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SUVs Lexus RX 300/330/350 Lexus RX 330 Maintenance and Repair
1739 messages, Last post on Nov 29, 2009 at 4:00 PM
You are in the Lexus RX 300/330/350 Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 24, 2008 6:30 pm) When the RX was in the design stages they had to find a way to "beef-up" the Camry transaxle so it could be used in a heavier vehicle AND have decent towing capacity. As you may have noted there is not a lot of spare space left over in the engine compartment for a sideways mounted engine and transaxle and now with the RX a center diff'l and PTO, Power Take Off. So something HAD to go/give. So the traditional ATF gear type pump with fixed spring pressure relief/regulator and pressure holding accumulator was abandoned in favor of real time pressure control used a PWM (Pulse Width Modulated) electric solenoid. Substantial space/weight saving plus significant improved FE. But there proved to be a "hitch" in the "get-a-long". If the engine happened to be at idle, no substantial ATF pump flow capacity, and the real time ATF pressure control suddenly called for high pressure it simply could NOT happen. A few of the conditions under which that would soon prove to happen are spelled out quite clearly in a TSB issued for the '92 Camry in the spring of '93. Toyota, CLEARLY, did not foresee those happenings. So the '99 and '00 RX300's had horribly premature transaxle, 70-80,000 miles, failures as a result. By the time the '01 RX300 rolled off the production line Toyota had recognized the problem and came up with a quick, and what proved to be a "dirty" fix. They reprogrammed the Real time pressure control solenoid to sustain the ATF pressure for longer durations. When I purchased my '01 AWD RX300 it came with the towing package which includes an external ATF oil cooler. But even that, apparently, was not enough to provide the extra cooling my ATF required due to the extra ATF pumping capacity required under the new pressure control design. At ~40,000 miles the ATF in my transaxle looked dirty and smelled burned so I did a drain and fill, twice. It turned out that while the owners manual had no requirement of ATF scheduled maintenance for the life of the vehicle, Lexus (actually LEXUS, not just the dealer) was now recommending ATF FLUSH and refill every 15,000 miles. So as of the RX330 DBW was used to allow the original ATF pressure control firmware to be used by still have a transaxle and ATF life within reason. As a result the driver of RX330 and RX350 might encounter a downshift delay of 1-2 seconds in the conditions, sometime DIRE circumstances, defined in the Camry TSB. And I would advise you to Google for.. wwest "two-layer" defrost/defog/demist The entire Toyota/lexus product line is subject to instances of sudden windshield fogging, sometimes fogging so complete that all forward visibility is lost, as a result of thoughtless design on the part of NipponDenso, Denso US. Not to mention the problems of "dirty gym socks" odor emanating from the HVAC system. |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 24, 2008 6:30 pm) A bit of a strange BEAST, that one. The RX3X0 series is, and will likely always be, primarily a FWD vehicle, best referred to as F/AWD. The earlier AWD RX300's has a VC, Viscous Clutch, mounted across the center differential that would provide some moderate level of "locking" of the center differential. By the time the '01 rolled off the produstion line Lexus had added VSC and TC, Traction Control. The adoption of TC made the VC virtually useless so as of the '01 the VC fluid was reformulated to remain flaccid except for extreme (read "NEVER" happens..!!) cases. Instead TC is used to brake, moderately, any wheel that develops wheelspin/slip due to engine torque and thereby sustain and redistribute, hopefully, torque to wheels remaining with traction. Due to other considerations, the possibility of brake components, rotor and pads, overheating, not to mention the potential for loss of control being EXTREME otherwise, the engine is also instant dethrottled. For the RX300 series fuel starvation using EFI was adopted. The RX330 series abandoned the use of the VC entirely. So many customers voiced dissatisfaction with this "braking" technique to implement the RXes F/AWD system that newer models have the ability to disable TC...and subsequently...VSC, in order to "escape" from the many common instances wherein the TC F/AWD braking technique has proved to be inadequate. There is word that the 2010 RX series will be getting an entirely new AWD design, hopefully we will be able to refer to the new one as R/AWD.
