Lexus RX 450h (2017) maintenance




On New Year's eve (2022/2023) it was raining here and as we took off to get to a friend's place to usher in the New Year water started to dripp from the light or map cluster around the center rear-view mirror. It was dark and I could barely see anything. The felt fabric around the console was a little wet too but after the initial dripp there was no more water leaking through. I opened the sun/moon roof to check if it wasn't closed properly which cannot really happen as its all machine controlled and not manual. If it was a lose or broken seal then I won't know. Anyway it was too dark in the evening to diagnose, and without any additional water leaks issues we made it to our destination. Thankfully the rain and also eased a little bit.


The next day once the sun was out, myself and my wife started the diagnosis. Watched a few troubleshooting videos on youtube and looked like it might be clogged drains around the sun/moon roof. Did not find the exact steps for the make/model of my car but got a rough idea as to what to look for. Miraculously the interior was dry as if nothing had happened. 



After opening the sun/moon roof towards the front corners (left and right) are two very tiny small holes (picture above) which drain the water down to the bottom of the car. There was slight dirt/debris around here. Very hard to reach, so I did the best I could with a a paper napkin/towel wrapped around a pointy tool to clean the area. 



There is a rubber piece (as indicated in the above picture) with one end attached to the body and the other end is free and movable. I think this somehow protects the drain hole from getting clogged. Anyway cleaned around this area and then did a drain test.


Water drains out in about 10 - 20 secs from the bottom of the car as shown above. There are two drain holes one on the driver side and the other on the front passenger side. So looks like propeblem is solved!

As I was checking if there was any dirt/debris in other parts of the car, decided to check the cabin filter. The cowl was clean so there was nothing blocking the air intake.

To get to the cabin air filter is pretty much the same in Toyota and Lexus. 

 


From the front passenger side storage bin remove the plastic attachment by pushing it out as indicated by the drection of the arrow. 


If you have stuff in the storage bin, now is a good time to empty it before proceeding otherwise all contents will fall on the ground. Then press the top of the storage bin inwards simultenously to dislodge it from the groves holding the bin in place. Roll the bin down on the two bottom hinges.


Pull the bin towards you to remove it from the hinges. Behind the bin is where the cabnin filter is located. 


Un-hook the cover from the two tabs


Then there is another cover, un-hook it from the right side, pulling towards you and it kind of hinges on left side. Remove this cover too and then slowly slide out the filter.



Slowly slide out the filter. If there is dirt/debris, genmerally leaves make sure it does not fall inside. Clean the filter, generally dirt/leaves extra is stuck between the folds. 


Cleaned the filter. In my case I had a lot of small leaves stucky between the groves of the filter. Once the filter is clean repeat the above steps in the reverse order to put everything back in. 



  

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