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Comments
Pete
Now, driving around on 8" of PACKED snow base is another issue altogether.
If you can assure me that the snow isn't packed down and there isn't a layer of ice somewhere in there from the previous day's "melt" then I'd even take someone's HAZARDOUS FWD out for a spin in the snow, and I don't mean spin as in oversteer.
Snow comes in an infinite number of "flavors".
From dry powder, Salt Lake, wonderful skiing.
To:
Pacific boilerplate, Snoqualmie Pass, horrid skiing.
Over several days we drove in all types of snow pack. I was reporting what I experienced, whilst it seems you are stating an opinion, wwest.
Your driving technique has more to do with you being dangerous in snow than either how the snow is packed or if the Rex is RWD or AWD.
Now the automotive companies can pool their legal resources and come after me "en mass".
But on the other hand maybe not since many of them are busily converting their product line, certainly the upscale ones, back to RWD or rear biased AWD.
Hard braking with no ABS will send any FWD, AWD, RWD into the ditch.
As message 7931 said: " The "AWD" RX300 has just enough drive torque, 5% native, coupled to the rear wheels so that Lexus marketing can't be called liers/"
I don't understand why one wants to put 17" wheels on the RX, then add spacers behind the wheels so he can put chains on rear wheels that has only 5% of transfered power?????
I am done with this for now.
Joe
The '01 FWD has snow mode (starts in 2nd gear) which helps accelerate on slick roads and VSC which prevents sideway skid. (electronic features not available on '99 models)
Tires on FWD cars make a big difference - in general. I'm not that impressed with the Bridgestone Duelers in snow. Maybe Blizzaks or Michelin Cross Terrains would be better - my next experiment. All in all the FWD RX is adequate for driving in mostly flat terrain with usual winter conditions. However, considering the usual price differential I'd go for the AWD.
And the rear chains add a rather significant amount to the circumference of the rear wheels vs the front. I'll leave it to you to figure out how that helps.
My '99 AWD with LSD had/has SNOW mode; presumably the FWD does also since it would have less tractive ability even with the older TRAC system. And I doubt that it was a "running change" to the model line since I bought the car in May of 98, about 2 months after intro.
And the Michelin CTXs were much better than the Goodyear (other than the fact that they fit over the rims, I don't know how these can be called tires) Integritys in all respects, snow included. No experience with the Bridgestones that were a later OEM switch.
I believe it was an "early model" '99 also, but I don't have it anymore and can't remember when it was manufactured. The VSC was introduced on the RX '01 models prior to the "silver sport" trim model.
The '99 AWD with worn Goodyear Integrity tires (50K) was better in the snow than the '01 FWD with brand new B'stone Dueler H/Ls.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't think the Integritys were very good, just the AWD made up for the difference.
I was wondering if you received the updated Nav DVD, and what your thoughts are on it? Does it have any new and exciting features? I'm holding off purchasing until I hear your reaction. Thanks a lot.
I am hoping that Georgia highway info (new highways, etc) have been updated. At least I know I have the latest version.
Was your car a Lexus Certified pre-owned? If so, it has a 100,000 mi or 3 add'l yr warranty from the date of your purchase. If you bought it from Lexus and it wasn't "Certified", then there must have been mechanical problems that they noticed preventing them from certifying it. If not Lexus, then the original seller should have some responsibility to you. It clearly is not "normal" for any Toyota/Lexus engine to need that kind of work done at 39,000. The engine should be just getting "broken in" at that mileage!!
I bought a used '99RX that started using significant amounts of oil after 50K mi, so I traded it. (Discovered the original owner missed a couple of scheduled oil changes early on). These engines need to have the oil changed on schedule (every 5K mi or less).
I'd never buy a used Lexus that wasn't "certified", for this very reason.
mike2000, obviously you are still within the original powertrain warranty. I'd still want to know from the dealer if your problem is due to oil gelling (sludge) or something else. Valve train problems are not common to the 3.0L V6, despite what the dealer claimed. (Even the gelling problem is not at all common; not sure what he's referring to.)
Worn or pitted intake valve seats result in backfiring into the intake manifold, and/or worn and pitted exhaust valves allow compression gasses to enter the exhaust and catalytic converter while still burning.
Either of these would result in an engine ecu diagnostic.
Worn valve stem bearing/sleeves usually result in high oil use, oil enters the compression cycle via the loose fitting bearing/sleeve.
Either of these would be extremely unusual with A Lexus and even more so at this low mileage. Get a second opinion.
Has anybody changed the marker lights on a RX 300. Mine is a 2000 version, and I need to change the bulb on one rear marker light, and replace the other rear marker light housing.
