Hello all,
I have been a member here for a while but obviously dont post much. I use to own a sc300. I am pretty big in the automotive scene in my area. I have pretty descent knowledge when it comes to cars, I work at valvoline.
Here is my question, I just bought a used rx300 tonight with 100,410 miles.
Car is very clean and seems to be maintained but I never trust a used vehicle. Owner had no records of maintenance. But like I said everything including the engine bay is pretty clean. Here are my ideas to get myself started and I would hopefully like to prevent the terrible transmission failure.
Assuming that there has been only the minimal maintenance at this point because I am unsure of otherwise where should I start?
Here is my list, please help me improve it :
Air filter
Spark plugs
Clean Throttle body and PCV
Change Oil and filter , I'm assuming its had conventional ??
Drain and fill on the trans? should I drop the pan and clean the magnets and replace the filter?
What needs to be done about the transfer case and rear diff?
I've read these motors are non-interference, so when should I worry about the timing belt and water pump?

Please keep in mind it has 100k miles and I am assuming the trans,transfer case and rear diff have never been serviced. So I would like to do whatever involves the least amount of risk of damage to the trans. This is my wife's new Daily driver and I would be happy to post some pics tomorrow. THANKS!

 

Sounds like a good start. Be sure to use the OEM spec iridium plugs. How are the brakes?

 

Coolant
Brake Fluid

Transfer case and Rear differential only if you have an AWD (let us know).

The motor is actually interference. Technically around 90K is when you'd want to do it (easeir to do water pump at the mileage, too), but they can go for a bit longer (timing belt).

Do check the DIY thread a the top of the this forum as there some DIYs for most of the things you mention, let me know if you need anything else.

 

the fact that its interference really sucks. Everywhere I read says non-interference.
Brakes are great look new in the front and the rear rotors have no sign of warping.
Slight shimmy at 80mph+ but its very minor, I'm going to start with having the wheels balanced to see if it helps this. I am taking it to my local lexus dealership tomorrow for a trans service. I am very much a DIY'er I just rebuilt the motor in my turbo miata, but with the price of replacing a transmission in the RX, I would rather have that done by a dealership. The trans fluid is like a purple and not sludgey on the dipstick. The coolant is definitely OEM cause its bright red, and the engine oil looks very clean so hopefully its been somewhat maintained.
Oh and I also order a flex-a-lite auto trans cooler this morning to hopefully help prevent damage to the transmission.

 

Is the dealer going to do a drain and fill or a flush using a machine? Flush machine is the kiss of death IMO. Also, since you are obviously able to DIY stuff, why pay for the tranny service at all? Drain and fill is easier than an oil change.

 

Here is where I get my reasoning with this and keep in mind i worked at Infiniti of Nashville for 4 years so I indeed have some experience. My car runs, drives and shifts fine no problems at all . The service writer at Lexus of Nashville recommended a flush . Now if I take my car in being perfectly fine and they recommend the service if my trans takes a dump then I hold them responsible . They want $200 for the service I'm
not sure if that involves changing the filter
or not. Yes I can easily do a drain and fill on my own but if it causes issues with the trans it's simply my fault. If I let them service it I hold them responsible and that's what I'm going to tell them in the morning when I get there . I know at my dealership if something happened to a car and we recommended and performed the service it was our *** and we had to do whatever it took to make it right with the customer.

 

good luck finding a dealer that will stand behind your tranny failure if you do everything they *recommend*
I would be shocked if that ever happened.

 

congrats on the new RX

looks like you have all the maintenance stuff all covered

 

I've done a flush with my RX at a Lexus dealer about 6 years ago, no issues, but I do understand your reasoning. To my knowledge they normally won't change out the filter.

My second choice at the time I got my RX300 was oddly enough an Infiniti QX4.

 

I am also a new owner and have been reading alot here.
I have just changed out my tranny fluid and filter by myself.
It is well documented that the tranny filter on the rx300 gets clogged
which can lead to failure. Without records you have to assume it has never been done. Normally on a dealer tranny flush the filter is not changed. The reason people report a tranny failure after flush is that the already dirty filter gets more clogged as the newer tranny fluids contain detergents that break up the sludge in your tranny and in turn can totally clog the filter leading to failure. I can see the benefits of a flush as just dropping the pan can only replace 50 to 70% of the fluid. I would reccomend
that the dealer change out your filter after the flush or save some money and
do it yourself. good luck!

 

I suggest you check the brake caliper pins to make sure they are clean, well lubed and slide freely. For some reason, the slide pins seem to get dry and sticky pretty fast which can lead to uneven brake pad wear and maybe even contribute to your shimmy issue. Use a good hi-temp synthetic lube designed for this service. Ditto on replacing the brake fluid.

 

The thing with the flush machines is that as far as I know Lexus/Toyota have never endorsed using these machines and there is no accepted method or accepted machine. So you are going to need to find a dealer that not only does "safe" flushes, but also will back you up with a free tranny if yours dies. They have great coffee and cookies, but ask them to cut a check for over $4k for something that all you can do is speculate that they caused and they will tell you to pound salt.

 

You work at a dealership, you know they're not going to take the hit if your transmission blows because of their recommended maintenance. Especially with 100K+ miles. Unless your transmission blows up leaving the dealership, they'll come back and say it was normal wear-n-tear and that it was just "bad luck." It's not like they replaced a light bulb and the bulb blows up four hours later.... sure, they'll replace that on good-will.

Also, as a mechanic, you should know that anything mechanical has a life cycle and no matter how you baby it, it's just going to break at some point in time. Should a RX engine blow at 150K? Majority won't, but there have been instances of it occuring far below 150K. It happens, getting it done at the dealer is not going to guarantee it won't fail or that they'll take responsibility if it does.

 

I understand what you guys are saying . I had the flush performed and so far so good. They did tell me that the filters were not touched by them. So my plan from now on is to do the work myself. I think maybe after 20k miles? I'll drop the filter and clean it and replace the fluid myself. So far everything is great on the car . I also installed a flexalite auto trans cooler , has anyone else done this? I'd be willing to post pics for those interested.

 

I'd be interested to see the pics for future reference.