MrSypher

Nope, Nick is not pulling your leg. He's fo-real.... I really can't tell you how it works.. I can but then I will have to kill you...

I have no clue how it works.... But I pulled this off there Web-site for you....


"Water-Repellent Front Door Glass:
BRIGHTEN UP A GLOOMY DAY. The Lexus RX 300 comes equipped with water-repellent glass on the front doors, making it easier to check the side rearview mirrors. So while it may be gray and drizzly outside, from inside an RX 300 everything appears a bit clearer."

PlanetAudioRX

i have a 99 also with the "LVP" as lexus calls it. the lexus value package. with the seat heaters and tow hitch and whatever else it comes with.

If you are deciding between the coach edition and silversport, i would suggest the coach edition.

If you are looking for the perfect RX to take trips with, get the coach editon. you want a wooden steering wheel and not leather. I have a leather steering wheel and i would give up anything for a wooden one. As would many other RX owners with a leather steering wheel. the feel of it after awhile makes you want to get the wooden one.

blackjack

Actually I'd like whichever wheel is thicker in the hand. Going from my Audi with the sport wheel to the leather wrapped RX wheel is like going from the RX wheel to a 1981 Ford.

Oh, wait, it's not my car.

Sounds like we have the same package on our 1999 RX. Never used the hitch. You?

abnsvn

Willard,

Could you please expand upon the air conditioning flaw where you stated "You must remember to thoroughly "air out" (dry out the excess moisture in the A/C evaporator accumulated during the previsous day's operation) the vehicle after each day's use of the A/C, otherwise in warmer climates the leftover excess moisture in the A/C evaporator will promote the growth of bacterial spores. In cooler climates it will oftentime "welcome" you with a fully fogged over windshield about five miles into your morning drive. "

I live in Houston, TX and don't know what you mean about thoroughly air out the excess moisture in the A/C evaporator every day. How do you do this and do you really have to do this? Does it take much time? Thanks.

wwest

I bought a 92 Ls400 in late 91 and within a few days I discovered that on cold mornings my windshield would fog over about 5 miles down the road. Suspecting a clogged condensate drain I took it into Lexus and they said no problem, be sure and run the system only on "fresh", not recirculate.

The early morning problem persisted and I found the way to alleviate the problem was to open the sunroof and windows slightly during the night in the garage, allowing the condensate accumulated during the previous day's A/C operations to more readily evaporate.

And then I discovered yet another aspect of the problem. The windshield would suddenly and spontaneously, seemingly randomly, fog over, often completely, somehere in my travels. I had several very scary incidents as a result, so I parked the car for the rest of the wointer of 91/92.

Here is what I discovered.

In preparation for the changeover to the new less efficient R-134 refrigerant Toyota/Lexus had done several things to increase the efficiency of the A/C system overall. Additionally, as we all know, Lexus is very conscious of passenger discomfort from noise.

So, how to improve the overall efficiency of the system?

The A/C evaporator core is the very heart of the A/C cooling capability. So the first thing they did was increase the efficiency of that device. The 92 LS400 A/C evaporator has over 10,000 sq inches of horizontally oriented surface area.

Another aspect that they apparently looked at and implemented was to severely decrease the air flow rate through this device to an absolute minimun whenever it was possible to do so. The longer the air mass takes to move through a chilled evaporator core the colder it will become.

Another portion of this whole efficiency equation also bears on the issue, MPG. T/L now knew that in order to suppress the horrible mold and mildew smell they needed to run the A/C compressor as much as possible, keeping the bacterial spores' "leavings covered with condensate during the vehicles use helped tremendously to suppress the horrid smell.

Another efficiency/MPG question...Oh, if we seal the passenger cabin well enough then very little "conditioned" air will escape and the necessity for the A/C compressor to run will be serverely reduced. So running your Lexus in "fresh" will have very little positive effect unless you're willing to roll a rear window down slightly to keep the incoming airflow from simply pressurizing the vehicle.

One of the documents released to me in the course of the trial indicated that in 1991 Lexusd aalready knew of the dire consequencies that might result from all of this.

According to the document the evaporator core's entire surface area was coated with a thin porous nylon film into whcih was embedded and anti-microbe chemical.

