Code58,I agree totally with you Re;the engine/trans being some what over worked in the RX.As i mentioned once before on this board,GM tried this with their Turbo 200 automatic transmission years ago.The 200 trans. was designed for a car the size of a sunbird,and then they started using it in larger size vehicles such as the Pontiac Grand Prix.Well,to say the least,it failed miserably.As early as 60,000 miles,the trans was shot,and needed a rebuild.My point is this,Toyota is no different than the rest,to try and race a new vehicle model such as the RX into production.As a result,this is sometimes the outcome.An other example; Chrysler rushed into production the A604 alias,the a "sicko"4.Because everyone(car makers) had a new 4 speed automatic in production,and Chrysler was lacking one.The out come?same thing,big time failures.And these babies went without any warning,kind of like our U140`s. BTW,these are documented facts.Now I am not trying to bash our Lexus vehicles here,I still believe it is one of the finest cars produced,And enjoy driving my RX everyday.Some times i even make up a place to go ,just to drive it. : )

 

If you can believe it, I bought my wife a beautiful (no, gorgeous) '81 Caprice in '85- the car was like new and had every receipt for every bit of maintenance since new. Owned by a retired GM exec.. within a short time, at 60k!- the trans. blew. When I looked at the bill I noticed it said 200 TH. I was familiar with 200 TH because I had worked for a Chev. dealer at one time and the only thing I knew of with the 200 TH was the CHEVETTE! Or the Shov-it, as the mechanics called it. I asked the tranny mech. to tell me that it wasn't the same trans. and he nodded that it was with the addition of lock-up conv.& overdrive. Needless to say, after most of a lifetime of driving GM- that was my last- I haven't driven a GM since! I don't think Lexus (Toyota) screwed up like that but I also don't think they did the right thing by the people who payed good money for their Lexus and expected more trouble free miles then a lot of them have gotten from their transmissions. Three of my brothers have driven Toyota's for many,many years with zero trans. problems but I am a lot more nervous about my DIL's RX 300 (since I am the mechanic) Y/T- Roger

 

Interesting thread. However, no one has chimed in with info requested....I'm interested in how Lexus will deal with this issue now that "extended" warranty is over. Only because this is a known defect that never had a "fix". I have to believe as the years go by there will be more and more sludge issues to surface. And I'll bet some dealers/ owners will have cleaned the valve cover before reselling. Will Lexus really take the attitude that if you got 7-8 years, that's good enough? So as far as this issue being discussed at length before, I contend it wasn't, because then everyone still had some kind of warranty coverage....I've not had any issues, yet, but I gotta be honest, I do lose a little sleep over this....

 

Who knows, If it was serviced at Lexus some dealerships will pony up and give a goodwill coverage. Others depending ontheir management may tell you that you now own them the big bucks. From being on several sites the positive endings are from those that know, or do nothing and have all their service done by LEXUS. For us DIY folks we are no better than whale poop when it comes to getting the same treatment, although our cars may be better maintained than what the stealerships do. It is a crap shoot and you wont know until you are in that circumstance.

 

beachlover,here`s how I look at this whole trans.thing,put a little money aside.Do research for a shop you will take it to in case it does go bad.Have a really good AAA plan (I have AAA premier) since I found out about these issues. Now re;sludge,either run rx cleaner through the engine,or as in my case,I used Seafoam,witch I believe did a great job.

 

Yeah,you had the 200R4,that believe it or not, didn`t seem to have as many problems as the standard TH200.Then they released the 700R4 witch was a decent trans.I think ever since they went to the metric trannies.they have all prety much been hit or miss.(just not built strong enough)Best ones were the old powerglides simply bullet proof. 2 speeds,fast and faster.

 

Seems like were on the same boat...I'm at a crossroad now...my 99RX has 89,500miles....I'm seriously debating wether to keep it and do the T-Belt, Water Pump, Thermostat etc which will probably run $1000+., or wether to just sell it and purchase something else.

I don't mind doing the service, but am obviously worried about a trans failure in the future as I've read throughout the forum( ontop on that, I really don't wanna have to worry about engine sludge too..that'll just drive me nuts

 

All heck, just do drain and fill fluid change on the tranny every 15k miles and use synthetic fluid in the engine and you should be fine.

 

I agree with thomas,thats what I`m doing.Check out what I stated above,to beachlover.Makes sense right?And at least you know what you have.If you get another used vehicle,your starting all over again.

 

beachlover- for one thing- anything is possible but I don't think the dealer would bother to clean the valve covers , he would also have to clean the whole top end because as soon as you remove the covers all the top end is staring at you. For another thing, though the sludge/gelling problem is indeed a major problem- I don't think it has been a problem for the majority
of those people that own Toyota/Lexus in the years that were affected. My brother owned a Toyota P.U. from the years that were affected 3.0 V-6 and never had any problem from s/g. My DIL's 99RX with 120k mi. on dino, 5k oil changes has NO problem with s/g. It's easy to pull the front valve cover and put your mind at ease. If a vehicle doesn't have s/g at this age it's not likely to in the rest of it's life. Sleep well, I doubt that you have anything to worry about!

 

99RX300- Me thinks you guys worry too much about things that likely will not happen. Check some of my other posts- If you have plenty of money, spend it any way you choose. But don't do it SIMPLY BECAUSE Lexus recommends those things at those miles- my feeling is most of them will go FAR beyond what Lexus recommends, possibly over half again as long as recommended. They put some pretty incredible parts in these vehicles. I replaced the original serpentine belt (a/c,alt.) on my DIL's a week ago and it was in very good shape and the power steering is still original at 120k and it looks like it will easily go to 150k. These parts are not at the end of their life at 90k- that is for zero failure (or a warm fuzzy feeling, take your choice). She also has had NO trans. problems or sludge problems at 120k. My advice is, learn to relax, the fact that 90+% of the things that people worry about never come to pass very possibly applies to you.

 

I agree code58,I think the timing belt is probably good till 120,000 too.

 

Timing belt can go a bit more. I have heard of a few cases going past 150K.

 

I agree Lexmex- The quality of all the belts on the Toyota products astonishes me. When I changed the T-belt on my DIL's RX at 97k, I would not have even changed the belt had I looked at it before I bought the new one. At 97k it was it great shape! I just changed the a/c, alt. at 120k and when I got it off and looked at it I wondered if I hadn't wasted the money on that. And I am not one to try and get the last mile out of anything! I always do preventative maintenance rather than repair, but these were just in really great shape yet. A guy that I worked with had the T-belt break on the way in to work one morning on his Ranger Pu (owned since new). The odometer broke at 185k a year or two before so he had no idea how many miles it had on it. He didn't even know it had a timing belt. And I believe that vehicle called for replacement at 60k!!!- Roger

 

You're definetely right! I'm definetely thinking too much about it.

So, the general concensus is that the TBelt could easily go a bit more, what would you say is more prone to failing north of 90k..water pump?

Also, is there a way to find out if there's sludge without removing the top cover.. I saw a few posts that some people took the oil cap off and noticed a gel like? Is that accurate?
What should I be looking for?