IndyRX300

Wow this is an interesting post. I usually get anywhere between 260-280 miles on my 99 AWD. After watching some videos on youtube , I noticed a big difference in accelleration between mine and the others on youtube. With 220hp and the torque provided, I would have thought the accelleration would be a lot more noticable. I did the throttle cable adjustment and noticed a little difference. It does have nearly 150k on the motor but I am not comfortable at all if I have to cross a busy intersection.

hypervish

I think the RX300 has more than enough power for normal use. I've gone up 12% grade's and more with it. It handles it fine, once it downshifts.

I drive my RX300 hard as hell. And, i haven't found it to be lacking power. I would have liked more power (who doesn't) but for a day to day luxury crossover it's more than enough.

What type of maintenance have you done to your RX300? < You might want to create a new three, if you want to try and solve the acceleration problem.

Mut

I have a 99 RX300 AWD, and I don't think I've ever filled my tank more than 14.5 gallons. That was when my gas light came on and I had been driving it around for a while after. I can manage anywhere from 240-260 miles on a full tank if I'm on the freeway/highway for the most part. But in most cases, I'm doing roughly 200 miles on a full tank - this is mostly from driving through streets.

hypervish

I get about 230-240 miles in the city, driving with a led foot. I can mange 245-250 miles in the city driving easy.

On the highway I can get 270+ miles driving hard. (avg. speed 80mph)

I normally fill up 12.0-13.5 gallons. Always 93 octane.
In the city I regularly get 18.8-19 mpg. On the highway I do about 22-24mpg. I always drive the RX300 hard, only time I take it easy is if I'm with my younger cousins (gotta be safe...LOL) and that's not very often.

I think the RX300 gives great gas mileage, for an AWD SUV. Some of the newer gasoline suv's (not hybrid) get the same fuel economy if not worse than the RX300.

What can I say I love my Lexus!!

cydonia

Sounds like you do not have a check engine light on; I did and replaced one of the oxygen sensors. Average mileage went form 18.9 to 21.4. I probably need to clean a few things too, but that did help.

ilanh

did you change the one near the engine on the one after the catalytic converter?
How did you open it? Did you see the problem. or just replaced it.

Sapricot

Hi everyone, been a lurker here for a little while, since buying an '02 Harrier (import from Japan, cleanest used car I've ever seen). I live in Mongolia and had to wait for my Mongolian license before I could drive it, but as soon as I started I noticed the fuel consumption was very high (first time I checked I had 4.4 km/L). So I looked around and quickly found this thread, where Lexmex and others have handily provided so much good info –*thanks a bunch!

Now, I'm planning to take the car to a mechanic here and have them check on some stuff, but I was wondering what you guys think I should focus on. I.e. what the probable cause it.

I've been getting between said 4.4 and 6.2 km/L for the last few weeks. My CEL is off and I haven't seen it on at all. I had the brakes fixed right after inspecting the car after the import, and was told to change the AT fluid, coolant and oil (gonna do that soon, but according to this thread, seems like these shouldn't have much of an effect on fuel consumption). Nothing else was noted, though I didn't have them check everything.

Is it possible that one or more of the air sensors are malfunctioning without the CEL coming on? The car behaves normally AFAIK –*quick and steady acceleration etc, though idle rpm seems a tad low (usually just under the 2/3 of 1000 line, so about 650 I guess).

Could it be that the horrendous traffic in Ulaanbaatar is the only cause? My average speed is 11 km/h (6.8 mph)... though I do try to turn off the engine whenever I can tell the traffic's really jammed.

Lexmex

Welcome to the Club.

4.4 to 6.2 km/l is 10.35 to 14.58 mpg

Your elevation there is 1350 meters or 4,429 feet. That's almost as high as Denver, and about half as high as Mexico City.

You can hook up a scanner and see if you have any pending codes.

If you are in traffic jams, that's going to screw up MPG. We have them here in Miami and also when I was in Mexico City and that hot heat entering the air intake will just screw up combustion cycles. Usually, not enough to cause a CEL.

If this vehicle was sitting and not getting used much since you imported it, probably a good time to clean the IACV and MAF and do an oil change if you haven't done so. Crappy traffic like I had in Mexico and to a lesser extent Miami (since I am at sea level and it's not as polluted here), did dirty up everything along the air intake path.

