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SRK, let me make sure I understand. Are you saying that without this caliper bolt, I'll have a leak? It's my understanding that the banjo washers are dime sized. This washer is a quarter sized washer and I confirmed that it's for the caliper bolt. I did not reinstall the washer. Do I have to worry about a leak here? How would I know there's a leak anyway?

It's definitely the caliper bolt washer. It fits in a slightly recessed part of the caliper where the bolt goes in and there's another for the other bolt. Apparently, it popped out of its recess when I moved the caliper. As it turns out, I forgot to put it back. Begs the question... Why would you remove the caliper mount, torque plate, just to change the pads...? I was getting ready to say that there was no other way to do it, until I stopped and thought about it. The pads are held in by a clip at the back of the caliper. All I had to do was remove that clip and the pins and I could have slipped the damn things in. I had Lexls's instructions and my set up was different and I just assumed the process was the same. I did a lot of unnecessary work. Oh well.

It's definitely the caliper bolt washer. It fits in a slightly recessed part of the caliper where the bolt goes in and there's another for the other bolt. Apparently, it popped out of its recess when I moved the caliper. As it turns out, I forgot to put it back.

Photos aren't a bad idea at all. The tires are still off, so I may do that now. Both sides are slightly different however--at least on my car. The passenger side has a wear sensor while the driver's side didn't. This was my first time doing a brake job and it's a fairly straightforward DIY with the exception of getting the caliper bolts out. The breaker bar I had wasn't good enough, so I had to get a 2 footer for leverage, but I messed around hammering the smaller breaker bar for an hour before arriving at the conclusion I had the wrong tool. The kind of inexperience can slow down a job like this, but any future brake jobs I do will go much quicker and I have two other cars that will need this at some point.

I was able to resolve this question. This washer is about the size of a quarter and it's for the caliper bolt. I figured I'd answer just in case someone else had the question.

Hi Guys. I'm completing a front pad replacement on my LS and while moving the caliper around, the washer pictured below fell out from somewhere and I can't determine where to put in back. It looks like it has some wear on it. Can someone tell me where this goes? Thanks

If you have two mechanics telling you the coolant hoses are on the way out, then I would pay attention. If you feel competent to inspect and access the hose condition, you can decide. If not, go with the mechanics recommendation. These OEM hoses are very durable so if they do not appear rotted or cracked they are probably ok. Be aware that you cannot always tell what is going on inside the hose just by examining the outside. IMO, it would not be unreasonable to replace them after 16 years. The serpentine belt is a very easy item to replace yourself. I have a 25 year old BMW that's my daily driver now and one of the things that's very helpful with that car is a Bentley manual that explains pretty much everything about the car. Is there something similar for the LS? That'd be helpful for the serpentine belt change out.

The timing belt service has been done twice. Both mechanics were referring to the cooling system hoses. Actually, I've not taken a look myself and that's what I should do before doing anything. I'm getting ready to take a long trip and just wanted to make sure things were on order prior to doing that.

Last time I had my car into the mechanic, I was told that my hoses are dry rotting and require change. It occurs to me that this would be a good time to deal with anything that's rubber given that my 1996 LS is nearly 16 years old. Here are my questions: 1) What hoses are good candidates to replace? 2) Does it make sense to replace all drive belts? 3) What other rubber components should I consider changing? Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Not sure what happened to this thread since February, but it appears to have been very heavily edited with a few exchanges now missing and altered. Not sure what's up with that. In any event, the problem was the fuel pump. This is something very difficult to diagnose in advance until the thing is ready to give up the ghost, which in my case it nearly did. So after trying the recommended fuel induction service, the problem persisted and I told them to change out the fuel pump. Upon doing so, the problem resolved itself and my fuel mpg returned to normal. Had I done this all over again, I would have went with my original hunch and just switched out the pump at the outset as it would have been cheaper. A fuel gauge didn't really help as the problem was too intermittent to test. So sometimes, you just have to guess rather than test. Of course, if you can, testing and knowing what the deal is with certainty is preferable. The experience has been helpful though. I recently put my 1987 BMW 535i back on the road after 10 years of sitting in my garage and have decided to park the Lexus so as to preserve it. Lo and behold, I've encountered a sputtering problem with this car. This car happens to have two fuel pumps and the main one supplying the fuel injection is failing. This time, I've picked up enough knowledge such that I'll swap out the pump myself.