So, if you incur that mold and mildew smell when you first start your climate control system you very likely have bacterial spores living and thriving in the damp, dark and warm (southern climates or heated garage) A/C evaporator core.

The only way to permenatly overcome this problem is to find a way to thoroughly DRY OUT the thin film of moisture remaining on the evaporator surfaces after its last use.

Other than opening the sunroof and windows there is an aftermarket device that can help:

http://www.airsept.com/eed.html


During the colder months when the only need for A/C is dehumidification of incoming airflow I remove the A/C compressor relay so the compressor doesn't run outside of my control and/or knowledge in defrost/defog/demist mode.

That makes the windshield much less likely to fog over (no thin film moisture residue from previous A/C operations) and if it does a simple clockwise flick of the temperature setpoint **** before activating defrost/defog/demist assures me of higher blower speeds and heated airflow to the windshield surface to quickly remove the condensation and then maintain the windshield surface well above the atmospheric dewpoint.

On my 92 LS increasing the temperature setpoint was so time consuming that I installed a switch which inserts a 200 ohm resister in series with the cabin temperature sensor so that the climate control ecu "thinks" the cabin has suddenly gotten very cold just before I activate the defrost/defog/demist function.

ObiDon

Boy! Is this thread out of control or what! Let me help. First I thought this was the RX forum… Anyway in Houston or any other high humid area if you let the RX go in Auto everything will be fine, no fog no scary sudden death because you can’t see out or the glass, gee, give me a break. As long as you don’t have the recirculation switched on you will not have a problem. The problem comes up usually when you have been running the system with recirculator on with the AC and you get a cold spell. If you turn the AC off at this point, like first thing on a cold morning, in Houston that is below 70, about 5 miles down the road the windows will start to fog up. If you just hit the auto mode and set the temp you will be fine, and be amazed at how fast it clears up. The AC still runs which gets out the humidity, or as much as it can in Houston, and its still warms up.

wwest

Like you said, you're in Houston..

What if you're in Seattle?

Or anyplace wherein yesterday's outdoor temp allowed the A/C to operate and now this morning as you drive out of your garage the OAT is slightly below the level at which the ECU ALLOWS the compressor to run?

Or you've driven from a bright and sunny humid area into a cold (mountain pass?) one and the compressor gets shut down without your knowledge?

But the most recent subject matter was really the formation of mold and mildew spores on an evaporator core that remains damp night after night in a temperate climate. Look around on the net, the aftermarket A/C maintainance and repair people are making a mint doing temporary repairs, "cleaning" the bacterial spores for the evaporator cores with the absolute knowledge that this will be a return customer.

The amazing thing to me is that both Ford and GM seem to be paying attention and have long term solutions, but ask any Japanese manufacturer dealer and they are most likely to either offer a temporary solution, lysol in the air intake, or replace the entire evaporator for $1200 and up.

Wasn't it somebody's house in Texas that started all the massive PR about toxic mold?

PlanetAudioRX

I haven't used the hitch yet, I just got my speed boat and will be towing that around in the summer.

Pilot

Blackjack writes << But I hate the fact that there is just hard plastic where my knees rest when driving>>

My wife has a 2001 Rx 300 and I hate driving it for this reason too! Also the seat does not slide far enough aft, and I always feel jammed in. I will take my 11 year old LS-400 any day over her new car!

Daddy-O

In Re: Water Repellant Glass...

It's scientific name is Hydrophobic Glazing.

A weather-resistant fluorine water repellent agent is chemically bonded to the silica/titania base film on the glass plate, assuring long-lasting water repellence...water droplets are dissipated by the wind pressures generated at vehicle speeds above 25 mph. This improves visibility through the window in the rain.


Learn all about it (watch the carriage returns below):

http://www.saint-gobain-recherche.co...os/antiplu.htm

http://www.sekurit.com/anglais/produ...asp?rep=metier

whitels

To see it in action with your 2001+, hose the front and rear windows with water. You'll notice that water drops like dead ants on the front windows as opposed to the rear windows. My only gripe is why Lexus didn't apply this technology to the front and rear windshields.