Please does anyone know a good mechanic for RX300 in Lagos , i have been told they would be toyota mechanic but i still havent found one that can solve the problem. Please if anyone knows please can u give me d info its very urgent

thanks

what is the problem? There is nothing so different about an RX-300. It essentially uses a variant of the same 3.0L V6 found in Toyota Highlander, Toyota Camry, Toyota Avalon and Toyota Sienna.

Tell me the riddle,, perhaps I can tell you the interpretation

@Midas 02

Thanks for taking intrest in the post.

A big brown point if you can help out with this problem

The problem started as if the plugs were wet,it was making some funny noises
Those kinds of noise only comes on when car plugs are wet ,it was sluggish as well ,wont accelerate well at all. It still drives but slowly !

I have removed the Iridium plugs and put in new one ( Cost N2000 each @ elizade but ordered if from yankee via a friend).The whole set of plugs have been changed but same problem.
Another mechanic diagnosed it to be a problem with the Coil on the plugs ( each plugs carry individual coil ) Coils were changed but fault still not fixed.

Another mechanic said it might be problem with the fuel supply ,nossils were cleaned and re-calibrated .This really did not solve the problem as well.

I am at a breaking point now because,another person diagnosed it to be a valve issue .One of the cylinders seems not have compression .
They now want to open the engine ,am sure you agreed with me that this is really a scary option .

Do you think i should allow them to open the engine and possibly check the Valve seal.

By the way did i mention that along the line a mechanic advised that the fuel pump in the engine might be responsible , though i have not changed that yet .

You are a super star if you can crack this tough nut .

You are obviously in trouble!! 

The only way to resolve this is to walk you thru the process - any other thing will be trial and error (like they have been putting you thru).
The noise you described suggests to me that you have some cylinders that are not performing. (wet plugs generally mean zero ignition which means no compression in that cylinder)

I honestly feel like beheading some mechanics in that Lagos!!! This should not be a trial and error thing - it should have been systematically approached by a simple elimination process! (without you buying a single unneccessary part!)

Here is your first assignment:
1) Have a competent mechanic perform a compression test on all your cylinders. The compression test must be done with a proper compression test meter.
2) I want to know the reading on each of the six cylinders (e.g: 165psi on cylinder 1, 140psi on cylinder 2,,,,,,,, etc)

I also suspect that you have issues with more that one cylinder, cos one cylinder shouldn't disable a V6 engine so badly as you described. We shall see.

Let me know.

use an obd 2 reader to see if there are any codes , and if there are u know exactly where to go , instead of trial and error which always ends up damaging ur ride

good luck

I'll say you run a computerised diagnostics on your car.
You'll be sure on what to do next.
I'm sure your 'check engine' light is indicated.

Kind regards.

@ama27
Some questions:

1.Does the car idle or stops immediately after start?
2.When do you observe these symptoms,when hot,cold or all the time?
3.What year is the RX?
4.Be patient and please say systematically what you observed when this problem started. Don't assume what the problem is pls.

folarina:

@Midas 02

Thanks for taking intrest in the post.

A big brown point if you can help out with this problem

The problem started as if the plugs were wet,it was making some funny noises
Those kinds of noise only comes on when car plugs are wet ,it was sluggish as well ,wont accelerate well at all. It still drives but slowly !

I have removed the Iridium plugs and put in new one ( Cost N2000 each @ elizade but ordered if from yankee via a friend).The whole set of plugs have been changed but same problem.
Another mechanic diagnosed it to be a problem with the Coil on the plugs ( each plugs carry individual coil ) Coils were changed but fault still not fixed.

Another mechanic said it might be problem with the fuel supply ,nossils were cleaned and re-calibrated .This really did not solve the problem as well.

I am at a breaking point now because,another person diagnosed it to be a valve issue .One of the cylinders seems not have compression .
They now want to open the engine ,am sure you agreed with me that this is really a scary option .

Do you think i should allow them to open the engine and possibly check the Valve seal.

By the way did i mention that along the line a mechanic advised that the fuel pump in the engine might be responsible , though i have not changed that yet .

You are a super star if you can crack this tough nut .

Did all this problem start one day(suddenly), progressively or did something happen, just before then?(service, a friend borrowed car, driver drove car before you, redlined tachometer, anything out of place will help).

Those cars just don't start limping without something being out of place.