Well, looks like my problem is solved. The one thing I regret is not going with my first inclination and replacing the fuel pump at the outset. That delay actually wound up costing me more money trying to sort out what the problem was. In any event, I'm glad that this is over with and at 192K miles, I'm looking forward to putting another 100K+ on before I even think about getting another car. Believe me, in the midst of this headache, the thought did pass my mind of getting a replacement.

Also, I gotta say that my local Lexus dealer's service is excellent, no matter what happens here. First, they're not trying to gouge people and work with you to address the problem. I didn't find their prices much more than dealing with an independent. They installed the fuel pump for $ 400 which was about the same price I was getting from the independents in my area and I was given a loaner to boot. They definitely have a new customer as they've won my business.

Well, the saga is still continuing with the intermittent start. The car ran much better after the fuel induction service recommended by Lexus, but has continued with the intermittent starting issues on at least 3 occasions since then. On one occasion, I was once again sitting in the car while idling and the thing started sputtering again, then stopped and I couldn't start it. I concluded that it had to be the fuel pump and took it back out to Lexus today to discuss with the service rep and the mechanic. After kicking it around, we decided to go for the fuel pump to see if this addresses the issue. I've been wanting to pull that trigger for awhile, but didn't want to wind up laying out the dollars and it not be the issue. The car has been having the problem far more frequently here of late--like every other day, so one thing's for sure, I'll know within the next day or so whether the issue is gone.

The saga continues. I took the car to Lexus again today. They tell me that there's really no exhaust leak related to the manifold gasket, just a hose attached to the exhaust near the manifold that needs to be replaced (they want $ 750). Toytta was wanting $ 1200 for the same thing and claiming they had to do the manifold gasket. I really think the service reps at this place are getting paid on commission as they really do try to come up with stuff just for the hell of it. So, in my case, my local Toyota is the stealer while Lexus is not trying to juice me. The car is running like crap now and seems to be misfiring and it's not starting much more frequently. That's a major pain in the butt, BUT, I'm sorta glad to see it as that may mean a light at the end of the tunnel. For some reason, this always occurs at night. When it did it the other day, I did spray some starter fluid down the intake snout and it fired and ran for a few seconds before stalling out. Actually, I did this a few times to confirm. So, I'm pretty sure that it's some issue with the fuel system. Lexus is recommending a fuel induction cleaning (about $ 150). I think I'm going to go for that and see what happens. Maybe I'll get lucky.

An update on my car problems with the intermittent starting issue. I had planned to take the car in to address potential vacuum leaks. I was sitting in the car on the phone last week with the car idling, when the idle started acting strangely (sputtering) and then car went crazy with codes and the track light flashing on and off. By the time I got home, it wouldn't start after shutting it off. (This intermittent starting problem always occurs at night and never during the day). I took it in to Toyota figuring they'd be able to analyze. The car wouldn't start for them at one point, but they weren't able to analyze. (This particular dealer is frustrating as they charge an arm and a leg and want to suggest everything under the sun to fix other than what you brought the car there for). So, I pulled the car from them and took it to another mechanic and we discussed the potential problem of a vacuum leak at the exhaust manifold. I've had a leaky exhaust manifold gasket that I've known about for awhile that needs to be replaced and we believe that this is the source of my problems with the lean fuel,the intermittent starting and the recent crazy idling. It's a fair amount of labor to deal with this. I pick it up on Thursday and will see how it acts over the next couple of weeks. The intermittent starting issue was definitely occurring more frequently, so if something's going to happen, it will do so within the next two weeks.