jetdoc

Just want to introduce myself to you fine folks. My wife just purchased a "previously owned" RX300 Lexus, 2001 w/75k on it. We bought it from Lexus of Annapolis, Md.

Car fax was clean. The dealership printed up a report on the servicing of the SUV from when it was new. It was dealership serviced, on schedule.

Its a very very clean car, rides very smoothly. This is our first Lexus and wow have we missed out. The car rides smoother than most any car I've owned. The dealership was first class, the waiting room was stocked like a small restaurant, lol.

We were very impressed from when we walked in, until we left. We hope the RX300 continues to impress.

I did my research and did see a few issues with the 300. They fairly typical MAF problem.

I did see a oil gelling problem. I have a friend who owns a foreign car repair shop and I asked him about it. He stated if the oil was changed, on schedule, then there should be no problem. I also called two separate dealerships up and talked to the service managers, they both said the same thing. I was also advised that these 300's have no tranny filter, so the fluid should be changed every 15k or you will eventually be dropping in a new tranny.

Not sure if you guys have heard of these issues? Are there any others I should be concerned with?

Hope to exchange and learn from you all on this forum over time.

Ron, aka, jetdoc.

blueridge

Hi and welcome! I have a '01 with 106K on it. I can tell you these transmissions do have a filter on it. I had to get smart with the dealer here in Charlotte a few times when they told me: "It doesn't have a filter...Oh, but it does have a strainer". Umm, news flash....it's the same dang thing!

If the pan has never been dropped you have a metal "strainer". If it's been replaced you will have a "filter" made with a paper material. You can no longer get the metal strainers and if you have one, you can usually just clean it out. If you have a paper filter it has to be changed.

jetdoc

Bluderidge, thanks. I will have to get up in there to find out I suppose.

lexus114

Jet,is your RX all wheel drive? If so,you have a little work to do.Dont worry,basically easy things to do.Also if your worried about the gel condition of the motor,pull a valve cover.And if your like me,(too lazy to do that) get yourself some Auto RX,and that will help keep your piece of mind.I basically did that,only with Seafoam instead.When i first changed the oil on my RX,the oil would back up when pouring it in the engine.(probably not a very good sign)Now it pours rite in their.
Ryan

jetdoc

Hey 114, yes its all wheel.....whats a "little" more work to do? What is Auto Gel? Its an oil additive?

lexus114

Okay.With the AWD,you want to change the trans fluid/filter and the front differential aprox 4.5 qts. total w/new filter.Change the transfer case/rear differential oil to a 75-90 synthetic oil (these are posted on the diy sections) You probably should do an auto RX oil treatment,(cleans out the motor real good) then after that is done,go to a good synthetic motor oil.Everyone has a different opinion on the motor oil of choice,I personally like the Mobil-1 0W-30 advanced fuel economy oil,the Pennzoil Platnum 5W-30 synthetic oil,and the German Castrol 0W-30 European formula synthetic oil.As far as the transfer case,and the rear diff. oil.I prefer the Royal Purple max gear synthetic oil 75-90,or the Amsoil max gear synthetic oil. Plus,when your drop your transmission pan,you can tell alot about the over all health of your transmission.

blueridge

Good stuff, just follow the "basic application" unless you're engine is sludged which is highly doubtful. The Auto-RX does wonders for high milage engine's seals, deposits, etc.

I went with Royal Purple 75W-90 in the rear differential and transfer case and noticed a lot of improvement.

With the ATF I went with Royal Purple "Max ATF". I also tried Amsoil, both are high quality products and may extend the life of your transmission. Most on here swear by the Amsoil. As Lexus114 stated, drop the pan and clean it out, change out the filter too. The majority of Lexus dealers only do drain and fills.

Check out the DIY sticky

jetdoc

Thanks everyone. I know the dealership said they just changed the fluids, (engine for sure).

I think its worth doing a complete swap out of fluids though?

blueridge

If the rear diff, transfer case, and ATF are all current then I'd say it may be a little overkill to do the the fluids over again except for the ATF.

Most Lexus dealers only do a drain and fill, I'd want to drop the pan and clean out the pan and magnets to see how the wear is going. Clean out the filter if it's a metal filter or change it if it's a paper one. Then filler er up with Amsoil or Royal Purple ATF...Cheap insurance.

jetdoc

I've not really been able to find out much about the tranny issue on the 300. Is there a known issue and the tranny is a POS or will keeping up with the servicing keep it in good running order? Why is the tranny built so sensitivie or is it just a weak tranny?

mikey00

You will get differing opinions on this. I am in the weak POS camp. But that's just the trans, overall I have been pleased with my RX. It was soon after I purchased my 2001 new that I became aware of the failing RX transmissions. Back then it was mostly 1999s that were failing and it looked like maybe it was just a 1999 problem. Then a year later it looked like maybe just a 1999-2000 problem. Then 2001. There is not enough data available yet to say for sure that the problem goes into 02 and 03 but I bet it will. In 04 the RX changed to drive by wire which gave the ECU much more control over the transmission. I bet this is the year that will finally show improvement. I thought that I would escape the failure with my 15K trans fluid drain and fill schedule along with my wife's light foot and easy commute. Not so, It failed at 130K. I think it would have failed even if I did weekly drain and fills or flushes. Some claim it is owners causing the problem by not letting trans warm enough before using highway speeds. Others claim it's the trans getting too warm and want to add additional cooling and so on. Do a search on RX transmission failure in this forum and also out on GOOGLE and you should be able to form your own opinion. You know mine.

blueridge

The RX-300 transmission is a U-140, so is a 4 cylinder Camry.

jetdoc

Mikey, thanks for the info. I now feel like an idiot as I didn't do my research on this BEFORE we bought vehicle the other day! We've had it since saturday....man is that messed up. Oh well, live and learn.

I figured a not so old Lexus would have to be a pretty reliable vehicle?

I will do some of the reasearch you suggested Mikey and try to prevent as much damage as possible, if thats possible.

Man will my wife be sad by this news...maybe I wont' tell her....for now.

lexus114

Well doc,if you don`t tell her,and it goes,your gonna feel pretty bad.Thats just my opinion.(take it for what it`s worth) Honesty is the best policy my friend. Oh,btw,I didn`t know about these failures untill after I bought mine. (STUPID CONSUMER REPORTS)

thomas1

I feel the constant city driving is the culprit. Seems the folks with lots of highway miles get much better life out of their transmissions. If you do a lot of city driving say under 45mph deselect overdrive so the transmission isnt constantly searching for overdrive...May or may not help. Where is live my wife does nothing but, and in the summer it really can get hot here, I would tend to believe she would be considered servere conditions for the car.... My neighbor had exact same car, but did mostly highway and her transmission lasted to 168k miles, mine went 100k with 30k mile fluid changes before the failure. Now I change it every 15k or less.