mix-servo.html

Thanks a lot for your help. I found the culprit, which is the condenser according to the dealership. This is going to be a expensive repair, so I am waiting to get an advice from a local AC repair shop.

Sam, I spent my life in automotive work and I have seen many customers violated and I don't like it one bit. Not saying they are, just saying things don't add up. For 1 thing, that is a LOT of money to replace a condenser. For another thing, if it is the condenser, you will definitely see oil seepage at the point of leak. If the compressor is still coming on, and you said you have the clicking from under the dash on the R side, that sounds more like servo motor (there are 3) not opening and closing the doors to direct the air flow correctly. When the freon gets low enough from a leak, the low pressure switch won't let the compressor run, to protect it from burning up. I am not satisfied with the dealers diagnosis at all. IF you need a condenser, go to an AC shop, not the dealer. Be a whole lot cheaper.

Thanks. their estimate is too high, also I did not see any oil leak.

This is probably our culprit; the air servo motor:

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-first-g...-mix-servo.html

Thanks a lot for your help. I found the culprit, which is the condenser according to the dealership. This is going to be a expensive repair, so I am waiting to get an advice from a local AC repair shop.

Dear All,

My A/C is not working properly all of a sudden. It worked fine yesterday. But I heard continuous ticking sound like a relay on & off for few days under the dashboard. Now the AC light is on. I can hear the compressor cluch engaged. But only slight cooling effect. Can anybody help me find the problem? Thanks.

Do you know where your sight glass is? I believe it's right down in front. Do you know how a sight glass works? Have someone turn the A/C on and turn it down, maybe 60 degrees so that it should be on at all times and run it up to about 1500 RPM on the tach and you watch the sight glass and see if it has bubbles in it. If it does, how many, just a few or is it solid foam? I'm personally betting it is the blend door actuators on the R side behind the glove box. Report back.

Thanks a lot. Looks like there is no gas now. Clutch does not engage, when the AC is on. No cooling at all. But AC indicater lite is on. It does not blink.

I always used to take a single jumper wire from the battery to the compressor wire to see if things worked that way and to find if it was low on freon. Don' know if you can still do it that way, but probably can. That way you can check the sight glass and see if gas is low or not and if it cools that way. If you do this, make sure and unplug the wire to the compressor before you jump juice to it. If it works then, and cools, then you have to backtrack and find where the problem is (could well be a dirty or corroded plug connection) Try unplugging all plugs one at a time, spray some electrical contact cleaner and lube in the plugs and plug and unplug 3 or 4 times to clean contacts. If the clutch isn't engaging there obviously won't be any cooling or foam or bubbles.

Thanks. I went to the dealer today to check what's wrong. According to them, there is a leak in evaporator condenser (One inside the cabin). Replacement will cost $1350.00 with labour. Diognosis cost me $108.00. I do not want to spend so much. But I got to fix it soon as it is too hot these days. What is your advice? Your advice is very much appreciated. I found after market parts for around $175.00 (on internet).

I question why it would work fine one day and then not the next and how did they determine that it was the evaporator? Evaporators don't go out often, because they are in a sheltered location. No chance of anything hitting it. I would want somehow to KNOW that it was the evaporator because that's a lot of money, and it's not a job anyone wants to do without being paid a lot of money. You have to remove the dash on almost ALL modern cars to change it and that means detaching and reattaching a LOT of stuff. I've had plenty of dashes out, but never had to change an evaporator. I would try and find out how they determined it was that, that was bad. If there is a way to get in to see the evaporator (though you won't be able to take it out that way), I would do that. If you take the glove box off and see if you can remove the fan motor, you may be able to see the evap. that way. When you have a leak in the system,it virtually ALWAYS shows oil seepage at the point of leak. If you don't show any seepage (if you can see the evap.), I question whether that's where it is. Let us know how you do.

Thanks for your advice. They did not tell me how they detected it. So I inquired again from the service advisor this morning. He said that it was the condenser in front of the radiator. It seems like I did not understand correctly yesterday. Because my previous car had a leak from the evaporator, I assumed that is the one they are talking about. There was dust collected on it and deteriorated at one location in my previous car. Sorry for misleading you. I am not very good with these things. Please let me know your advice based on this. Thanks again.

Dear All,

My A/C is not working properly all of a sudden. It worked fine yesterday. But I heard continuous ticking sound like a relay on & off for few days under the dashboard. Now the AC light is on. I can hear the compressor cluch engaged. But only slight cooling effect. Can anybody help me find the problem? Thanks.

Do you know where your sight glass is? I believe it's right down in front. Do you know how a sight glass works? Have someone turn the A/C on and turn it down, maybe 60 degrees so that it should be on at all times and run it up to about 1500 RPM on the tach and you watch the sight glass and see if it has bubbles in it. If it does, how many, just a few or is it solid foam? I'm personally betting it is the blend door actuators on the R side behind the glove box. Report back.

Thanks a lot. Looks like there is no gas now. Clutch does not engage, when the AC is on. No cooling at all. But AC indicater lite is on. It does not blink.

I always used to take a single jumper wire from the battery to the compressor wire to see if things worked that way and to find if it was low on freon. Don' know if you can still do it that way, but probably can. That way you can check the sight glass and see if gas is low or not and if it cools that way. If you do this, make sure and unplug the wire to the compressor before you jump juice to it. If it works then, and cools, then you have to backtrack and find where the problem is (could well be a dirty or corroded plug connection) Try unplugging all plugs one at a time, spray some electrical contact cleaner and lube in the plugs and plug and unplug 3 or 4 times to clean contacts. If the clutch isn't engaging there obviously won't be any cooling or foam or bubbles.

Thanks. I went to the dealer today to check what's wrong. According to them, there is a leak in evaporator condenser (One inside the cabin). Replacement will cost $1350.00 with labour. Diognosis cost me $108.00. I do not want to spend so much. But I got to fix it soon as it is too hot these days. What is your advice? Your advice is very much appreciated. I found after market parts for around $175.00 (on internet).