ChrisKaye

If you look at the front window, you should see some heating elements that the blades sit above when at rest that come on with the rear window defrost/defogger, are yours within this area bill?

Nope that's not right! My drivers wiper stops parallel to the front pillar, yours look well off so I would head straight back to the garage to say it didn't do it prior to the recent works and please could they sort it! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I like my air suspension but haven't driven a non-air RX so have no comparison. Just go into it with your eyes open, the air struts WILL eventually wear out and need replacing, 80-100k miles seems to be the limit on the original struts, from my experience, the rear strut metal will rust/rot away and up front, the air bags are likely to leak air before the struts corrode to nothing!

Tyre and alignment issues can cause the lights to come on when braking or even going around roundabouts quickly...

Hat off to you for even considering this venture! The 'electric motors will burn out' seems a load of twaddle to me, I'd be more concerned with getting stuck and having to deal with a CVT gearbox, no control over the AWD system and inability to easily disable traction control (should the need arise to try and 'rock' my way out of a slippy situation). If you do end up taking this adventure on, I'd consider changing wheels to a 15" or 16" alloys and getting decent all terrain tyres fitted! Best of luck! Chris.

When working out the "extra" miles I'd have to do per annum before the cost of fuel savings added up to cancel out the higher tax of owning an RX350 vs an RX300, it wasn't worth it for me, but if the cost wouldn't have been an issue, the 350 would have been my car of choice. Also, I feel the cost of tax would hinder reselling the vehicle, if I ever do - hence this discussion now!

Also, if attempting to "pop" them out, wait until they are warmed up after a run so the plastic isn't cold and brittle. You could always order a couple of spare clips from Lexus for a couple of quid each and have them to hand before you attempt removing the lining!

Hi Piers, Haven't changed the side indicators yet, I thought they twisted and/or popped out but will look it up before attempting it! Chris.

Hi, thank you for the info Bilmac! I have actually seen some videos for compressor repairs Mr Bagpipes has on YouTube so am aware of him and his Audi. The little project I have to retrofit a common type of airbag/spring to used lexus air struts is on hold until we are out of winter, then I intend to do a proper write-up for the site. I consider myself lucky I managed to get a full set of air struts in pretty good condition from an RX owner who's compressor went and he changed his car to coils. The ones I pulled off my RX were pretty shocking (pardon the pun!) but will make great Guinea pigs for my Franken-strut approach. :) I will also look at writing up changing out the top-mount bearings on air struts as the parts are less than £50 but Lexus won't let you do that and want almost £1200 for a whole strut with mount! Tanks again!

I have tried the cheaper ones to the Bosches and they don't last as long! So now I stick with the Bosch Aero style that replaces the metal wiper arm with a plastic strip, they seem to work well! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think they are connected to the anti roll or sway bar - it threw me when I first took one off as I assumed they were attached to the struts. The body of the units are on/near the rear axle mount with the rear diff in the middle, you then have two little drop links (like in the picture) that connect to the sway bar (iirc!)

Hi Rich, Yep, I think the compressor is near the left/nearside rear wheel bumper area. I never tried activating system with a strut off, was worried it may knock the car off the axle stands. It would help if you had Techstream on a laptop as would show you codes for the compressor & allow you to manually trigger & test and also clear any stored codes without having to do the 3 cycle thing. Before giving up on the compressor, when you have everything hooked & bolted back up, disconnect battery for 30 mins and then try again. If the compressor and everything is good, you have to set the car to Lo, wait for compressor to stop, then N, wait for compressor to stop, then Hi...

