cardona6569

Hi: You should had changed Transmission Fluid, and since you have not in a long while you should also get the pan out change clean the filter and the magnetic pick ups in the pan. Cabin filter, motor filter, fuel filter when you get to a 100,000 and should replace with the original so you can get another 100,000 out of such. Gook luck. If you do a search on the net you should be able to find the schedule. Also you could buy it in eBay for about 4 Euros. C

The Manual asks to change it if you use your car hard, like 99% of drivers. I would not be bothered with changing it every 20 miles as long as you use Synthetic Fluid such as Amsoil or Mobil, if you use Amsoil you could even go to every 30,000 miles and they even say 50,000 miles. If you use Mobil you could do 20,000, but if you use mineral based oil I would stick with the factory prescribed of 15,000-20,000 miles. You do not want a breakdown that could run you into 1000's of Dollars, Euros or Pounds, etc. CPF

You could buy the Vacuum Switching Valve for about 93.00 US dollars at www.irontoad.com , but remember that shipping into your countries will be a bit more than the 15.00 US dollars in the US and territories. There is also a tutorial on how to plug the valve and not worry about it. www.lexls.com and in the US Lexus forums. I sent for a new one, keep the PS tank repleshish checking it about once or twice a week until you plug or replace. The people that have plug it felt no difference. CPR

Go to the US Club, they have faced smilar problems with the steering. It could be the pump or valve inside the pump, as well as gunk in the rack solenoild. It means you need for the least to flush the power steering system. Seafoam is a good chemical to do so. There is another product called No-Leak power steering that is pretty good to reseal the system once you have it all cleaned and changed the parts. All hydraulic systems tend to leak, no matter if it is a Lex a plane or sub.

C. PR

Bought it privately from a lovely guy that had obviously taken care of it. It is immaculate inside and out, has a full lexus service history upto 150,000 miles. Is now due a B service at its current 156,000 miles. the guy even changed the timing belt and power steering pump just before he sold it.

Rang him and he said he had never had a problem, and i believe him. He even rang his mechanic and got back to me with suggestions as to what it might be.

Anyway i topped up the power steering fluid and the power steering seems better (although not silent, and i think its not as light as it was before). Amazing thing is is that the power seems to be back- the car feels fast again! HOW?? Someone please explain??

Glad you purchased from an honest owner it does give some peace of mind, the only similar issue I have had with noise on the steering was on our Jaguar XJ8 it developed a leak in the pas oil cooler which caused it to drop oil which caused a groaning in steering but it didn't affect the power though, sorry I cannot be more help on this one, I have seen others in the forum suggesting taking a look at the US forum as they seem to be more popular there and there is far more technical help available.

Good luck

The 300 C will be a great car for about 5 years, after that time it will loose value, and will start breaking down a lot. The Chrysler brand has improved quality and reliability quite a lot, but not even close to Lexus/Toyota. In the end you will get what you paid for. It for sure will require 100% more care and preventive maintenance that your Lexus. I had a lot of American cars, some are very good and some are very bad, you just have to be lucky with them, with Lexus you can leave most of the luck outside and end up with a great to good car in 99% of the occasions if you buy it new.

Before I bought mine I have been researching the reliability data for about 10 years of Lexus, GM, Chrysler, MB and Ford, I found out that when most of the others were giving a lot of problems the Lexus were just fine and after the 10 year mark, the Lexus were having a lot less problems that their other counterparts. MB quality has been going down some lately. I have spoken to some owners of even the premium 500 series cars and they said they had a lot of problems with them, because they have too much technology into them which breaks down a lot.

C. PR

I'm due the 100k full service on my RX300se. I want to use a full synthetic oil but which one should I use?

The best oil is Amsoil, you can leave that stuff in your car for 25,000 miles providing you change the filter and check the level every 5000 at least. Second place is Mobil 1 15,000 warranty syntec. Third you can choose between Castrol, Valvoline, Havoline. Valvoline is very good to keep the engine Extra Clean, but would not use all the time because it cleans too much and causes problems at the long run. Like a once a year oil change with that one. Filters, besides the original, I would use Purulator, K & N and even the GM Original filter AC Delco that fits your aplication. Dending on your climate go with the recommended oil since it will save gas and create less problems in the long Run.

C. PR

Did they put the meter across the battery with engine running at say 1500rpm,

with the lights or something turned on?

This would tell you if the alternator was putting out 13 to 14 volts, as previuos writer says.

If it is, it's less likely to be an alternator fault.

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Thanks - I will try this - Pops

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If your Battery is more than 3 years old, is most likely week or bad, it is recommended to avoid problems such as the aforementioned, is to replace the Battery every 36 months. When you do the above the alternator/charging system should be tested to make sure no other components went in your foray. What is most likely happening, seems that most likely your Battery ventured in what I would call, "the gray area." The Battery is not really totally bad, nor totally good!

Your Battery is not keeping enough charge during mortor/charging/operation, then in the morning it recuperates, as part of its reserve and starts the car. They can even be full of Battery water. Sometimes when batteries are in this threshold, they even test good in meters, with the results you have. If you have another car, that you know the Battery is great exchange it and run the experiment, you probably will see no problem starting and running. If you keep running your car as you are doing you will kill the alternator also, since the Battery does not keep enough charge at times. it will make the alternator work harder in fact killing it softly. The click is characteristic of low charge, or in some instances the Battery connections bad, and also the starter. I would go first testing the Battery with a known good one, cleaning the contacts, and last testing the whole charging starting system. If all of this fails then you have some other bad corroded cable, or bad ground, but this is very remote possibility. Go for the obvious the Battery and cleaning its terminals, making sure they are tight and free of corrosion.

C. PR

PCV Valve - http://www.lexls.com/tutorials/emission/pcv_valve.html

I need a new one as mines clogged.

Lexus Canterbury want £18, JagGraveyard in the states via Ebay, new Bosch item - $9.99 + $3.00 p&p!!!! Even if I have to stump up for VAT thats about another quid!

Aint we lucky in this country!!!!!

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Dave, Do what I do and order a job lot of air and oil filter plus fuel and a PCV valve from jagGraveyard in the states.It makes it worthwhile and I did not pay duty.

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Hello: The PCV valve does not need replacement if when you take it out and shake it the ball inside moves, if so just clean it out with Throttle cleaner and put back in, be also sure to check the hose leading to it for oil sludge, if you have neither do not replace the PCV because is good, just a cleaning will do.

C. PR

I just had this issue the other day. I was coming home from an amusement park, and had turned the A/C on on the free way for about 10-20 minutes of driving. I hit a traffic jam, going about 10-15 miles per hour, turned off the a/c to enjoy the hot weather outside. and then all of a suddend when I went to accelerate the car had shut off! I was scrambling to get to the side of the freeway emergency lanes. This had happened once more with me before. Usually the A/C is never turned off when my family drives it. So does cleaning the throttle solve the problem completely?

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Hello: More than likely cleaning the Throttle will solve the problem. Also put fuel injection cleaner. The problem will solve when you run the car a bit hard for a day. A bit hard is stteping down on the gas so it gets more flow of gas going. It should take about a day or two and your problem should be gone. Need to check air filter also. If all these fails I would replace fuel filter. You can also clean the Mass/airflow sensor as last resorts. You can do it yourself cleaning the Throttle.

C. PR