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Replying to: wwest (Nov 25, 2008 11:03 am) I know the AWD in a FWD lay out design is kind of useless. I much rather get a FWD RX330, but this one appears to be an excellen used RX so I will take the AWD part. My biggest complaint with our RX300 was its lousy turning circle. Do you know if the oil filter mount is changed to vertical position or is still horizontal like it was in the 3.0L engine? Joe Joe
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Replying to: jodar96 (Nov 25, 2008 11:41 am) 1. The transaxle downshift delay can occur, unpredictably occur, in the worse of circumstances, potentially putting everyone's life at risk. 2. Same goes for the sudden windshield fogging. 3. The TC braking method is not adequate, CLEARLY not adequate, to provide truly functional F/AWD capability in many common wintertime circumstances. 4. Even the RX owners manual will advise you that a higher traction level at the front vs the rear can too quickly lead to an accident due to loss of directional control. Yet for the RX tire chains or cable chains are to be used ONLY at the front. Absent modification no traction devices can be used at the rear due to the low clearance between the rear tires and suspension components. My '01 AWD RX300 has 1.5" wheel spacers all around so I can use rear chains FIRST, and then add the front chains only if required. For my '01 there were two (maybe three for the newer RX330 series) c-best options that the dealer can set to help alleviate the problem of sudden windshield fogging. |
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The 2004 RX we picked up has slight moisture in passenger side headlight. It appears that the moisture amount varies with outside temp. Anyway, it is not normal nor acceptable. The RX has 36K miles but it is four months over its 4 year warranty. When I took it to my local Lexus dealer, he said it costs $1488 to replace it. I never liked the HID just for their replacement bulb/headlight cost. I stayed away from these when I was looking for my 2001 E430. With RX330, there are a lot more out there with 18" wheels/HID headlight than with 17"/halogen headlights. Has anyone had similar problem with 2004 HID headlight moisture? This one was built 6/2004. Does Lexus have any kind of good will gesture on these expensive headlights after their warranty runs out. Thanks, Joe |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Dec 01, 2008 2:28 pm)  ) you should comment how expensive it is to replace the lights -- that same thought went through my mind. Ours is just out of the 3 yr. warranty (it's 3, not 4, right?). I'll take to the dealer anyway and see if it's covered somehow. The only thing I think they may say is that it is caused by someone backing into us and causing gasket to fail -- allow moisture in. Best of luck with yours. Tom
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Replying to: modfather (Dec 01, 2008 4:40 pm) Take it to the dealer right way......... |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Dec 01, 2008 2:28 pm) On the other hand if your vehicle sat outside on a lot unused for a period of time the accumulated moisture may go away with a few weeks of regular use of the headlamps. The resulting heating/cooling cycles will tend to "pump" the moisture out of the assembly.
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Replying to: wwest (Dec 02, 2008 10:55 am) I have thought about taking the high beam and side marker and parking lights out and run a hairdryer through the high beam opening. For close to $1500, I will look at any option here. Joe |
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Replying to: jodar96 (Dec 01, 2008 2:28 pm) I got rid of my rx because I got tired of the warranty work due to various problems: rattle on dash under speaker, plastic around the outside window flying off while I was driving, mulitiple computer chip malfunction, headlight stuff, and I read here about the rx300 transmission guck that Lexus put out a bulletin about it. I guess owners were beginning to replace their trannys about 60-80k at what the people here wrote, $ 6000-8000. We have had five Toyota brand cars and about 4 hondas, and now 3 Acuras. Never until Lexus did we ever had a big repair, and indeed just tune ups and that was it. Finally, the future cost of maintenance at where we live, currently $ 200 an hour, was not worth to keep. Good luck to all and stay safe. jensad 
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