Did any of those who worked on your car initially even pulled the codes?
A spark plug problem will not make any noise, it wi just drive with a miss in cylinder firing as if your car is missing a heart beat in its rhythm

A noise, slow drive, you may want to look at your transmission fluid, check timing belt/chain(covered by a plastic).

My bet is on transmission the RX300 of ~2001 is known to have issues with transmission around 90k-130k miles

That will be a $4600 job unfortunately it my pick for your troubles

@ everyone

Thanks a lot for the various replies.

This fault just started over night,i just parked it over night myself and the problem started the next morning .

Oil Change was done approx 3 Weeks before this fault started by a reputable co (elizade) ,they supplied the oil

Diagnostic machine has been used to find the fault but still no good.

The error code it is reporting is ''Cylinder misfire''

@Midas 02

You are right because ,one of the guys that have had a look at the car complained about low compression coming from one of the cylinders.

I am not sure what the reads are ,but he said he has managed to bring up the compression on that particular cylinder.

Do you mind giving me your number so that i can liaise with you directly on the phone while the test is going on .

You can send your number to folarina@gmail.com,i am hoping to take the car to a machinc this weekend.

I hope it will be convenient for you .

Assuming the problem is with the compression what is the way out,

I am really disappointed in the SUV cos i thought Lexus are a good brand name

@ Sultan

The current milage is 115k

I dont think the transmission can affect the engine but i will still get them to have a look at the same .

folarina:

@ Sultan

The current milage is 115k

I dont think the transmission can affect the engine but i will still get them to have a look at the same .

Just my two cents. If i were you, i will run the VIN on the car to REALLY MAKE SURE that the mileage is actual. Unless you are confident of the origin of the car and verify its tru mileage. The reason is that we have seen cars on this forum with  odometer roll back as much as 70k miles!. The danger of rolling back an odometer is that the owner will not know the appropriate time for a needed service.

If you dont mind knowing the possible unpleasant info on the car, i will suggest that u run a VIN to know that you are actually dealing with a car of 115k miles. I am surprised that this problem could be happening this "early" [/b]in the life of the car.

I used to have a LS400 with over 255k miles!. No problem at all. I actually got the car near 250k miles and never a cylinder miss at any time.

[b]What is probably happening in my opinion is that the spark plug wire might be faulty!

When i came across my car from a dealer friend, the car was running very bad and very rough. "I initially thought bad engine/cylinder. A very good service later (changed plugs and spark plug wires) it runs like a brand new engine.

Go to Ladipo mkt, pay some auto dealer with a good used wire set to "test" out and see if it makes a difference. I can almost guarantee you that that will be your problem. While you are at it, get new GENUINE  plugs from Elizade or whoever and replace them. Engine is same as Avalon/V6 Camry/Sienna. SPARK PLUG WIRE IS WHAT I PUT MY BET ON TO BE UR PROBLEM!

Good luck.

Good Lord!!!   

Guys, could we just try and find out more by walking thru the process intelligently rather than throwing out all these wild and preposterous suggestions and guesses!

@Promise72
I am going to have to officially name you - (MR VIN)  Is it possible that you are making some money from "Carfax", cos every suggestion you ever make on Nairaland is about "VIN"? You just admitted that your Lexus did 250K miles with no problem and in the same breath you are suggesting that folarina's Lexus might have hard some odometer rollback issues even without an iota of evidence!. You seem to love fearmongering just as much as you love "VIN".  Even if he runs the VIN, will that help him to get his SUV running smooth again??  And for the records, the Lexus/Toyota 3.0L 1MZ-FE VVT-i V6 engine doesn't use spark plug wires, it uses ignition coil packs!

@Folarina
The problem you described is most certainly not a transmission issue, so don't worry about that. Let's get back on track: You will have to perform the compression test so that we can zero-in on the cylinders that have a malfunction. Once we isolate the malfunctioning cylinder(s), then we can start eliminating other possibilities by isolating the nature of the problem (whether it is an electrical or a mechanical issue?) with a simple process. There are a lot of possibilities for this engine fault - from the misplacement of 'ignition coil arrangement' to a 'slipped/stripped timing belt' which could throw the timing out of synchro! But it is too soon to tell you precisely what!