Unfortunately, I cannot figure out how to access the bulb and the screw that holds the light assembly in place.
Before I spend some $$ on buying a chilton manual or something, would any wise ones here have any advise.
PS. The replacement bulbs are available at Walmart, so I would presume that this won't be too difficult to accomplish.
Pete
Unlike a 4X4, you can't just take an AWD off into the woods, off-road, looking for the nearest still, okay?
A former, long ago, Tennessean.
Made myself some extra coins by bringing it to Seattle to sell last fall.
As wwest alludes, the RX300/330 AWD system is designed to provide additional traction in challenging on-road conditions. 4x4 rock crawlers such as 4Runner are pretty different mechanically. There are a couple of threads on these boards that give the details on AWD vs. 4x4 systems.
Upon leaving Portland the climate control was set to 72F and fully automatic. within 20 to 30 miles the cabin had apparently reached 72F as the system automatically switched to cooling mode.
My wife and I were both discomforted by the cool airflow to our faces so I switched the system to footwell only. I can only imagine how much more discomforting it would have been were it "cool" and DRY airflow due to the dehumdification cycle of the A/C were it operational.
By now the blower speed was at the lowest icon mark and we were both feeling fairly "chill" althought I am quite comfortably certain the cabin atmosphere was at 72F.
Turning the heat up to 75F definitely increased our comfort level until the cabin air reached the new setpoint at which time the blower went back to low flow mode.
After experimenting a bit I came to the conclusion that the best settings, wherein we were both most comfortable, was with the blower only one notch below maximum on the icon display, the setpoint still at 75F, and the airflow distribution set for footwell and partial defrost/defog/demist.
At these settings the footwell airflow temperature was about 115F, the windshield airflow was 72F.
AND.
I WAS MISTAKEN.
Apparently warming airflow can to some extent greatly overcome the chill the human body feels from radiant cooling (the lack of otherwise normal radiant heating, really.) on a cold sunless winter day.
I'm in upstate NY and yesterday the local Lexus dealer ran a ad for some used cars. He had 2 RX300 year 2000's listed. Both were equiped the same except for 1 item. One was AWD and the other was FWD. They wanted $2600 more for the AWD. That is almost double the cost when new. Also, the AWD had a couple of thousand more miles on it.
If this happened down South, the opposite would probably be true. Law of supply and demand.
Obviously all dealers are trying to talk me into it but I have been doing only the service recommended by the manual and I don't drive in a way to put me into the special operating conditions category.
Thanks,
jjp
http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=981&location_id=54- 0
They suggest 90,000 miles to change. If I were planning on selling the car at 100 or 120k miles, I wouldn't change. If hoping to get 175,000 or so miles, I would probably change it once around half that mileage.
The '99 was the first model yr. Mine seemed to have more "issues" (bad strut mounts needing replacement, transmission hesitates to shift while engine cold -minor issue) than later models.
If you can afford to go to a 2001 model, I think they had worked out any bugs by then and added some nice standard features like vehicle skid control and auto-dimming mirrors. Also, before you buy, make sure all the oil changes have been done as suggested in the manual. (Lexus dealers should have this on computer for any maintenance they perform). There are reports of engine oil gelling-sludge which has been talked about on this post (maybe rare but very costly problem). Probably wise to buy from Lexus as a "Certified" because of the extra 3yr or total 100K warranty. (I think they only certify vehicles with less than 60K mi)
My 2 cents worth.
Me too Willard. Scary, isn't it? :-)
Jpower, check out the Buying Articles here.
Steve, Host
Jim d.
Popped up the hood and listened. hard to tell where exactly the sound comes from. Maybe a little towards the driver side. It could mean something is initializing...
My car does not have any problem so I don't bother to call dealer. I already noticed this after the purchase and never thought it was a potential problem.
Someone said, when he starts the engine it stops, I am not sure if it stops or the running engine just burries the buzz. My guess is that it has something to do with the ABS/traction control unit.
I hope Lexus people are not telling people they can not duplicate it because they know it exists but they don't to tell people it is NORMAL.
I just want to know what it is. If it is normal, it should only come on when the key is turned to ON position and not when it is inserted.
Next time, I will check with key inserted to see how long it will go on.
No vehicle should be making any noise sitting in your garage with key inserted in igntion ......well not if it is a Lexus anyway.
So far.....Faint flickering lights and buzzing sounds are normal.
No matter what it is, it's normal to me.
My question is: How easy is it to inspect the timing belt?
What is one looking for?
Is the popped one on the front or rear? When replacing only 1 or 2 tires most tire shops will also insist to put the new on the rear, moving the current rears to the front if your popped one is a front.