The Manxman

It all seems to be pointing back to what I said originally about it being a worn or warped front disc xCELSIORx? I don't know how experienced a mechanic you are so apologies if I'm saying stuff you already know, but you can't just look at a disc on the vehicle to conclude it's fine. Chances are you've got 280mm+ discs on the front? In which case you only need one disc to be warped by less than 2mm for it to both affect the feel of the steering AND make some pretty horrible noises - clunks, squeals etc. I'm (still) all but convinced that's where your problem lies. Obviously you need to be careful. If it IS a warped disc, and the caliper 'grabs it' while you're driving, it won't give you any warning and you'll just become a passenger. It happened to me in (coincidentally in a GI Toyota) a few years ago. Only the launderette knew how frightening the experience was!

I'm pretty sure (though not 100%), that Toyota UK don't supply inner tie rods to anyone other than authorised Service Centres. So if it is the inner tie rods, the only option other than having the problem investigated and resolved by an authorised Service Centre, would be to pick up some rods from a scrapper. The problems with that however are three-fold; First, it'd take a lot of time and messing about to remove the rods from the scrapper without damaging them. Second, it'd be impossible (visually) to know for sure that the rods from the scrapper weren't damaged either. Thirdly, you could go through all the messing about, fit the rods from the scrapper, and then discover that still hasn't resolved the problem. Unfortunately I suspect there's no worthwhile shortcut to resolving the problem yourself. It sounds like the only surefire way of addressing things would be to take it in, and have the problem diagnosed by an authorised Service Centre (regardless of it being an import, grey or otherwise). If it's any consolation, it is worth remembering that any respectable/half-decent authorised Service Centre shouldn't charge you for diagnosing and/or confirming the problem. Also, you'd have no legal obligation whatsoever to have the work carried out by them. So in any case, you might as well at least use them to confirm 100% what's causing the problem, and then make a decision from there. Keep me posted anyway. Cheers, The Manxman.

Hello All. I'm new to the LOC Forums so bear with me if I should have found something about this topic already. Have there been any reported incidents in the UK of any RX models having wayward accelerator pedals? I had a real fright in February when my RX300's accelerator stuck open. Put it this way... only the launderette knows how I really felt! I took it to my less than helpful local authorised Lexus dealership and explained specifically what happened. Their response being "the RX isn't on the re-call list", as if that should somehow put my mind at rest having just had the journey from hell! They 'assured' me that no RX's in the UK have EVER suffered the well documented problem of the poor fella and his family in the USA, but having witnessed my own, genuinely very scary incident first hand, I can't really say my mind's at rest when I get in the car... simply because the RX isn't on a re-call list. Any comments, thoughts, similar anecdotes etc. would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

That sounds very much like a front disc (specifically) that's binding. Either through heavy wear or even a slight warping of the disc itself? For confirmation, check visually for any grooves on the discs themselves, and look for any blue discolouration of the disc surface as soon as you can after ending a journey.

I've just signed up to the Lexus Owners Club website, and yours was literally the first posting I came across. I have a 2004 RX300 SEL with 42,000 on the clock. Over recent weeks I began to feel what I can best describe as a 'slight wobble' on the steering wheel. This only came on after I'd been driving for 15-20 minutes once the engine was up to temp. The problem has since got steadily worse, to the point where it now feels like I'm almost driving on square wheels. Sadly, past experience has taught me that my local authorised Lexus Dealership lost interest in me as a customer once they had their hands on my money. I took my RX to them and they said there was nothing wrong with it. However I've now discovered a 'good old fashioned motor mechanic' nearby with 35 years experience. He took one look at the wheels of my RX, i.e. literally walked round the car, and advised me that my front nearside disc was binding. To prove his initial diagnosis he took the temp of both front discs. The offside registering 18 deg C, and the nearside registering 44 deg C. I know this little story isn't much help to you (at the moment), but I'm taking my RX back next week, so he can have a 'proper look' and diagnose the actual cause of the binding. So I'll report back here once I know the cause myself. Without wishing to alarm anyone unnecessarily, he has advised me in the meantime that for safety reasons, I should avoid driving much above 30mph, and avoid long journeys if at all possible. A case of 'watch this space'.