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sigtauenus

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Everything posted by sigtauenus

  1. Just came out of the garage finishing up a 5 hour project on the wifes 2000 RX300. She had a bad coil on #1 and #2, so I figured since I was diving in, I would go ahead and change all 3 coils on the back of the engine, all 6 plugs, and while I was in there I changed the valve cover gasket on the back (already changed the one on the front a couple months ago) and changed the coolant hose that is under the lower intake. I'm sure a dealer would have done it in less than 5 hours, but I also bet the dealer charges by the book for those things even if the actual labor time is less. Just wondering how many brownie points I can take back to the wife, ie, "hey babe, I saved us $___ by doing that myself." This was a very intimidating project with as much as I removed and put back without breaking or losing anything. I'm very pleased to have this done.
  2. Well, I had also planned on doing a valve cover gasket change. And then I figured I might as well do the radiator hose under the lower intake too while I'm that far into it. I took off the wiper/cowl assembly a few months ago when I did the timing belt (the manual said to, didn't really need to from what I could tell), and it wasn't that bad, particularly with an air ratchet. So Lexus numbers the cylinders alternating vice sequentially down each bank, huh? Did not know that. I've heard a bad coil on the Lexus can make other cylinders misfire, and we changed the cyl 1 coil a year ago with a Lexus part, so I was thinking it was only the cyl 2 coil that was bad. If the cyl 1 coil is actually bad I'm going to be *BLEEP*ed since I spend the extra money for genuine Lexus parts.
  3. DOH!! Sorry, rookie mistake. I usually put the car in the title and forgot. 2000 RX300. Has a P0301 and P0302 which I'm guessing is ignition coils since we changed the plugs about a year ago. I bought 3 coils to change out all the ones on the back as well as another set of plugs, all from mylexparts.com. Replacing all three coils and the spark plugs with Lexus parts since we used cheap ones last time and I don't want to go to the back of the engine again anytime soon.
  4. UPS shows my plugs and coil packs should be delivered Thursday. I figured tonight and tomorrow I'll actually start taking it apart. In hopes of having everything I need, if I pull the upper intake to get to the rear valve cover/coils/plugs, do I need a specific gasket there or is RTV usually used? I did all the hoses on the car and coolant change when I did the timing belt a few months ago, but didn't pull the lower intake to get to the hose that sits under it. If I'm going to have everything that far apart, should I pull the lower intake too just to replace that hose?
  5. Well, I know I replaced 1 on the back and 1 on the front, but don't recall exactly which. I know the one on the back was the one closest to the passenger side so pretty sure that's #1. I just ordered 3 coils from mylexparts as well as spark plugs (might as well, right?), so I'm going to change all 3 on the rear bank and then rotate all 3 through the front bank to identify the problem coil(s) and then keep the 1 or 2 good ones as a spare.
  6. Nevermind. Just realized #1 is on the back if I'm reading this right. I guess I'm pulling the intake tonight after all.
  7. We are at the same point now, transmission will not go into overdrive. I'm glad you mentioned that as I thought maybe the issue was compounding but gut feeling was it was related to the coil. Codes came back P0300 for random/multiple misfires, and P0301 and P0302 for cyl 1 and cyl 2 misfire respectively. At least its on the front bank. I'm pretty sure we changed 1 and 6 last time, and based on other topics I read, there is a tendency for other cylinders to misfire when one coil fails. I suspect the problem is really only with cyl 2 so will check that first to confirm. I need to change the valve cover gasket on the rear bank but haven't because I didn't want to pull the intake. Now I might as well and do both at the same time, ie, gasket and coil packs. Fortunately the rear bank isn't a problem yet, but I'll put that on the list of things to do...
  8. We are at roughly 160,000 miles on the 2000 RX300. We replaced 2 of the ignition coils with Lexus dealer parts about 18 months ago, and today I think another one failed based on the symptoms. I'm about to take it to get the codes read to verify. Engine runs and car is drivable, but it runs really rough at idle with transmission in drive, and runs rough on acceleration. If you step on the gas lightly it is ok but obviously that means it takes awhile to get up to speed. This is exactly what happened last time. Assuming the bad cylinder is not one that we replaced already, should I just go ahead and replace the other 4 now? I deploy with the military and need a reliable vehicle for my wife while I am gone. If this is a case of one going indicating the rest will soon follow, I'd rather spend the extra money on parts now while I can do this myself than pay 2-3 times as much a year from now when my wife takes it to a shop.