As is common in Naija, many times the initial problem is something simple and the final problem becomes something else! This is becos these mechanics lack process and often they cause more problems than they solve. For instance the Ignition coils might have been the initial problem but if the first mechanic who changed the spark plugs or the second mechanic who replaced the coils did not replace the Ignition coils in the correct order then you will have an engine malfunction! However, I do not want to get ahead of myself.

I need the following:
1) Year of the RX300
2) A well conducted compression test on all 6 cylinders


PS: Lexus are essentially luxury Toyotas and as such are very reliable and durable. Do not blame the car for the mis-diagnosis of half-baked mechanics! No car make/brand can survive ignorant abuse and misdiagnosis on a continuous basis without shutting down!

nice one midas

u be mechanic for yankkee?

@Folarino,

Is this how your engine looks let me know.

Midas02:

Good Lord!!!   

Guys, could we just try and find out more by walking thru the process intelligently rather than throwing out all these wild and preposterous suggestions and guesses!

@Promise72
I am going to have to officially name you - (MR VIN)  Is it possible that you are making some money from "Carfax", cos every suggestion you ever make on Nairaland is about "VIN"? You just admitted that your Lexus did 250K miles with no problem and in the same breath you are suggesting that folarina's Lexus might have hard some odometer rollback issues even without an iota of evidence!. You seem to love fearmongering just as much as you love "VIN".  Even if he runs the VIN, will that help him to get his SUV running smooth again??  And for the records, the Lexus/Toyota 3.0L 1MZ-FE VVT-i V6 engine doesn't use spark plug wires, it uses ignition coil packs!

As a matter of fact, I OWN CARFAX!. It doesnt really cost him anything to get his carfax record on this forum. What i am trying to get at is that, SOME PROBLEMS ON A CAR ARE MORE/LESS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO INCREASE IN MILEAGE OF A CAR. Thats why a 120k miles service will address a little bit more issues than a 30k mile service. A 25k mile car is not EXPECTED to have a broken timing belt as opposed to a 90k mile car. ETC ETC

So knowing a tru mileage of a car will help in broadning our thought process a little and we can draw from "expected" issues based on the mileage of the car. A spark plug wire/coil pack   for a 115k miles car should be working properly (by and large). However, that can't be confidently said for a car with lets say 180k miles on the clock.

SO LET IT BE KNOWN THAT ANYTIME U RUN A CARFAX, I MAKE $$$$$. COS I OWN THE COMPANY!!!!

Now cylinder misfire is a good thing, erase all I said about transmisson(it was the most common problem, and weird sound could be its pump )

Fix should be cheap and easy,

The DTC will tell you which cylinder it is, since the spark plug has been changed, it should be caused by the ignition coil(it uses ignition coil instead of spark plug wire)
You can confirm this by checking the primary and secondary resistance of the coil, or clearing your codes and swaping the coil with anothe cylinder and see if that cylinder misfires.

Your sparkplug wire/ ignotion coil sends current through spark plugs to ignite fuel in cylinder. When its bad the cylinder will not ignite when it suppose to so it will be jerking.You might have more than a cylinder misfiring so post the diagnotic codes I mean something like

P0300, P0301, P0303

The codesonly give area of problem so we now know its the cylinders and plugs and coils are the 2 easiest parts that wear out at about 60-100k milesLook in you engine and see if there is any wire(harness) loose disconnected from your coils(they will be the 3 black rectangular plastic on each side of you engine)front/back
Here is what they look like

You can either have your friend buy one for you from US, or buy and replace all 6 now(better option) before the next on dumps you in the middle of nowhere, they cost about $76 eac or $388 or all 6 on ebay

@ Everybody , Pls pls and pls don't let us exchange words ,this is a serious issue we are rubbing minds about. I BEG


@Midas 02

Yes you are right that is an exact replica of my engine .It is a 1999 model ,

Like i suggested earlier can you please mail me yr no so that i can ring you when i take it for testing .

I am taking it for the compression test on Wednesday btw 12noon and 1 pm (nigerian time )


@Promise 72
I bought the car myself and did a CARFAX report which acn out positive when i bought the car.
The car is slightly over a year old though .

@ Sultaan ,

I have changed those coils in the picture and probelm was still not fixed.
I bought tokunbos and not brand new coils
You seems to have a clue as well about this fault .
Do you mind sending me yr number as well so that i can liaise with you on the phone when the test is been carried .