I'd be interested to know how many kilometers you have on your odometer to ascertain if anything needs to be done for the ATF.

Best thing you could do cheaply for the time being is pull the battery cables. Then go to take a 15 minute drive (you can do 30 minutes, but I know gas isn't cheap everywhere) and try to get about 100 km/h at least once. Your goal here is to to keep your foot as constant on the accelerator as possible. No sudden jerks or accelerations, basically drive normally as possible.

What kind of octane/gasoline brand are you using?

Also, do you have any kind of emissions testing there?

I take it your Harrier also has the tiptronic shift feature? (I'd love to have that even though some Russian friends of mine with Harriers tell me they wish it were improved).

Sapricot

Thanks for your quick response Lexmex!

Odometer is just above 76 000 km. AT fluid has started getting discolored, which is why I'm gonna replace it soon (mechanic said he expects it to break in about 20 000 km if I don't...) and like I said, having an oil change too. Can't drive around with oil suitable for Japan in the coldest capital in the world (we regularly get -40 ºC in the winter and it's already below freezing in the mornings when I take my daughter to preschool). At least we have an underground garage that stays relatively warm.

Cruising around 60 km/h with absolutely constant throttle (I haven't bothered trying to find the cruise control, since it's basically useless here) I get about 12 km/L (~28 mpg). I think I could get about 10 if I actually had a real highway to drive it on with normal traffic.

I'm using 92 octane Russian gas. I tried 95 once but didn't notice any difference and it's about 11% more expensive.

They do have emissions testing, but they skipped that on import for some reason (probably to save time since there was a long line for inspections and only two stations). The mechanic I go to has a pretty high-tech shop so they might be able to test it for me.

I don't have a manumatic, I think that's the G edition, which I don't have (I have a standard 3.0, FF).

EDIT: I should also add that, by stupidity, I let the battery drain completely the week before I started using it and had to jump start it. This of course reset the ECU but it also reset the memory so I have no way of knowing what average mileage it used to be getting in Japan (the seller might have already reset it, but I can't know that either).

Lexmex

92 works just fine and being at higher altitude you don't need anything higher.

What kind of oil are you running/going to run? I love running 0W oils, but not sure what you have over there.

With emissions testing, I was wondering if they test you regularly? In Mexico City, it was every 6 months, but here in Florida we have had none since 2000 (and then it was only for certain counties). Not having them allows for a bit more modification.

I'd try to aim initially for about 7 km/l. That's about what I eventually was hitting at high altitude with a stock RX300 just before I really started modifying the vehicle. Driving at high altitude is never easy in terms of getting MPG. Main issue is getting enough air in there (one of the reasons I did some ram air modifications in Mexico) and the fact the gasoline needed it to burn better (also was using 92 octane, but it was quite high in sulfur).

Keep an eye on that battery. I've found with my last battery, an Optima Red Top that ended up lasting almost 6 years, that toward the end I wasn't getting as good in gas mileage and was getting some misfires.

Sapricot

Haven't checked what's available in terms of oil yet, will see this weekend. Obviously 0W30 would be good with the extreme cold.

I really don't know how often, if even regularly, they test emissions. I think it might be on a case by case basis (like if the police decide to stop a car that's producing a black cloud all by itself) and that they're supposed to do it on imports.

Yeah, I was hoping for around 7 too (16 mpg). With average speeds in the teens (km/h), I didn't exactly have my hopes up for 20 mpg, but only 12 just seems too low even for this traffic. Now I'll be happy if I can get it to consistently be above 6 km/L, as a first step.

I drive pretty carefully. No rocket take offs and I try coasting to a stop at red lights. The initial 4.4 came from having fun with the new car

Lexmex

Let me know what you find in terms of oil.

Sapricot

I filled up 13 liters couple of days ago (didn't have more cash on me), and the average on that "tank" is 6.2 km/L so far. But traffic has been a bit better than usual and I've been driving very gently. I really think there's something that needs fixing here.

In the weekend I'm going to the mechanic, I'll come back with a report after that. Thanks for helping out Lexmex!

Lexmex

Okay. Let us know if you need any more help.

NyCrAzY

Does fuel injection service at mechanic shops really work?

I have hook ups at this mechanic I know and he said he'll do mine for free next week when he returns from vacation.

Does it actually make a difference? Just out of curiosity :P