  9. I did a timing belt change a couple weeks ago on my wife's 2000 RX300 at 155,000 miles or so, and while I was in there did a valve cover change too. I found some varnish like that pictured below, pretty close to the same color, if it wasn't exact then maybe a bit lighter in color than pictured. There was a bit of sludge in the recesses of the head but nothing significant. I added half of a can of seafoam and am going to drop the oil pan to inspect the contents, change the gasket, and then add a new oil and filter. The engine runs fine, and I can live with its current condition as-is, since it really doesn't look bad for having 155,000 miles on it. I have been using Valvoline Max Life dino oil 5W-30 for the past 30,000 miles (bought car used), but am considering switching to Mobile 1 full synthetic 5W-30 as I've heard it will help avoid the sludge better with the higher engine temps the RX runs with and perhaps even help to clean out some of the varnish on there now. Also, I heard that with higher mileage engines it helps to increase the viscosity to say 10W-30 or 10W-40. I've never run anything besides what the manufacturer specifies. I live in Virginia Beach, so it does get cold in the winter here, so I'm hesitant to change the viscosity on the oil. Opinions?
  10. I'm in the middle of the timing belt change and have hit a snag. I've put the new belt on 3 maybe 4 times now (losing track already) and I can't get the timing marks to stay aligned after I rotate the crankshaft twice. I have the new OEM belt with the yellow marks for the timing, 2 solid ones for the cam and a dotted one for the crank. I have the crank set at TDC, the cams set with the timing pointer aligned with the notch on the rear cover, and install the belt with the yellow marks lined up with the timing marks on the cams and crank. When I rotate the crank twice, the timing marks on the cam sprockets line up with the notches on the rear cover, but the yellow marks on the belt are way off. At this point do I need to ignore the yellow marks on the timing belt and continue putting stuff back together or does the yellow marks need to match up too? I changed a TB on a Camry about a year or two ago and it took me 3 hours total. So far this one is kicking my butt.
  11. That was a great link, thanks guys!
  12. 2000 RX300, driver side sunvisor keeps falling down. No problem for my wife, but I'm taller and it annoys me. Any tips to get it to stay in place.
  13. It is still working all the way up and down, its just grinding. I think if I change it soon I might get lucky. I saw in that other topic instructions on taking the motor apart to remove the pieces.
  14. Disregard, I found the directions. http://rx300how2.home.comcast.net/~rx300how2/antenna_mast_replacement.htm
  15. I noticed today when I turned off the car that the antenna was grinding as it went down. I assume this means I need to replace the motor/cable assembly in the mast. Any tips on this? Is it something I can do myself?
  16. Just wanted to add that I just did this to the driver door on a 2000 and it worked great. I didn't read through all 10 pages of this topic, I just used the first page with the basic instructions and the picture that is still good. I used the $5.50 actuator from parts express and the instructions that were linked to remove the door panel. That came apart pretty quick. I'm sure I would have found this if I had read more pages of this topic, but the only problem I had was finding the unused hole in the assembly to hook the new rod through. I had to remove the 3 torx screws for the latch on the outside of the door, remove one torx screw for the latch around the inside face of the door, and remove a 10mm bolt that holds the bottom of the window track. With that loose, I was able to twist the actuator/latch around enough to get to the unused hole. I did not need to do any grinding or shorten the rod on the new actuator. I set the new actuator on the rod, bent the end up, and then eyeballed the location to drill a hole for a screw to mount to the new actuator, then drilled a second hole 2.25" on center for the second screw, and it lined up great. Color codes listed on page 1 for splicing the wiring worked perfect. Thanks guys, this was a great topic and and a cheap fix to an expensive problem. I ordered 4 actuators in anticipation of the others going bad eventually, and I'm lazy enough that I will probably wait until they go bad to replace them.
  17. BTW, is there anything complex to this? I've done the timing belt on a Pathfinder twice and a Camry, and both were pretty straight forward and easy enough to follow the manual. Anything to watch out for? If I do the cam seals (which I have not done before), can I assume that the valve covers need to come off to get to the cam? And for the RX300, I assume getting to the rear valve cover means removing the intake? Sorry for all the questions, I want to be sure I have all the parts I might need on hand before I open it up and I don't want the vehicle dead lined for too long.
  18. OK, for those who may read this in the future, I took the RX to Southern Performance in Virginia Beach (near intersection of Witchduck and the Blvd), and they have a force balancer, specifically a Hunter GSP-9700. Sam's Club had the original install plus 3 more tries to get it right, and Southern Performance and the force balancer nailed it first try. Drove the car after they balanced the tires and it was smooth as ever. Price was $10 even (each) for the balancing. They told me that'd price match Tire Rack with delivery next time and it would be $20 each for mounting and balancing. Not bad to know its really balanced. Unlimited balancing is worthless at Sam's Club if they can't get them balanced to begin with.