The mechanic guy said it had 14 errors and they were all relating to cylinder Misfire. Email address is folarina@gmail.com

I dont have the codes with me hence why i cant post the codes.

@Folarina,

Oh bobs!, ,,,,,,,, you never do the compression test Na wah o!!

@Midas

Thanks for following up on this issue.

I wanted your number so that we could discuss 1-1 while the test is going on.

Basically the situation now is that i am going to overhaul the engine .

The mechanic has given me the following parts and prices to buy . Can you tell me in your opinion if this mechanic know what he is doing .

1.Ring Sut - 20,000
2.main buring,S.T.D - 10,000
3.Con buring STD - 10,000
4.Sut piston- 40,000
5.oil pump - 25000
6,inlent valus - 12000
7.exhaust valus - 12,000
8.ATF - 4,000
9,engine oil - 2500
10.timing belt - 15000
11.resuting clin - 16000

The list looks long ,pls have a look for me .
Thanks

Don't let anyone touch the engine!

Get your codes first, engines don't go bad easily unless you ran it without oil in it.
I don't think you have a problem that is difficult/unusual, you just need to let us know when/how it started and the DTC codes from.
Get the codes frm whoever pulled it.If you let anyone open up your engine without them knowing wat is wrong, kiss that car goodbye .

Your mechanic is an slowpoke!  (I am sorry to be so harsh)
Perhaps you have money and time to waste, but I can assure you that you will still have to deal with this problem afterwards!

I asked you for a simple test - compression test! Give that to me and we will go from there! Why is that so hard? why is it taking 2 weeks?
If your mechanic cannot find his way around a compression test, then I fear for your prospects - you might as well start looking for a new guy!
A standard compression test should only take 15 minutes!
Christ!!!!,,,,,,,,,, are we so incompetent?

This your mechanic guy can't even spell part names   Dude you are in big trouble with this guy, he intends to clean you out!
Let me re-write that 'bleeding' list, he is asking you to replace the following:
1. Ring Set
2. Main Bearings
3. Connecting Rod Bearing
4. Set of Pistons (6 in all!)  
5. Oil Pump  
6. Inlet Valves
7. Exhaust Valves
8. ATF (automatic Transmission Fluid)  
9. Engine Oil
10. Timing Belt
11.  (Resuting Clin??) - I do not know what the heck this is  

Essentially, this guy is telling you that the only useful thing in your car's engine is the engine block! (He is a complete lunatic!) He hasn't even taken a step in the direction of the likely culprits - The electrical/Ignition system components!! This dude is telling you that your beloved Lexus' engine is completely worn even without showing any of the usual signs such as smoking, oil consumption and without a simple compression test being done - Your mechanic is beyond incompetent, he is a roving disaster and catastrophe waiting to happen and he has decided that you are his next victim!!

Here is my advice: Can you go find a competent mechanic who can do a compression test?? Abi, is that too hard??
Email me at midas02@yahoo.com so that I can send you my Phone number.
Goodluck. (you will need it!).

Get me the compression test results and like Sultaan said, get the computer codes and I am very sure we can get to the root of this. Cheers.

Do we not have certified and well equipped Toyota service centre back home?

You see there are several toyota dealerships in Nigeria competent to handle this problem but the problem is the exorbitant pricing of parts and labor (this one is the killer !), hence people have to patronise roadside mechos ( )

I just hope Folarina's guy is competent enough to accomplish the task at hand otherwise they might end up swapping the engine ( It happened to me with my Nissan pathfinder 2001 model)

@ All

Thanks for all yor contributions.
I have decided to let the guy over haul the engine.
He works in Elizade motors and runs his own business by the side ,hence that is why i have decided to let him give it a try.

@midas 02
I know you are irritated that it took so long to do the compression test .

You must have forgotten that Nija is not a straight forward place like that ,that was why i requested for your number .

However it is now too late ,let me just keep on praying for the best and hope the guy can deliver.

I will keep you guys posted on how it goes with the car.

Muerto en Lexus

Good news ,the car has now been fixed .

It cost me N200,000 to fix it .

Thanks you all for your help.

folarina:



Good news ,the car has now been fixed .

It cost me N200,000 to fix it .

Thanks you all for your help.

A good example of how our incompetent mechanics rip us off.
A good reason to buy your own scan too. I bet that you can get a used engine from Ladipo at a price that is less than the amount you spend on this engine.