2002 RX300 Erratic Shifting
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From: tn
2002 RX300 Erratic Shifting
Hello Im new to this forum & would love some advice. I recently purchased this vehicle & have had nothing but problems. It seems to be in great shape with only 95k. I had all belts (including timing), fluids, oil & trans filters, plugs, water pump replace as preventative maintenance. I also had the knock sensors replaced too. It burned a valve in #2 3 days after maintenance & both cylinder heads had to be reworked. I took it to my shop twice to get that right, maybe. A day after I got it back the car is shifting erratically between 1 & 2, & 2 & 3. The car also burned almost 2 quarts of synthetic in a 500 mile road trip. Is this another problem with this vehicle or did the shop forget to do something? Please help!
Pole Position
Joined: Apr 2014
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From: texas
Hello Im new to this forum & would love some advice. I recently purchased this vehicle & have had nothing but problems. It seems to be in great shape with only 95k. I had all belts (including timing), fluids, oil & trans filters, plugs, water pump replace as preventative maintenance. I also had the knock sensors replaced too. It burned a valve in #2 3 days after maintenance & both cylinder heads had to be reworked. I took it to my shop twice to get that right, maybe. A day after I got it back the car is shifting erratically between 1 & 2, & 2 & 3. The car also burned almost 2 quarts of synthetic in a 500 mile road trip. Is this another problem with this vehicle or did the shop forget to do something? Please help!
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Driver School Candidate
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From: tn
Thanks guys for your help! I noticed it is leaking a lot of oil somewhere on the passenger side above where the power steering pump is located. Any ideas? I took it back to the shop (round 3 on this) to give them another crack at it. The car is running poorly at this point, erratic shifting & valves are tapping bad now. I feel like they have ruined my car. Im losing faith in EurWerks' service.
Last edited by LanceA; Oct 21, 2015 at 07:15 AM. Reason: Spelling
Thread Starter
Driver School Candidate
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From: tn
Yes, that's where the leaking was coming from. That could have ruined my car. They still havent figured out the shifting problem. From what I've been reading sounds like OCV? solenoid? Any more thoughts on this?
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From: tn
Update on my 2002 RX300: After 2 months at the shop I got it back. Its driving great but burned 3 plus quarts of oil on a 1000mile trip. They ended up putting a good used set of cylinder heads in it since they told me their machine shop messed up the originals. It smokes a lot for a few minutes when its cranked but I cant tell much after that. So I took it to a different shop & they tried a trick using trans fluid to break down the carbon then flushed it out after a few days & replaced the oil & filter. Going to run it 1000miles & check the oil on fuel ups. Fingers crossed. I love this car when its not in the shop but its always in the shop. I read a feed earlier on using upgraded VC, a better PCV, & several treatments of MCCC, maybe start using 0w40 oil too. I will try anything at this point, car is costing me a small fortune. If this doesnt work I might be selling my 2002 RX300 Coach Edition with 100,000miles. I would love some more ideas or feedback if anyone can help. 
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Racer
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,567
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From: NJ
Update on my 2002 RX300: After 2 months at the shop I got it back. Its driving great but burned 3 plus quarts of oil on a 1000mile trip. They ended up putting a good used set of cylinder heads in it since they told me their machine shop messed up the originals. It smokes a lot for a few minutes when its cranked but I cant tell much after that. So I took it to a different shop & they tried a trick using trans fluid to break down the carbon then flushed it out after a few days & replaced the oil & filter. Going to run it 1000miles & check the oil on fuel ups. Fingers crossed. I love this car when its not in the shop but its always in the shop. I read a feed earlier on using upgraded VC, a better PCV, & several treatments of MCCC, maybe start using 0w40 oil too. I will try anything at this point, car is costing me a small fortune. If this doesnt work I might be selling my 2002 RX300 Coach Edition with 100,000miles. I would love some more ideas or feedback if anyone can help.
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Thread Starter
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From: tn
Compression was fine. Think I might go ahead & order a new VC & gasket. Probably change the PCV & hose since its a cheap part. Any parts better than others or stick to factory? Hopefully the heads were in good shape & this fixes my problem. Thanks again folks! Anything else I need to be aware of while getting this done?
Racer
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,567
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From: NJ
Compression was fine. Think I might go ahead & order a new VC & gasket. Probably change the PCV & hose since its a cheap part. Any parts better than others or stick to factory? Hopefully the heads were in good shape & this fixes my problem. Thanks again folks! Anything else I need to be aware of while getting this done?
While the rear valve cover is off, it is a good time to inspect or change out your spark plugs if you are close to your replacement interval. Also with the intake manifold off, you can clean your throttlebody and IACV while it is off.
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