  19. I'll give you my experience and you can chose what you do with it. I have spent my life in automotive work, so am not a beginner. First thing I would say is DO NOT buy aftermarket parts for your RX. You can but OEM parts online for often LESS than aftermarket parts and the OEM parts that T/L uses are some of the finest parts I have ever seen. No comparison to aftermarket parts period! If you are interested in good prices on OEM parts at steep discount, PM me. Whether you chose to replace the W/P and upper idler pulley is up to you, but I cut the parts apart that I replaced (the old ones) with a die grinder and a cut-off blade and they were like new!, at around 130K mi. The one exception was the lower tensioner pulley and it was BONE DRY of grease on the bearing. The amazing part was I mic'd the bearings and they ALL mic'd EXACTLY the same, even though they had obviously run dry for some time. (All balls in all bearings are the same size) The race was perfect also and the bearing was perfectly smooth, though it was bone dry. I believe the reason it ran dry and the others didn't at all is because it is a single row of bearings and all the others ar a double row of bearings. It is the only thing I would encourage you to replace (along with the TB). If you wish further detail, please PM me. Roger Wow, great reply, thank you. I have been using mylexparts.com for OEM stuff. The prices seem reasonable compared to Autozone, and for some stuff as mentioned in another post, even cheaper than Autozone. Have you seen any issues with the TB tensioners? I usually replace the tensioner with the TB.
  20. Thanks. To clarify, if I were getting the TSB done for the previously inferior mount design, the parts replaced would include 11, 12 & 14? Also, should the rear strut mounts be replaced also, or was the problem just with the fronts? This will be some hefty work. Struts all around, timing and accessory belts, water pump and all hoses is easily going to be one large in parts alone and a good weekend to install them. We did spark plugs and a couple coil packs about 15,000 miles ago. I just did new tires, an ATF drain and fill, oil change, air filter. I think I'm pretty close to having all the regular maintenance items done with for awhile. Well, oil and filters never end. I was thinking about also doing a flush of the brake and power steering fluid and the AWD box and rear axle.
  21. 2000 RX 300, 155,000 miles. How long do the struts last? I'm making an order with My Lex Parts and was going to order at least the mount bushings if not the struts too if they are due. As far as I can tell the original are still on, no do I know if the TSB was performed for the mount bushings. Incidently, Lexus front struts are $128 from My Lex Parts and $131 at my local Autozone. As far as the mount bushings go, what is the exact part/part number? If you can identify it on this picture, that would help.
  22. 2000 RX 300, 155,000. Not sure if its the original belt or not, but to open it up and be sure, might as well change it. Accessory belts are squeeling so figure might as well do it all. What all is recommended with a timing belt change? I've done some searches here and see timing belts are pretty rugged, but haven't seen any solid info on the water pump or cam seals. I know those are often changed while the covers are off anyhow for the timing belt, but if they don't have a history of going bad, no need to change them. I'm a DIYer, so I generally buy parts at Autozone and install them myself. I'm planning on also doing the radiator and heater hoses and a coolant change, so doing the water pump now makes sense, but still don't know if its necessary if they don't have a history of failing.
  23. File this one in the "I'm an idiot" category. I topped the oil off, turns out it took 2.5 qts to get it to the top of the line on the dipstick. Wow, lot more than I thought. Wow, lot more than I would think this engine would burn in 5000 miles having never had a history of burning oil. I drained the oil and pulled off the oil filter. Weird, the oil filter is a 3593 and the one I bought today is a 3614. Hmm. I also have a Honda Civic that I changed the oil on today also, so I happen to know the Honda uses a 3593. DOH!!! Turns out they are almost identical dimensionally, but the rubber seal diameter is slightly different and eyeballing it looks like the diameter of the fitting it screws onto is slightly different. So apparently the Honda filter fit good enough to not cause an obvious gusher of a leak, but bit bad enough to leak 2.5 qts in 5000 miles. As for the possible sludge, almost exactly 5 qts came out and I put exactly 5 qts back in. Based on eyeballing it, I'd say the quantities are within 1/4-1/3 quart or less, so not bad considering the filter probably still had some in it too. I'll test drive it here in a little bit to confirm the light doesn't come on under the same conditions, but I think this was a oil quantity issue and not a sludge issue as I first feared.
  24. I was driving my wife's car today (2000 RX 300) and was feeling out the tires and brakes. I did a heavy braking stop, and in doing so the red oil light came on. This is the first time I've seen it. I was on the way to the store to get a new oil filter as I'm doing a oil and filter change. I did the brake check again on the way home, this time to check the oil and the light came on again. I checked the oil and it was barely on the dipstick, so it is low but not excessively low. Then I got on here and started reading and see all this stuff about sludge and oil problems with these cars. I do 5000 mile oil changes but bought the car with 125,000 miles, and it is now at 155,000. I haven't noticed this car burning oil before, so am surprised that it is a little low. I plan on draining the oil and measuring how much comes out, as that would be an indicator as to how much (volume) sludge may be sitting in the oil pan. Is this something to be excessively worried about, ie, the engine could seize tomorrow, or just something to keep an eye on? Suggestions?
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