Hi piers, I just noticed in ours the other day that I hadn't changed the sun visor vanity mirror bulbs when I swapped some out to LEDs - have you done yours? Unsure if they are 501's tho. Only places I can think of (if you haven't swapped them yet) is the side-lights and side indicators.... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm back from a 34m round trip of urban and rural roads and I think the shifting has improved - there were a few occasions where I was sure I'd get a hard shift but smooth as silk, mpg was 28.6mpg and I wasn't driving miss Daisy all the time! I think I'll check tyre pressures tomorrow as it's been a couple of months to see if they are all still at 33psi (which for me is the best trade off between economy and comfort!) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The sensors are dual purpose, they control the auto-levelling headlights and height (if you have air suspension) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi, they are the same parts on the rx300 and 350. Also there are two at the back and two for the front wheels. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Piers, Great find, those Ruskies are full of useful info for RX300's! The link didn't work on my phone (I think there may be a stray character in it) but this one should be fine: http://st.club-lexus(blocked word)/files/light_373.pdf Ta! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just back from a 5 mile test drive and full refuel from virtually empty. Engine slightly smoother, too early to tell regarding shifting. I was gating around 25mpg from a tank and have a 30+ mile journey later today so will see if mpg improves any. My MAF didn't look too bad and the ECU didn't seem to care. Other posts I have read have stated that if you're MAF is totally replaced or very clogged & cleaned, when you start the car after it may run rough as it is still compensating for the original problem which should now be fixed - if this happens to you, the ECU should be reset by taking the Ground wire off the battery for 20+ minutes which will make the ECU erase it's memory and re-learn the individual car and driver's characteristics. Resetting the windows and moonroof and radio is a bit of a pain so I am happy to not have to do that! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Right, just cleaned my MAF and IAT (Mass Airflow and Intake Air Temp sensors). See pics below. Pop off the connector to the MAF, by depressing the little tab above the wires and gently wiggling it as you pull the connector towards the windscreen. Carefully unscrew the MAF from between the air filter box and throttle body. It has 2 Phillips head screws - find the best fitting screwdriver you can for this job, these screws are notoriously soft metal! Once undone, pop into your pocket to keep them safe. Pull up on the MAF and the little unit will pop out so you can take it over to your work area to clean it with contact cleaner or MAF cleaner spray. The MAF "wires" are inside the tube so just liberally soak a few times. Using a cotton bud and cleaner, clean the IAT so it is browny/red and shiny. Do not use force on the cotton bud, just gentle wipes. Using a rag or kitchen towel, clean the plastics to remove grime, dust and debris from the body of the sensor. Clean the screw heads to make the screwdriver fit better when re-installing. Leave the unit somewhere warm for 10-15 minutes (or blast with a hairdryer on low heat) to ensure all cleaner has evaporated before re-installing. Clean the hole where the MAF fits into to ensure the MAF seals back into the top of the assembly. Gently put the screws back in and tighten down, hardly any torque is required so don't over tighten them, you'll strip the heads! If you have dielectric grease, pop some on the connector and reattach it. I've not reset my ECU and this maybe necessary, I'm going on a quick test drive and will report back!

So oddly can't find any posts with pictures for the Mark II RX 300 for cleaning the MAF sensor! I did see on another post that a dirty MAF can interfere with shift points on automatic boxes: "In many cars the air flow sensor signal is used to determine automatic transmission shifting points. A problem with the airflow sensor could alter the shifting pattern of the automatic transmission." So will be interested to see what (if anything) it does to mine!

Here's a pic of a height levelling sensor from the RX300 and the service manual page underneath with other useful info. This pic came from a post on this forum, unfortunately I can never remember who (boxbrownie?) originally posted it!

I'll see if I can dig up a post from elsewhere on checking air filter and cleaning the MAF on an RX...

Yep, I have some good electrical contact cleaner spray already that I've used before to clean a MAF on our Celica, so saves having to buy anything! It's important to use one that leaves no residue once dried.

+1 for Katabrontes post! There is a great guide for cleaning the height sensors on here, well worth a try! If you have a multimeter, you can also test the height sensor before and after cleaning to know for sure if that is the problem...

Sounds like your MAF sensor and air filter could do with checking and a clean (I'll be doing mine soon and will try and get some pictures) - start with the simple things. As for the gearshifts, I have noticed that it can be confused (hardshift) when slowing down to about 10-15mph (approaching a mini-roundabout, for example) and then accelerating to get back to 30mph if there is no traffic and you don't have to stop. This doesn't happen if you put it into sports mode and manually control the gears but is cumbersome and not practical it must be something to do with the shift program in the ECU and is probably more noticeable in the UK/Europe than the US (due to road layouts & lack of roundabouts!)