Check out Kenny U Pull, they have a few locations. Just got an 06 RX400h in the yard (in Ottawa) yesterday. I took some small items for my brothers car.

It's not as cheap as it used to be, prices for Xenon/LED tails is close-ish to generic eBay listing (minus the shipping, and you have to do the work)

 

MAN! Great find! I saw that RX400h in Ottawa and was tempted to go up there. I’m closest to the Hamilton, Ontario yard where I was picking apart an RX330 recently. Still gotta grab those HID headlights and RX400h taillights one day. I don’t like the regular 330/350 tails.

 

The car was surprisingly complete, 2 days in the yard. Someone grabbed 2x wheels... I wanted a spare set but oh well
If you're interested, send me a PM, we can exchange info and I can help you out plus a few $$ for the time/gas to get you a set...

 

That would be AWESOME and much appreciated!! PM’d!

 

HUGE thanks to 01LEXPL for grabbing these RX400h tail lights for me! This wouldn’t be possible without him!

I’ll be wiring these into my RX and posting a DIY later with factory wiring diagrams. As it sits, this is going to be a lot more simple than the Highlander Hybrid LED taillight swap. The only difference I see is that the 400h’s running light is integrated into the LED assy, and the sidemarker inner tail lights have a different connector - that’s it!

 

I thought 'bout the rx 400h tailights till when one goes out, replace the whole assembly.....

 

It's a double-edge sword for sure on both my HL and RX, I love the way they look but stuff can get ugly when one goes out. They're pretty rare and expensive! Unfortunately the driver's side outer light isn't illuminating the LEDs in the middle so I'm going to try and investigate further and see if I can fix it. It seems as if it's more of an electronics issue rather than the bulbs themselves being burned.

 

Just a quick update on how the RX is doing, mostly some little tricks I discovered recently.

Replaced the aged strut bearings and front lower spring insulators. The bearings were squeaking like crazy while parking, and the lower isolators were cracked and had some holes worn through them. They were probably still OK to run, but I didn't want to risk failure and having to take the struts apart again. New OEM nuts as well, they're cheap and are not overly large at only 19mm unlike the 21mm ones that came with the new struts. The lower strut isolators are from a 99-00 RX300 on Rockauto, you can't find them for a Highlander/RX so the only way to get them affordably aftermarket is this way. Toyota incorrectly cross-references it with the ES/Camry/Sienna, but the mounting rubber tab on the bottom is on the opposite side so it has to be trimmed off, fitment was not affected in any way by this, and it rides great after. The 01-07 Highlander and 99-09 RX for some reason have the isolator tab in a different spot, but everything else is unchanged.








With the front suspension fully done, I decided to fully tackle the rear as well so the car is finally ready for a much-needed alignment. Like the driver's side, the passenger side got: New 2008-2013 Highlander knuckle, all three rear control arms, MOOG greasable toe alignment bolt, new Aisin aftermarket ABS sensor (literally OEM repackaged in a different box for 1/4th the price).





Now after adding my denim/cotton sound deadening behind the plastic, I have finally started sound-deadening metal panels with Noico 80mil butyl patches as well as Noico 315mill foam deadening over the factory deadening in the trunk. This will make a massive difference to improve clarity of the sound system, door closing and reducing traffic/road noise. Should bring it up to par with the Highlander! I'll post more pics of that in a separate post once it's done. Areas I plan on deadening: Rear hatch, all four doors, rear trunk/wheel well area, roof.


While I had a lot of the interior apart, I decided to tackle another thing that has bothered me since I owned the car - the blower motor! It was loud, clattery and didn't work particularly well. After doing some cross-referencing and junkyard testing, the newer style motor that comes in the 07-09 RX always sounded a little tinny and crappy to me, I knowingly grabbed the 04-06 RX330 style one from an older Sienna because it spun noticeably smoother and didn't make any excessive noise. The connector is different and so is the body of the motor, but I adapted it to fit perfectly in the car. I made the "adapter" out of the remains of the old blower motor, but I do want to track down the actual connector to do a cleaner job.




Sienna motor is on the top, original RX350 motor is on the bottom





Works and fits perfectly! Finally a silent blower motor! The RX interior stuff is finally coming together - stay tuned for more updates!

 

What struts are those,Matt?

 

TRW, they’re Sachs for cheaper. They ride a little softer than the KYBs and have more nose dive, but still handle pretty well. I like them

 

incredible!!! ive been reading this thread for like an hour and im still amazed at your progress. Kudos to you Matt for keeping this old girl alive. A lot of people would have thrown in the towel a long time ago and just bought something newer and cleaner.

 

X2^^^^ Thats not how Matt rolls thou......LOL.....Need to check out the work he's done on his 'lander......

 

Thank you very much for the support, guys! This is exactly why I love to share these updates. I can really thank the 'Lander for having everything wear out as it prepared me for this RX LoL! The transformation is beyond satisfying

 

Literally the only reason I offered up to get him those taillights lol

 

Matt, I know you had the valve cover off. How useful would be a borescope camera be, with valve cover on or off, for inspecting the VVT parts?