mkeeney

We had the LS-V's on our ES300 and really liked them, but then we switched to Kumho and found them to be even better. We've gone through 2 sets of KH16's and now have the Ecsta LX Platinum and love them. The KH16's were only good for about 40k miles, but the Ectsa's are rated a lot better for tread wear so I have high hopes for them.

Bank 1 is against the firewall. Some of the diagrams at the auto parts stores show it as the front bank, but they are incorrect. This page is from the Lexus factory service manual. My Haynes manual also agrees with bank 1 as the rear. Emission Control System.pdf

If the foam surround is torn as suggested, do a Google search for replacement speaker foam. Lots of places sell it and it will be the correct material to repair the speaker. I repaired a pair of Infinity bookshelf speakers last year and it was easy and looks brand new now.

Codes 0441 and 0446 are the same thing - charcoal canister system. Since it has come back again, it is likely a leak in your vacuum lines or a vacuum switch or sensor. We have a '97 ES that occasionally throws a P0446. One time a Lexus dealer told me it would cost $500 to replace the charcoal canister. I declined the work, went home and consulted my Haynes manual. I found a vacuum hose that was unplugged and connecting it fixed the problem. The Haynes manual was the best $17 I've ever spent and I highly recommend one. Even if you're not going to do your own work, you can use it to understand what your mechanic is doing. The '97-'01 ES is notorious for throwing the canister codes.

1) No, not at all. The car has to be programmed to accept the remote. It only means if you had two ES's you could program them both to accept the same remote. I only pointed that out because most people misunderstand the programming process. It's the car that is programmed, not the remote. 2) Since you already have the changer why not find an OEM Pioneer head unit to put back in? I've seen them on Ebay a lot. The best deal is one that has the common LCD missing segments problem. It's easy to fix for $100 and you can get an excellent deal on the unit because most people don't bother to Google the solution. I had to replace our LCD a couple years ago. 3) I don't know - what you describe sounds normal. Remember that these are luxury cars. The transmission is programmed to shift smoothly and the engine is designed to be quiet. When Lexus made decisions in the design, they did whatever made the car smooth, quiet, and comfortable. Performance was always secondary.

1) You can find remotes on Ebay too. The car is programmed to accept the remote. The remote only sends a signal and is never programmed. This means that on cars like yours and mine, multiple cars can be unlocked with the same remote. The programming instructions are on this forum. Do a search, and if you search my username they will come up somewhere. 2) The Nakamichi system wouldn't be able to control your cd changer. Do you have a changer in the glove box? We have the Pioneer system and I've always been happy with it. The subwoofer makes a big difference. Otherwise you should be able to install the Nackamichi system and hook it up to your speakers. The connectors may be different though. This may have been covered elsewhere on the forum, so I suggest another search. 3) Converting from the fruity metric units, you're getting 19 mpg, which is a little low. We typically get 25 mpg, which is around 9.5 l/100km. 4) We'd have to know more about the specific conditions. Under light conditions below freeway speeds, what you describe seems typical.

I would get a second opinion from a local mechanic. Although everyone likes to think that Lexus is some sort of esoteric specialty car, it is in fact a Toyota product that any decent mechanic is capable of servicing. My experience is that the dealer will fix problems, but they will do more than is necessary and it will cost twice as much. I stopped in at my local dealer when our check engine light came on. They wanted $500 to replace the charcoal canister. I looked in my manual when I got home and found the vacuum hose that was disconnected that was causing the problem. I think you may have gotten scammed on the car too and you should be talking to the dealer you bought it from. He may have had the check engine light reset just before you bought it. I'd demand some documentation on the timing belt to be sure it was actually done.

P0441 is the same as P0446 and it's a common problem on the '97-'01 cars. Something is wrong in the evaporative emissions system - the gas cap could be loose, you could have a vacuum leak, or the charcoal canister could be bad. Unfortunately on the '99 the canister moved to under the car by the gas tank. I would suggest getting a Haynes manual for your car- it's actually the Camry manual. It has a very good description of the troubleshooting steps to correct this problem. I'll be doing the same thing this weekend because our car keeps throwing the P0446 code. I have it reset then 3-4 weeks later it will come on again.

Just about any auto parts store can get that part. With the exception of new floor mats, I've never purchased any pars from a dealer.

Have you tried Google? And you don't have VTEC.

You don't need a Lexus-specific mechanic. Any capable mechanic will be able to diagnose your problem. Ask around the area and find out who other people use. I like to use small independent places where the guy in charge is doing a lot of the work. I stay away from places like Pepboys and Sears. Google is great because it will often have reviews of businesses in your area. In the meantime it there may be a connector you can unplug to the fans instead of disconnecting the battery and erasing all your settings.

It really doesn't matter whether it's synthetic or regular oil. Don't let people tell you that you can't switch back and forth. If she doesn't know, then she's probably been having it changed somewhere and it's regular dino oil. I use 5W30 dino oil in our '97 ES with 238,000 miles. The only reason to spend the extra money on synthetic is if you're going to use extended drain intervals, in the 10,000 - 15,000 mile range. You really need to get a used oil analysis done to determine the proper change interval if you're going to go that route. It doesn't sound as if you're that invested in the vehicle though.

The scanners are available on Amazon starting at $29. For as often as you might need it, you can get away with having the codes read at Autozone or Advance, or whatever parts store is prevalent in your area. The next thing to do is buy a Hayes or Chilton manual for your car. That will tell you what the codes mean and what to do about them. That $17 book has saved me thousands. The sensor is ~$120 at Autozone, and it's pretty easy to change.

Have you tried another store/chain? That would be my first step. I definitely wouldn't take it to Lexus for a CEL.

Hang on a minute guys. Are we talking about the timing belt or the accessory drive belts? You cannot see the timing belt when you open the hood. It may be possible to check the condition of the timing belt by loosening the upper timing belt cover, but you wouldn't be able to see much - definitely not enough to check the condition of the teeth. In order to remove the timing belt covers and actually inspect the belt, you have to remove the accessory drive belt and crankshaft pulley. Midas definitely didn't do that in 30 minutes. They probably just told you that based on your mileage and tried to alarm you so you'd get it done immediately. The timing belt should be replaced based on mileage. If it has never been done on your car it's time to do it with 135k miles. It should be much cheaper than $1100 though. You have a non-interference engine so if it breaks it won't do any damage.